my gay hero.
Jun. 6th, 2005 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ironymaidenEDIT, 2007: i discovered that this post was topping out google searches on real names, so i've obscured the names and locations of the people involved. i've *finally* contacted my old teacher. she's happy and in a solid relationship (not the same one as in this story) and her son is finishing up at the school. she's still there because she thinks it's important, and i'm not the only student she's heard from. hooray for mostly happy endings.
for the upcoming SLGC concert, which i will be pimping in this space shortly, we're decorating the performance space with clotheslines holding posterboard "projects" on the theme of "My Gay Hero." mine is my high school Biology teacher. the poster is a sort of flow chart of the Mrs. W story superimposed over a collection of texts on Mendellian genetics, the LeVay brain study, the Bio II course description, and her picture from my senior yearbook.
Mrs. W started teaching Biology at my high school in 1988, when I started ninth grade. Every ninth grader took Biology. Smart, funny, and skilled at teaching to multiple learning styles, the genetics and cell biology I learned from her carried me through my college honors Intro to Biology course.
She was egalitarian in the classroom. She worked to get us field trip opportunities, introduced us to the many facets of the field, including crossovers like Biomechanics, and gave us information about careers in science. She was my only teacher to actually follow the school policy of providing additional curriculum for gifted students, and she put Brave New World in my hands, sparking a continuing fascination with dystopia. She added an AP Biology II course to the curriculum and I signed up to take it my Senior year.
During the summer of 1991, Mrs. W and a contract teacher, Mrs. B, left their husbands to be together. The conservative, rural school district did not react well. When the dust settled, Mrs. B’s contract wasn’t renewed, but Mrs. W’s tenure and unblemished record kept her in place. She came to work every day, and did the same excellent job, while students murmured behind her back, friends turned away, and her husband fought for custody of their adopted son.
Every Biology II student had to do a major research paper and presentation with moderated discussion. The LeVay brain study was in the news and my best friend had just come out to me. I was shocked. I was confused. And I knew what I wanted to talk about in class. But I had no idea if she would approve it.
She did. I got to stand in front of a classroom and talk about the Kinsey scale, brain anatomy, genetics, animal behavior and the latest research. Was homosexuality “natural”? Thirty ignorant teenagers got an earful of education; they listened and they asked questions. Mrs. W moderated but she didn’t intervene. I will never forget her generosity and poise.
Ms. W continues to teach at my high school today.
i wonder if i should contact her...
for the upcoming SLGC concert, which i will be pimping in this space shortly, we're decorating the performance space with clotheslines holding posterboard "projects" on the theme of "My Gay Hero." mine is my high school Biology teacher. the poster is a sort of flow chart of the Mrs. W story superimposed over a collection of texts on Mendellian genetics, the LeVay brain study, the Bio II course description, and her picture from my senior yearbook.
Mrs. W started teaching Biology at my high school in 1988, when I started ninth grade. Every ninth grader took Biology. Smart, funny, and skilled at teaching to multiple learning styles, the genetics and cell biology I learned from her carried me through my college honors Intro to Biology course.
She was egalitarian in the classroom. She worked to get us field trip opportunities, introduced us to the many facets of the field, including crossovers like Biomechanics, and gave us information about careers in science. She was my only teacher to actually follow the school policy of providing additional curriculum for gifted students, and she put Brave New World in my hands, sparking a continuing fascination with dystopia. She added an AP Biology II course to the curriculum and I signed up to take it my Senior year.
During the summer of 1991, Mrs. W and a contract teacher, Mrs. B, left their husbands to be together. The conservative, rural school district did not react well. When the dust settled, Mrs. B’s contract wasn’t renewed, but Mrs. W’s tenure and unblemished record kept her in place. She came to work every day, and did the same excellent job, while students murmured behind her back, friends turned away, and her husband fought for custody of their adopted son.
Every Biology II student had to do a major research paper and presentation with moderated discussion. The LeVay brain study was in the news and my best friend had just come out to me. I was shocked. I was confused. And I knew what I wanted to talk about in class. But I had no idea if she would approve it.
She did. I got to stand in front of a classroom and talk about the Kinsey scale, brain anatomy, genetics, animal behavior and the latest research. Was homosexuality “natural”? Thirty ignorant teenagers got an earful of education; they listened and they asked questions. Mrs. W moderated but she didn’t intervene. I will never forget her generosity and poise.
Ms. W continues to teach at my high school today.
i wonder if i should contact her...
