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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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