I taught high school in Wappingers Falls, N.Y. from 1973 to 1992. For many of those years I team taught a group of what we then called “basic skills” learners.
Some years, if Pete was in town (he lived nearby), he would come in for one of our classes and talk and sing with our tenth-grade students, kids who not only had never heard of him but—for the most part—could not have cared less about folk music. He never did a “big auditorium” performance for us. He came in by himself, with his banjo slung over his shoulder, and he never batted an eye when the front desk asked him for ID.
Pete talked to our students about what he worked for, about what he believed, and about his hopes and dreams. He never failed to win them over and to get those seemingly apathetic, eye-rolling, slouchy teenagers leaning forward, tapping their feet—and thinking.
Pete often talked about the environment, the future of the planet and the Hudson River in particular. One year after a visit from Pete, I noticed my student Bob—usually an outgoing and cheerful young man—had become surprisingly quiet. I kept Bob after class to ask what was weighing on him.
“There’s so much sad stuff,” he told me, “Mostly I don’t like to think about it. Didn’t think there was anything much I could do. Pete made it sound like there is, but it’s…it’s kinda scary. And thinking about it makes me sad.”
Bob struggled all spring with the idea that feeling sad came with the territory of knowing and feeling responsible for the community and the planet. I felt bad, knowing Bob wasn’t as happy as he used to be. He graduated the following year, and I did hear from him once after that. I got a postcard from him from upstate New York—at the beginning of a trip down the Hudson, crewing on the river’s famous Clearwater sailboat.
My husband and I have worked on Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival music festival along the banks of the Hudson for thirty years. My son grew up amidst the stages and tents of the festival. But, despite all the memories, when I think of Pete, I don’t immediately think of his connection to the festival. I think of his magical ability to turn resistant teenagers into thoughtful human beings.
Shaw has been teaching since the early 70s, as a high school teacher and as a teacher educator. She has a deep commitment to public education and to students at risk.
