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Ashland September 2018

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Page 2 <strong>Ashland</strong> Local Town Pages www.localtownpages.com <strong>September</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />

ASHLAND TEACHER<br />

continued from page 1<br />

you teach?<br />

Rabinowitz: I have been a<br />

teacher for 25 years. I started in<br />

<strong>Ashland</strong> in August 2001. I will be<br />

starting my 18th year here in a<br />

couple of weeks. I teach history<br />

and social sciences at the high<br />

school. Notably, I teach a course<br />

on the History of Genocide,<br />

which is unique and popular with<br />

students.<br />

Whitty: I noticed that you<br />

have a variety of interests—history,<br />

astronomy and music. Do<br />

you relate to all these subjects as<br />

a teacher?<br />

Rabinowitz: I do. One nice<br />

thing about history is that it encompasses<br />

everything—everything<br />

has a history. Nor is history<br />

segmented; events in one area affect<br />

events in another. Einstein’s<br />

work in relativity was affected by<br />

World War I. His being a violin<br />

player may have helped his capacity<br />

for imagination and thought<br />

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experiments. When learning<br />

about a time period, I try and<br />

bring in relevant musical, artistic,<br />

cultural, scientific and technological<br />

developments of the time<br />

period. Many of these stories are<br />

untold but are important and fascinating.<br />

I have a particular focus<br />

on the Apollo moon landings as<br />

I grew up with that—it is living<br />

memory for me. Students know<br />

more about nonsense conspiracy<br />

theories than they do about<br />

the facts of what happened, and<br />

what an incredible achievement it<br />

was. It is important that these stories<br />

are told, particularly as these<br />

people age and die off.<br />

Whitty: What is your approach<br />

to teaching?<br />

Rabinowitz: I am deeply committed<br />

to factual knowledge, reasoning,<br />

scientific awareness and<br />

human rights. I want my students<br />

to realize their full capacity and<br />

their full capabilities. As human<br />

beings, they should never underestimate<br />

what they are capable<br />

of doing. We live in an age of<br />

fake news, science denial, conspiracy<br />

theory, lies and increasing<br />

tribalization and division. I<br />

want my students to be able to<br />

combat that with the power of<br />

their minds, their knowledge,<br />

and their capacity for empathy<br />

and understanding. I want them<br />

to be active, thoughtful participants<br />

in a healthy democracy,<br />

with a full understanding of the<br />

Declaration of Independence,<br />

the Constitution and the Bill of<br />

Rights. I want them to care for<br />

themselves and other people. I<br />

want them to dream, to wonder<br />

and to be amazed, and not just<br />

chase money and practicality. I<br />

want them to have inspiration<br />

and awe. They can lead rich and<br />

meaningful lives—they only have<br />

to choose to do so, and have our<br />

love and support.<br />

Whitty: Where did your love<br />

of teaching, astronomy and<br />

music come from?<br />

Rabinowitz: It is a product<br />

of my background. I was the<br />

third child in a highly educated<br />

family. My father has a PhD in<br />

engineering. My mother was a<br />

painter with an MFA. I was always<br />

reactive to sounds—some<br />

of my earliest memories are of<br />

music playing. I remember a record<br />

called Tine the Ballerina,<br />

which had sounds that actually<br />

scared me! I grew up in the 50s<br />

and 60s—times of a revolution in<br />

popular music. My older siblings<br />

brought all of that into the house,<br />

and I always had an ear for melody.<br />

My parents played classical<br />

music at home when I was a child<br />

and even occasionally some jazz.<br />

I started playing the flute at age 9<br />

and went on to guitar at about age<br />

11. As a teenager I had no desire<br />

to be anything other than a rock<br />

musician, and I had as good a<br />

shot at it as anybody. I took all of<br />

the music classes in high school.<br />

My parents always supported me<br />

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I applied to one school out<br />

of high school—Berklee College<br />

of Music- and got in. I went for<br />

two years but did not graduate.<br />

I grew up during the height<br />

of the space program. My Dad<br />

was a radar defense engineer who<br />

worked for the Pentagon for a few<br />

years. We lived in DC when Kennedy<br />

was assassinated. To me, the<br />

space program was absolutely fascinating<br />

and exciting! I watched<br />

all of the launches and followed<br />

all of it. One of my earliest memories<br />

is of sitting on the bed with<br />

my Dad watching John Glenn<br />

take off on his rocket. My Dad<br />

got me a telescope when I was<br />

about 6. I had that instrument<br />

for about 20 years. I remember<br />

him setting it up with my brother<br />

and looking at Venus. My parents<br />

bought me astronomy books, and<br />

I was just fascinated by the pictures.<br />

There was something so<br />

awe inspiring, optimistic and positive<br />

about it. I loved it!<br />

I grew up surrounded by<br />

history, government, and politics.<br />

My Dad would pontificate<br />

about [these subjects] at the<br />

dinner table. My Mom read art<br />

books and painted. Impressionist,<br />

landscape style. They took us<br />

to museums. Family discussion<br />

was always about these things. It<br />

took me decades to realize that<br />

not every gets Scientific American<br />

and The New York Times<br />

at home. But I did, and I would<br />

read them. I read a lot of popular<br />

science and science-oriented<br />

science fiction at the time. Loved<br />

Star Trek, and still do! I got interested<br />

in history when I went<br />

back to school in 1988. I majored<br />

in it and was fascinated. For me<br />

fascination includes wanting to<br />

tell someone else about it so that<br />

led me to teaching. I have a strong<br />

keep-at-it, nose-to-the-grindstone,<br />

try-and-try-again, fail-andkeep-going<br />

attitude, which serves<br />

me well in teaching and my other<br />

endeavors.<br />

I simply want to give to my<br />

students the gift that was given to<br />

me—a love of knowledge, awe,<br />

inspiration and caring for other<br />

people. Pay it forward as they say!<br />

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