April 2002
Visiting Mr. Green

This month I’d like to share with you one of the most truly memorable days that I have experienced at PDS. It happened about a week ago when James Earl Jones and Dan Anderson treated us to two performances of Visiting Mr. Green. For those of you unfamiliar with the play, it’s the story of two men drawn together in spite of themselves. Mr. Green, an elderly Jewish man, somewhat set in his ways, is struggling with the recent loss of his wife, and with the implications of his own aging. Ross Gardiner, a much younger man, has been sentenced to a weekly visit with Mr. Green because of an accident attributed to reckless driving. Ross is gay. At first, neither man welcomes the visits, and each tries to end them. As the visits continue, however, the two men develop a relationship that becomes increasingly important to both of them. They exchange confidences. They share vulnerabilities. They acknowledge their own humanity.

It’s a wonderful play, brilliantly read by two talented and generous members of the PDS community. As good as the performances were, however, the things that made them truly memorable were the moments afterward. Following each final curtain, Mr. Jones, Mr. Anderson and Mark Wheeler, their director, returned to the stage. They sat before us and engaged the audience and one another in conversation. Starting with questions from the audience, they shared with us the process of bringing a play to life, of interpreting characters and making them real, of understanding and conveying the emotions and needs of each one and their own responses to them. They discussed the challenges of reading a play as opposed to memorizing and performing it, of subtle differences between the two performances and of learning to work together.

Indeed, for a little while, they were not only actors, they were teachers. In the best PDS tradition, they discerned where their audience was and what its members wanted to know. Simply and often humorously, they led us into their world and shared their craft with us. I can’t remember when I have been more genuinely engaged. I’m so grateful to these three wonderful men for their talent, their generosity and their modesty. I’m sure they enjoyed our applause. They certainly earned it. I’m equally sure that they enjoyed talking with their eager audience. They did it with the grace of true teachers!

I think of that day as a metaphor for PDS. We witnessed talented teachers, demonstrating and explaining important concepts to an audience eager to learn, who also exemplified honesty in acknowledging things that are difficult and intellectual integrity in questioning one’s own ideas and the ideas of others. I see these things in action every day in our classrooms. I watch teachers guide our children as they construct understanding of meaningful challenges. I see parents generous with their time, their talents and their ideas. And I see people of all ages learning and laughing in harmony.

That was a wonderful day. My thanks to Mr. Jones, Mr. Anderson and Mr. Wheeler for making it possible. My thanks, also, to the other members of the PDS community who brought their own interests and talents to the day and who helped take it to new heights. It was wonderful being together.

There will be other opportunities to come together as a community: plays, sporting events, picnics and parties, discussions, auctions and benefits. These are all opportunities to share our many talents and to appreciate the talents of others in our school community. I look forward to seeing you at many of them, to working with you and to helping our school fulfill its promise. Poughkeepsie Day School is truly a community of learners where everyone matters.

Happy springtime!

Mary Jane Yurchak