My trip from the studio to our new control room pases through what’s left of our old control room–the ghost of television past! There are wires poking through the floor, a bank of now worthless black and white monitors and not much more. Yesterday while walking through I noticed a man dismantling the console where the director and producers used to sit.
“Scrapping it?” I asked?
He looked up from beneath the beaten console, then stood up to shake my hand. It was Joe Tenczar a teacher at North Branford High School and presumptive winner of any Mike Rowe lookalike contest.
Joe proceeded to tell me about the program at NBHS where students were learning to edit and produce their own newscast.
He seemed like the kind of guy you’d want to be a teacher. He was motivated. He saw purpose in what he was doing. He was genuinely pleased with his impact on young lives.
He also seemed a little too handy to be a teacher. I guess that’s my hangup. Aren’t they supposed to be all thumbs and nerdy?
It’s just a piece of old beaten up furniture Joe carted away with Phil Zocco’s help, but now I’m happy for it. It’s going to serve a higher purpose.
Hey North Branford, treat it well.