It was the morning, and we were sitting in Donivan Barton's classroom on the third floor.
INVESTIGATIVE TEAM: Have you ever been threatened to be fired in your career of teaching over the methods to be used by any authority?
BARTON: Yes.
INVESTIGATIVE TEAM: Over your curriculum by the NYC DOE?
BARTON: Yes, as part of following their job, they threatened me.
What’s your LEAST favorite part of our school?
BARTON: The closet on the other side of my room. It feels haunted. It freaks me out.
MCNULTY: The basement.
Who is your favorite teacher?
BARTON: McNulty.
MCNULTY: Barton.
(Only to Barton) Why did you switch from being a humanities teacher to being a Latin one?
BARTON: I was half Latin, half Humanities, but when Ms. Burnet retired, I took over. That’s one answer to this question. The official one. The one I’ll give you (chuckles)
Do you get a say in the students who get into your class?
BOTH: No.
MCNULTY: I try, but it never works out (smiles).
BARTON: That’s one answer. The official one.
Would you like to change that?
BARTON: No. I like it being a surprise.
Do you support 54Now?
BARTON: Yes. Absolutely. I give my full support.
MCNULTY: With reservations.
BARTON: You did have that run in with certain people at this school about it (smiles)
What’s your favorite part of the holidays?
BARTON: Coming back to school.
MCNULTY: Seeing family, and sitting by the christmas tree.
For our first interview, we will interview the tech teacher at MS 54, Ms. Kirk.
Reporter: Why do you like MS 54?
Ms. Kirk: Because it's awesome.
Reporter: Why do you teach technology?
Ms. Kirk: Its fun. Its a fun elective to teach, and I wanted to teach it to seventh graders.
Reporter: Thank you for your time. That concludes our interview with Ms. Kirk, the Booker T. Tech Teacher.
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Fun