Book Description

An idealistic teacher, a single mother, moves her family of three from Iowa to Harlem to teach children with special needs in the turbulent 1960s, getting her Masters Degree along the way. Czech society in 20th Century Iowa: The author was born Wilma Mae Malecek in 1927 and the book's first half offers detailed reminiscences of growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Fargo, North Dakota, during the Depression and war years.A mid-20th century Woman forges a career: The author, known then as Mrs Wilma Beason, details her break-throughs in teaching Special Ed while balancing career with family in Harlem in the 1960s.The LBJ era supported progressive education, Head Start. The author describes: - the LBJ era programs, Head Start and Follow Through, which she implemented in Harlem's P.S.119 and P.S.92 and later in upstate New York.- teaching Special Ed in the late 1950s in New York's Hell's Kitchen, followed by a career teaching Special Education in Harlem's P.S.119, the "Rat School", and by P.S.92, the Mary McLeod Bethune School. - her two mentors, both educators: Dr. Elliot Shapiro and Dr. Sydney Davis. - The Bank Street College's "Institute," Fall Semester, 1965.- two 1960s WNET documentary films by Dan Klugherz included Mrs. Beason: "Marked for Failure" (1965) and "The Uncertain Life" (1966). - Civil-Rights photographer Bob Adelman included Mrs. Beason in his 1966 photo-essay, "Life Without Father," in LOOK magazine.- her active field career with the Bureau of Early Children's Programs in Albany from 1972 until retirement.