Jackson Heights Life

9th grade was discontinued). The most idiotic thing ever for a kid was the SP program at Junior High School 145 (Joseph Pulitzer) in which kids had to keep up an 85 average or get kicked out of the program. Do you know how F'in insane that was? Even more insane was the fact that an above average intelligent but not genius kid like myself would suddenly look like the Village Idiot compared to the many genius kids in my class. I remember the moment I got in the SP and my Jewish Mother was so proud of me after telling me I'd never get into the SP program because my IQ wasn't high enough- thanks mom. Mom then freaked me out my 8th grade year because I could only maintain around an 82 average and she swears to this day I would have been kicked out of the program if it wasn't for the fact that the next year they got rid of the 9th grade.

I was in the class with my buddy Paul Kutscera, the sadly late Corey Suferin, the genius Daphne Atkinson. The kids in the class were for the most part OK but some were totally obnoxious. The teachers were generally OK but not great with the exception of my history teacher who had a beret and name I think was Mr. Beruh and he made history great and turned us on to James Knox Polk. I had a Mr. Spiegel the year before in History and to this day remember he devised the best way to learn and take a test by basically giving us all the answers the night before but not the questions so we'd study what those answers meant! Some of the answers weren't on the test so he basically "forced us" to learn the stuff by this method. Still the best teaching and test method I ever had.

Most of the teachers were pretty nice like Mrs Reed (?) in Math, Mr. Sandler in Science & Phys Ed, my 8th grade English teacher who caught a bunch of us cheating but handled it really well (I forgot her name I think it started with an S) and Mrs. Tucker in French who I later got private French tutoring from but still sucked at French in High School through no fault of her, I just wasn't into it. I do remember in 8th grade I had a total AHole teacher for Science I think he was balding in the middle but may be wrong-it was 47 years ago! and on the last day of school walked into his classroom while he was teaching another class and yelled you suck! I didn't anticipate that he would come out of the classroom, grab me by the neck, lift me up in the air and threaten to kick my ass! Looking back I wasn't right doing this and I don't blame him for his reaction but he was a mean, nasty SOB.

In the 8th grade when they said the 9th grade was discontinued I took a test for Stuyvesant High School but didn't get in (lucky me who the hell would want to go to an all boys school at that time). I remember how I found out. A nasty old woman who I think was my 7th grade home room "teacher" who was now working in the Admin Office or something said, I kid you not, "Sadly you didn't get in. You don't know how ashamed you've made your parents by this". If I was older I would have said F you to her but just said nothing. At least the old hag whose name I don't remember must be dead by now!

I left Jackson Heights & NY for good around 35 years ago & basically lost touch with my classmates when I went to a Private High School in the City but to this day memories of the SP still get me mad as what was the point if you weren't a genius. It certainly didn't help my self esteem by being one of the dumbest kids in a class of geniuses because I was just above average! It could have been worse though and I could have taken the 2 year SP Program which was even worse and totally retarded as who wants to skip a year and as a result be physically smaller then all your classmates? To this day I've never understood what the purpose of that was. So you can work one extra year in your life? Lucky you, lol!