leadership like Nate, Nina and Lee, who enabled us to experiment and grow. We were all taught not to do something just because we were told to do so. We were taught to question and ask why. We learned to strive to reach our goals. Take a minute and look around; boy, think what we have accomplished! We did change the world in many ways, just by being a part of it.
Paula Baron
Beth Terrant Tenney Beth Terrant Tenney was a student teacher from the Art Institute and worked with Metro students in 1978 or 1979. I remember one very snowy day, we went outside the Art Institute near where the Goodman Theater used to be. We made snow sculptures and did snow dyeing there. The kids loved it, and so did I. I doubt we would ever be able to do that now. The Metro kids were very bright and looking for an alternative. And some of them had problems. I loved working with them.
Susan Stone Susan Stone, who taught English at Metro from 1972 to 1981, on directing plays and taking students to see professional plays: teaching at Metro was being able to direct plays and being able to take kids all over the city to see plays. (I had a class called Modern American Plays. We got a good rate. We went to Second City; all those people who are movie stars today— we sat ten feet away from them.) I directed a musical called Me Nobody Knows, and the music teacher, Judy, helped with the music. We did a play at Loop College (now Harold Washington College). Another play we did was Excerpts from Our Lives. This was based on a whole cycle of writing. I guess it was innovative to do that then—now, people have picked up on it. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I just did it. We toured this play to many schools. Carol Block, the art teacher, collaborated with us to develop the sets. I was also able to take kids to the Illinois High School Theater Festival. We stayed in Champaign, and a parent came along. An-
other time, we went to a conference and students got to hear amazing speakers and see college professors. The biggest thing about Metro was the small class size. This made it possible to give everyone personal attention; we called their home. We could talk about what were then “taboo” subjects. Kids told us about their family life and their other concerns. We were teaching the “whole child.”
Susan Stone
To me, the highlight of
44 Metro High School, 1970–1991
Judy Reed Judy Reed taught English from 1981 to 1991. On the lack of adequate science labs, etc.: The thing about Metro is that practically the whole school system should be sets of Metros. Our Metro tended to stress the humanities, but there could be others—a Metro-type setup for students interested in specializing in math and science. If Metro is a viable prototype, then certainly it could be expanded. You wouldn’t want cookie-cutter Metros—different areas have different goals. And on coming to Metro (she was sent there by the Board of Education): The word on the street was that Metro was for serious gangbangers. But of course, as soon as I walked into the door, I felt like I was
at home, and when Metro died, I felt like I had lost one of my best friends. The first day I came, Nate sat all of the new teachers down and he said, “I’m not saying that you won’t have troubles at this school, but I guarantee that you will never wake up in the morning and not want to come to work.”
Paula Baron Paula Baron taught social studies at Metro from 1971 to 1991. On respect for teachers’ judgment: I came from a school where the principal