second variation on the same - Facebook

Becoming transparent does not have to mean see-through: Teaching in a social media dominated world

(Teaching in a social media world where transparency changes a teacher’s PG rating to R)

As a younger teacher, I’m comfortable using whatever technology I can to increase my “cool factor” with the students. Any way we can connect and I can demystify myself is appreciated. At the end of each day, I don’t unroll my cot and take up sanctuary in my classroom void of a personal life. This is vastly different from a generation ago when what happened outside of school was never fodder for discussion on either end of the conversation; students didn’t want teachers to know about their “other” life and teachers certainly didn’t find it appropriate for students to understand they were human.

However, with this new connectedness, teachers are online with students all day and sometimes all night long. There is Facebook, Twitter, My Space, Blogger, Nings, and email which make a teacher readily accessible for questions and conversation. There is a constant question that tares at me while I talk to my students: How much is too much?
Facebook has allowed me into the lives of my students in a way that the classroom never has. The four walls created clear, impenetrable boundaries and likewise students can now see me as a whole person instead of the 1-dimensional squawk box that flits before them.

Students weigh in

Some students believe that “friending” teachers on Facebook is not a good idea. Senior, Raymond Arroyo at World Journalism Preparatory School (WJPS) said, “No, I don’t friend my teachers because it’s not professional. Relationships between teachers and students should stay in school.”

“Students shouldn’t be ‘friends’ with their teachers until they graduate because pictures people post can be inappropriate,” said Erica Castagliola, senior at WJPS.

Other students think that is okay for teachers and students to communicate outside of school in this fashion. “Yes, being a friend [of a teacher] is okay, but teachers should keep some stuff private as should students. Plus it offers students a chance to quell their curiosity about teachers’ lives outside of school,” said Marlyn Sanchez, senior at WJPS.

“It’s not a problem for teachers and students to be friends, but privacy is an issue. There should be limitations to what is shared from both sides,” said Fernando Echeverri, senior at WJPS. He also said that a person’s reputation can be at stake.

Parents weigh in
Parents think that it can be both good and potentially harmful. “My children and I all looked on Facebook this summer to find their teachers. Most were private however there were some that we had access to. It was really nice to see the teachers and their photos of their families and friends. It shows the kids that teachers are “normal people” just like everyone else. My daughters’ teacher shared her page and she came home and told me that she loved looking at pictures of her teachers’ son. It brings them together,” said Ann Whyte, parent and biller for New York Digital Print Center, Inc.

Nancy Cicciariello, Bayside, NY community parent said, “Social media can help or hurt [a professional] relationship. As a parent there is a constant connection which can aid the student or can be a nagging experience for a teacher. The social media allows one another to see how a person’s life outside of work is about which then can lead to passing judgment. As long as websites are used positively and lightly it should be a useful tool.”

Although there is an upside to the social media, there seems to be some trepidation about the sharing of information. Mrs. Whyte said, “Unfortunately, I think with the venues the way they are, it could hurt both the child and teacher if not used properly. Some people become “delusional” about the statements and pix they put on their sites. It is much easier to be stupid on a computer screen to a lot of people than it is in person. I think people would use much more discretion if they realized the impact of what they put on these sites.”

Teachers weigh in

Alejandro Sosa, high school social studies teacher believes that students have a strong desire to actually know their teachers and feel accepted by them. “Students yearn to know that their teachers are human beings and go through the same problems that they go through. There's also the curiosity factor - many students want to know what might be in store for them. I believe the third and probably most important factor is that teenagers want more importantly than anything else to have friends and be accepted and respected by others. Friendship with a teacher through any social media site or in person is a powerful form of acceptance.”

For teachers, though Sosa thinks it is a personal decision. “I think that varies from teacher to teacher. Personally I'm uncomfortable with letting students know too much as I think the barrier in the teacher/student relationship is critical for getting students (especially more difficult ones) to learn and work hard. But many times, allowing that barrier to be too rigid can have the opposite effect and dehumanize the teacher to the point where students want nothing to do with them. Each teacher really needs to decide how comfortable they are in unveiling their personal lives.”

Many teachers surveyed on the national JEA listserv have various social media accounts, but don’t include students until they have graduated or moved away. Most journalism teachers who do allow students, are extremely selective and use the medium as another way to contact their staff at the last minute. It is the consensus however, that giving students too much access to a teacher’s personal life can offer more harm than good while the student is still in the school. According to many of those teachers, keeping things uncomplicated by not permitting students into their outside world just is the best way to avoid controversy.

Administrators weigh in

Administrators have more apprehension about the practice and believe that school wide protocols would greatly help. Principal Cynthia Schneider of WJPS says that protecting teachers is her main concern. “I’m always worried about the call from the superintendant with an allegation of ‘inappropriate’ emotional contact.” Schneider also stated that technology and social media is the way the world is moving and as educators it is our responsibility to teach students how to use these mediums responsibly. Teachers need to be the role models.

The danger is real and administrators have expressed concern. There has been no Supreme Court test case around this yet the way there are distinctive rulings on other free speech topics. Schneider called attention to walking this fine line in addition to the possibility of misinterpretation. She said, “the room for error grow exponentially because tone is hard to read online.” Students have a hard time reading tone when it feels obvious to adults, so the lack of personal attention where the reaction can be gauged creates more room for problems in the minds of administrators.

So far there are no standards set nationally for “good practices” on this matter. It varies from state to state, district to district, school to school, teacher to teacher and student to student.
Sidebar:

Tips for using privacy settings on Facebook effectively –
• Make sure you create lists within your friends (sorting is often easier if you place the people in the list as you friend them. Otherwise, you can go back through the friends list and select all people you’d like on the list)
• Create a “limited” profile list where teachers/students are listed –
• Go through to manage privacy settings
           o Status updates – make sure to put your limited list as blocked (you can also add individuals that you don’t want to see)
           o Repeat this for wall posts, videos and personal information (and any other “questionable” information)
• Photo albums can be made private on an album by album basis
• Don’t post anything that you may regret later – a good question to ask is, “How would my parents feel about seeing this? My future children?”

Teacher role models struggle in a social media world

Working in New York City a teacher can turn to the Post on almost any day and read about the exploits of teacher/student affairs in horror. Always wondering “how” or “why” do these things happen? Knowing the students I work with closely, I can understand, but don’t condone the blurring of the lines in this delicate relationship.

Traditionally, teachers conveyed knowledge to students for them to learn keeping their own lives as far from the table as possible. Personal lives and situations were definitely not fodder for classroom discussion. However, in a world where we’ve moved online and share our intimate thoughts as status updates on Facebook and Twitter, how does a teacher still maintain the boundary?

I have over 1200 “friends” on Facebook. Many of them are current students and former students as well as parents and colleagues. I eagerly accept friend requests while sorting them neatly into my specialized limited groups. Students know that if I do accept them as a friend (particularly current high school students) they are not seeing “all of me,” but rather just enough.

Students have told me that Facebook has demystified teachers and somehow made them more human. Knowing that their teachers are “real” people when they leave school has made us more relatable in the classroom and also gives us a common ground for connection. For example when I’m teaching my students about context in my English classroom, I explain that I am a different person with different people. I’m not a hypocrite though, I’m merely asserting the need to establish and create boundaries with a variety of people which is an important skill in my life as a working adult. I use my Facebook friend status as a new tool for teaching by modeling. Sure, I’ve posted things that I wish I hadn’t, but I learn from it and I don’t make the mistake again. I show my students how to self-correct and readily apologize for my errors in judgment that as a human being I am likely to make. We are all human and flawed.

Not all educators however, embrace the new technology. Many of my colleagues and administrators worry about the implications of students knowing too much. Many say it is not what they post as that is controllable, but what others in their lives may post. Some older teachers don’t want students to know about what they do in their own lives saying that a student only needs to see them in this one professional role. My principal says that she “fears the phone call from the superintendent stating that line of appropriateness has been crossed.”

Where each of us stands as an educator on this subject is likely to ebb and flow as the technology becomes more a part of the lives of our students. It is clear that we can’t ignore where the world is moving, but need to better educate the students on how to be responsible with how they use these tools. How they represent themselves in the cyber-world will NOT go away even long after they grow out of whatever phase they are in now. Becoming a role model for how to manipulate these mediums for their benefit, may be the route we all need to go by keeping ourselves safe as examples for how it should be done.

Positives and Negatives of Social Media in and out of the classroom (sidebar)
• Students get to see that their teachers are real and therefore more relatable
• The teacher is demystified and more approachable
• The teacher can “watch out” for students at risk
• The teacher sees the students in more than one dimension
• Teachers need to be careful of what they post knowing that it can be misconstrued – tone is hard to read online
• Certain private activities should be kept private on both sides: teachers don’t need to know about student sexual activity or drug use and students don’t need to know about teachers doing these activities either
• Teachers are mandated reporters of abuse of any kind and being aware of students outside the classroom makes a teacher more liable and responsible
• Administrators need to set school wide protocols for dealing with social media so that all teachers send the same message
• Parents believe that being more accessible to students, teachers can help their children almost immediately.
These are just a few of the thoughts that came out of my research for this sidebar… I will get some art work to go with this as per your request. Thanks.

It’s worth the hair loss at deadline - featured in Advisor Update Fall issue

It’s worth the hair loss at deadline

Creating a newspaper program on scrap to publication:

Scholastic print journalism and its continued importance in a convergence society

Daunting. Overwhelming. Hectic. Crazy. These are perhaps the first words that come to mind when asked to advise or teach newspaper, the seemingly dying branch of scholastic journalism, to budding high school reporters. It’s time consuming and sometimes demotivating but completely worthwhile despite the growing discussion of convergence and the expiration of many major professional newspapers. Despite this grim reality, there is something completely gratifying about teaching students how to write well, design eye catching pages, work as a team and then the pride involved with sharing a newspaper (regardless of the ink latent fingertips) for an authentic audience.

When I arrived at World Journalism Preparatory School, it was evident that this school was not like other schools I had taught at before. It had only been open for one year prior to my arrival and already it had a reputation for greatness that was unsurpassed by other places. The teachers enjoyed working there and the administration was remarkably supportive. It was the best case scenario for starting a newspaper: open press, no prior review and complete student responsibility and ownership. I was told right away that I was there to help them grow as journalists, not to do it for them. (Honestly it was a relief because the last school I had taught in was literally the complete opposite… principal had to see every issue before it went out and the kids couldn’t say anything that was even slightly off putting about the school. It was stifling to say the least.)

Where to begin, though? I spun my wheels for a little bit taking what I know about writing for and running a paper and trying to translate it into a class that would produce a paper.

The First Try – our biggest failures are often the impetus for our greatest successes
Things didn’t start off as well as I had hoped they would. Getting the students to write was a challenge despite the fact that they attended a school that centers itself around writing. Breaking them out of the mold they were accustomed to writing in was the next challenge and then teaching them InDesign was surely going to lead me to early retirement. My first year was a bit of a learning experience for everyone. We were able to get out three issues, none longer than eight pages and although there was improvement, there was still much work to be done.

Round two: Learning from my mistakes – leading by example
After what I considered a less than successful start (as I hold myself and my students to extremely high standards), I knew a new approach was necessary. So I took a deep breath and started at square one again, mission statement. What is it that we want to represent? What kind of editorial policy should we have? Whose voices should we represent? What is our purpose for being? The students broke up into groups and read an anonymously published editorial from the prior year and a letter to the editor that the parent coordinator had written in response to the editorial. This was the first necessary step. Without purpose and parameters, there would be no way to gage our growth; we needed to be deliberate in our actions and from the first step, the students needed to be the ones to decide. Ownership needed to clearly be theirs.

The class was asked to search the mission statements and editorial policies of other school and professional newspapers and to post what they had found on our class blog. We then came together as a class and created what we felt was a good composite of what we saw. The students felt strongly about not allowing “unprofessional language” into the paper. They wanted to be taken seriously. The tone was already different from the year before and it was clear we all meant business. I knew that they would work harder than they had ever worked before in an English class, but the rewards would be greater than anything they had experienced before as well. “My impression of our class was that it we were going to learn about how to write in a newspaper and by the end of the year I learned InDesign and how to write different types of articles,” said Eirene Skocos, sophomore. “I wasn’t expecting the class to be so hard. I thought we were going to learn how to write articles and then there was so much other work like the Blazer [the school paper].” Many of the students felt the way Eirene did and many of them asked to be transferred out of the class complaining that it should have been listed as an Advanced Placement (AP) because of the amount of work. Motivation was going to be an issue and continued to be (for all of us).

Writing boot camp
The hallmark of any good paper is good writing. So we put design on hold for the first few issues until the students were writing up to par. Mini lesson after mini lesson, we would work entirely as a publication. Everyone learned news writing first and tenets of it. We had long class discussions about what legitimate news was and the kind of material we wanted to run in our news section. We talked about timeliness, proximity, importance, audience. We examined newspapers with ongoing current events assignments where they looked at author’s craft reflecting on the writer’s ability to stick to the inverted pyramid and determine how engaging the style of lead was. How could they use what they were seeing in their own writing? What could they improve?

Learning news writing is difficult, particularly when accustomed to writing essays, so the students were having a hard time conceptually. They revised and revised tirelessly as I sent them back to the drawing board to cite sources and check facts and get more quotes, shorten paragraphs. We conferenced daily to address the individual needs of the students and just when they started getting their footing about themselves, the layering began. And so began the three ring circus. If we were going to run a proper paper, we needed more than just a news section. The class was promptly split into sections and now in addition to writing the news the whole class was writing, each section was responsible for learning the new writing and creating a piece for that. The students decided what went in and by November, we had our first issue coming in at 16 pages which was longer than almost all of the previous year put together. We were on a roll and the students were exhausted.

Every time we satisfactorily finished a type of writing as a class, we started a new one and the students were still responsible for keeping up with their section work as well. If we happened to be working in their section, then they needed to produce two articles for the next issue. We continued to conference daily and my section leaders checked in with me daily as well. A reference library was created for students who needed more modeling or more reading time and the students began using it as often as they used me and each other to improve their writing. Before long, we were really functioning as a paper.

Feature writing, investigative feature, editorial/opinion, sports writing and entertainment found their way into everyone’s thoughts. We talked about proper interviewing technique, reviewing notes and citing appropriately. Continued discussion of content and writing were ongoing and abundant, but the conversations moved away from my direction and into their hands. After having taken the Poynter’s boot camp last summer, it had been suggested to allow the students to make and learn from their own mistakes without my shielding them too much. This piece of advice got me through this year and I think all of them are better journalists for it.

Selecting the first editors as the leaders emerge
I had my clear talent and my clear leaders in the room. Struggling with how democratic the process should be, I worked alone for this first selection process. Seeing as I knew them as students and writers now, I knew who needed pushing and who needed more time. My editors in chief were an unlikely pair: a natural leader with people skills, but with less than stellar writing and an impeccable writer who was longing to be set free from her shell. They turned out to be a great pair; both eager from the get go to please me and do a good job. The section leaders were standouts too, comfortable commanding several peers and capable of maintaining quality from their respective sections even when motivation was at an all time low. Those who didn’t think themselves capable, rose to the occasion because of my confidence that they could do it and others began to meet deadlines and help out despite not having the role officially assigned to them.

Progress… and the beat goes on and on and on…
The year went on and we managed to get out five issues, each one gaining in complexity and thoughtfulness of writing as well as design. InDesign proved to be the bane of many a students’ existence, but all of them showed proficiency in the end. We even called in a professional to teach a full day class to the teachers and students and then turn-keyed the information to the other students. It was remarkably helpful in getting the students engaged in wanting a more dynamic publication as well as getting more teachers to use the program in their instruction in our continued effort to further the journalism theme throughout content areas in our school.

The students continued to question the importance of everything that went in and tackled hard issues like the school’s grading policies and teacher involvement in student lives. There was a particularly good opinion piece written about teacher contact with parents that came from one of my other feeder classes. (I also taught a foundations in journalism class to my freshmen). They expanded their ideas of important to world news and managed to keep it interesting for a middle and high school audiences alike. With each paper that came out, the readership grew and by our final 60 page issue, there were few better sights than walking by all the classrooms after delivery and seeing the students flipping through the pages that we had created.

With the newspaper world crashing around, a newspaper teacher has to ask if this is a dying skill to teach now. For a high school such as ours, it is hard to say that we will ever give up the print form of reporting news. We have Nings and broadcasts and podcasts galore, but the authenticity of real newsprint will never go out of style. Despite the dirty fingers, the students wouldn’t readily run to the school’s website for the same information. In secondary education, the health of the school can be determined by their newspaper and for that reason, we must continue teaching this way. Having something to hold and look at and be proud of is irreplaceable and I’ve watched several kids become reporters this year that never thought they’d want to be them.

Helpful texts and websites when first starting out
Inside Reporting: A Practical Guide to the Craft of Journalism by Tim Harrower
Associated Press 2009 Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, 44th ed. Darrell Christian, Sally Jacobsen and David Minthorn, editors
Sports Writing: A Beginner’s Guide -Steve Craig
Scholastic Newspaper Fundamentals, 3rd ed. – Helen Smith
Newsu.org
www.studentpress.org

Simply May - my new published novel...

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Wonder Woman Incarnate

By Starr Sackstein


I was nine when the doctors told her she had six months to live.

“I’m going to fight this the only way I know how,” my mother was resolute in her belief about beating breast cancer like it was some kind of terrorist taking over her body.

“But what if you…” I whined, big wet tears falling from my nose plopping themselves lifelessly onto my hands.

“Don’t even go there. I’m not going to die.” My mom put my hands in hers enveloping me wholly. She was the one who sick and she was still the strong one keeping me together.

“My mother battled cancer and won. Although her methods were unorthodox, she did it. Despite what the doctors told her. Even if I thought my mom was a superhero before, I was now convinced that she could survive anything.

“What is that stuff?” I peaked into the basement to see a curious science project before me. The room smelled of freshly cut grass and spring time. The florescent lights shined brightly in the usually dank room.

“It’s wheat grass. It’s going to help me stay healthy.” She had done her homework and found out that wheat grass helped to build antibodies and make her body stronger. It was her secret weapon; her antidote for the kryptonite festering her in body.

“What are you going to do with it?” Of course if she was going to heal herself, I wanted to know more, but I couldn’t imagine what she was going to do…bathe in it?

“I’m going to drink a cup of it every day and so are you.”

“Okay, if it will make you feel better, I guess I can try some.” She handed me a small cup and told me to have some. I drank it and almost threw up. However much I enjoyed the sweet smell of freshly cut grass, I did NOT enjoy the taste of it. It was gritty, grassy and gross. Green spinachy blades that itched my throat as they wandered down and then back up my esophagus. “Yuck. You’ve got to be kidding me. There is no way I’m drinking that on a regular basis.” I winced as I stared back at my mother, eyes tearing and still trying desperately to get the taste out of my mouth.

“Don’t be so dramatic. It’s not that bad. Next time we will try to mix it into something sweet so that it doesn’t taste so badly.”

“If you say so, but I don’t think anything can make that stuff taste good.” Little did my mom know that I never drank or ate any more wheat grass regardless of what it was steeped in. I ended up spitting it up or not drinking it at all for the whole wheat grass phase which luckily didn’t last that long.

The wheat grass wasn’t the only thing that changed in the house, my mom’s whole aura changed. She was now a metaphysical being of light only projecting health and warmth. Most of my friends didn’t get it and neither did I, but it was making her feel better so it wasn’t to be disputed.

“We have to be careful of our energies. The more positive light we cast, the better the universe will provide for each of us.” My mom looked at me seriously as she spewed what sounded like rubbish to me. It was ludicrous. How can someone be so “light” and how am I emitting an aura? I didn’t understand any of it, but what I could appreciate was that my mom was entering another phase. She had lots of them.

We went through the real estate phase, the gourmet chef phase (everyone enthusiastically enjoyed this one, and now lastly the new age phase. Ultimately my mom ventured back to school to become a massage therapist in her 30s never having been good at school before. She had always felt fortunate about surviving the cancer and she wanted to help others feel better too. So my mom braved going back to school despite her own fears in an effort to help save the world. Luckily she had me to help. I figured she had done so much for me that the least I could do is teach her how to study and so I did.

“Mom, focus. You have a test tomorrow and you are going to fail if you don’t study.” I was firm, but loving just as she had always been.

“I still don’t get it though and I can’t remember anything,” frustrated she stared at me longingly. “Take the test for me,” she smiled because she knew I would never go for that.

“You can do this. You’ve done everything else and stop comparing yourself to me,” I sneered at her forcing a lack of comparison. I wanted to help, but I didn’t want to take over.

Graduating from massage school was just the beginning of my mother’s successes in this field. She works with cancer patients, autistic children and people with just plain aches and pains. No problem is impossible for her to attend to. My mother has taught me to be strong and independent, yet unafraid to reach out for help when necessary. Strong and seemingly fearless she has led by example and teaching me what it takes to be worthy of admiration. As a parent, teacher and friend, I can only aspire to her quirky, warm ways to make the world a better place.

A Benefit for the Lambertville Firefighters and NewHope/Lambertville Rescue Squad

BENEFIT FOR LAMBERTVILLE FIREFIGHTERS & LAMBERTVILLE/NEW HOPE RESCUE SQUAD HUGE SUCCESS

OUR SINCEREST GRATITUDE FOR YOUR SUPPORT

A Review Of The Event by Starr Sackstein (how it ran in the paper)



On November 24, 2001, in the small town of Lambertville, New Jersey, an intimate crowd gathered at the Rago Gallery. The objective was simply put in a press release: “In this time of uncertainty, it is critical that all communities support their local Emergency Resources. If we can stand strong individually, imagine the strength we’ll have collectively. Proceeds from this benefit will go to support our local Firefighters and the Lambertville-New Hope Emergency Rescue Squad.”

In support of the local Fire Fighters and Rescue Squad, an interesting mix of friends came together to share the stage. The audience enthusiastically showed their support by participating in several rock memorabilia auctions during the evening, emceed by local WDVR-FM DJ, Gino Macaroni.

The musical event began with Michael Falzarano and Professor Louie (aka Aaron Hurwitz) of Memphis Pilgrims playing a few numbers armed with only acoustic guitar, accordion and keyboard. The opening ballad, “One More Round,” was written by Falzarano about the September 11th catastrophe and the continued effort to find bodies at Ground zero. The somber tone of respect for firefighters and rescue workers who had to find and identify co-workers and loved ones echoed in his words of strength and courage. The duo followed with Bob Dylan’s “Blind Willie McTell" (off of The Band’s Jericho album), with Professor Louie providing vocals and keyboards, backed by Falzarano on guitar. The tempo picked up when Rob Wolfson (Toni Brown Band guitarist), joined the duo on “Baby Loves To Boogie” off of Professor Louie’s Jam album. The chemistry was obvious between the three musicians who did a few more songs together, ending their set with “Where Are You Going?,” a song about a young boy whose country needs him.

Living Earth took the stage shortly after another auction break, bringing the crowd to its feet with a set of Grateful Dead standards. No one could resist such powerfully fun, upbeat numbers like “Not Fade Away” and “Bertha.” Guitarists Bob Stirner and Alan Preti opened, singing “Not Fade Away” into “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad,” while Matt Ginsberg banged out a heavy drum line. Other highlights were “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Deal” and “Truckin’” with a finale “China Cat Sunflower/ I Know You Rider” medley. Bassist Dan Gold and keyboardist Bob Albasi rounded out the band’s Grateful Dead sound.

Next, the Toni Brown Band was poised to impress and entertain. Brown, had a particularly personal reason for contributing to the benefit—she is a local New Hope resident,. The set opened with an up-tempo “Midnight Moonlight,” and Toni quickly had the crowd singing along and tapping their feet. Accompanied by guest drummer Matt Ginsberg from Living Earth, the group did “Last Row In The Balcony” off of her first album, Blue Morning. Glenn Spivack’s pedal steel helped create the band’s unique sound, while bassist Ian Zdatny banged out a strong rhythm and Rob Wolfson added delightful lead guitar licks. A personal favorite was the new “Rabbit Hole Soul,” a song about finding home, which Toni dedicated to her husband.

The evening’s climax came when Toni brought out all the evening’s musicians, creating an amazing ensemble. They kicked off this mini-set with Rob Wolfson singing “Deep Elem Blues” and Professor Louie playing the accordion. The crowd joined in by singing and dancing along with the uncommon mix of musicians. Next Professor Louie performed “Next Time You See Me” and everyone was able to stretch out on extended solos. The musicians were having a great time. Toni sang her sultry version of “New Minglewood Blues,” followed by Michael’s renditon of “Big Railroad Blues.” Other highlights included the appropriate “U.S. Blues,” “The Weight,” sung by Glenn Spivack, and a big finale of the Flazarano-led “Friend of the Devil.”

It was a perfect evening. The night was filled with fun and surprises. It was great to see so many seasoned performers share the music in this casual setting. The Rago Gallery’s open floor served as an indoor lawn, and vendors added to the outdoorsy feel. It was a memorable night for the privileged crowd who turned out in support of a worthy cause.



Starr Sackstein has had work published in Relix magazine, along with local newspapers and periodicals.

The end of the Wetlands... also a long time ago -Bob Dylan tribute

Inspiration and Celebration


By Starr Sackstein



Convening in the Wetlands Preserve on May 24, 2001 were musicians, enthusiasts, poets and common folk alike all to celebrate the 60th birthday of folk-rock legend Bob Dylan. The scene itself was tame to begin as the masses sat cross-legged on the floor or leaning on the bar watching and listening to the Bob Dylan hopefuls and wannabes perform during the open mike hour. The crowd rallied in support of the many people who gave their hand at interpretive readings and acoustic renditions of Bob’s songs through the smoke and clutter.



It wasn’t until about 8:45PM when the acts took the stage. It was a nonstop night of praise and tribute for the one guy who was so ahead of his time and continues to make music that provokes emotion and thought. Bob Dylan’s voice has always been heard even if it hasn’t been understood because it was always about the message. It was astutely put as one of musicians dismounted the stage after performing a really tight couple of songs and being complimented, “Now I just wish I actually knew the words.” There were many bands over the course of the evening that did one or two Bob tunes and then respectfully left the stage to let others pay their tribute. Some of which tried to imitate Bob’s vocal stylings and others who went for the more melodic, less traditional direction.



The relatively small, dimly lit bar filled up quickly. The group was on their feet packed into one another on the dance floor and in the bar area. There was no room to navigate and it was difficult to get anywhere once you settled in. Personally, I was just looking for a resting-place to write and have a view of the stage without being burned by a cigarette or having a beer spilled on me. It wasn’t a hostile crowd, (the only consolation was that it was friendly group), but it’s hard to not bump into people when there is no room to move. I think it was a real testament to the continued popularity of Bob Dylan’s music and proof that he has touched the lives of so many people. It’s too bad he couldn’t have been there to witness the admiration.



Some highlights were Tiberius with a rockin’ version of “New Pony” which set the bar for the evenings festivities. JJ Appleton sang “True Love Tends to Forget” in true Bob Dylan style. Dan and Kev got the crowd off their feet with “Motorpsycho Night” which was perfectly punctuated with a sticker, which read “Fuck Off” on Dan’s guitar. There was brief break in the storm when Dean Bowman mounted the stage with his version of “I Shall be Released.” He won the crowd over with his style and soul in true folk fashion. However, it wasn’t until Martin’s Folly played “Catfish” that the crowd seemed really involved with the musicians. It was amazing to see a sea of people mouthing the words and enraptured by the performance.



By the time the Toni Brown Band hit the stage, the crowd was engrossed in the Bob whirlwind and nostalgia. It was then that Toni sang a heart felt version of “To Make You Feel My Love” that sent the chills up and down my spine. It was a triumph. The band that followed was equally as passionate as they crooned “Sarah.” What a phenomenal version of the song!



My props to all the bands that performed, it must be incredibly intimidating and exhilarating to perform the music of such an important artist. There was an extreme outpouring of support from the community. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it until the end of the show because it was a “work night.” This night was a true fairy tale for me, I had the opportunity to meet many artists that have had a profound impact on my life who were singing songs by the one man who made me want to become a poet in the first place. Bob Dylan is a mover, a shaker, an idol, a hero and a normal guy. He is an inspiration. He makes me want to change the world. He makes me believe that I can.