7 minute read
Classroom Cinema
Ramapo High School Teacher Appears On Turner Classic Movies
By Kevin Czerwinski
Susan Loccke doesn’t necessarily consider herself “a film person.” Sure, she loves a good movie as much as anyone, but she is as attracted to the stories being told as she is the medium used for delivery.
That’s probably the biggest reason why she has incorporated film into her classes at Ramapo High School. The long-time educator teaches English to underclassmen in addition to a film class for seniors and uses cinema as a way to enhance her student’s experience with literature.
Loccke’s unique approach to helping her students not only read more but enjoy what they are reading has made her a successful and popular teacher. It has also allowed her to carry her message beyond the Franklin Lakes-based school. Loccke, 51, was selected to take part in the Turner Classic Movies celebration entitled “Classroom Cinema: Teacher Selections.” TCM honored educators in June and Loccke was one of four teachers from around the country who appeared on the network to introduce and discuss their favorite classic films.
She appeared on TCM on June 16 and introduced and discussed A Streetcar Named Desire, the 1951 adaptation of the Tennessee Williams classic starring Marlon Brando; A Raisin in the Sun, the 1961 Sidney Poitier film based on the Lorraine Hansberry Broadway play; and Lord of the Flies, the 1963 adaptation of William Golding’s novel about a group of boys stranded on an uninhabited island.
“I like a classic story and I try to tell the kids that film is just another story platform,” said Loccke, who lives in Ridgewood with her husband Richard and their three children Olivia, 21, Julianna, 19 and Andrew, 16. “It is so hard to keep them reading. Reading has become a challenge in the modern age. There are so many places you can go to not read. It has fallen out of favor and because they [students] have access to so much technology, reading pales by comparison. So film is a great platform.”
“Reading is a personal interaction with the author. It’s a one-on-one conversation that no one else can
have. We can all read the same book and picture it differently and I make the point that the movie is just another version that can be altered with the director’s vision. You can’t watch the movie and then read the classic as easily as reading it then watching the movie.”
Loccke’s approach to teaching the class proved to be a perfect fit for TCM, with whom she was put in contact by her cousin, who works for the network. She told her cousin what she did in the classroom and how she did after the network told its employees to be on the lookout for teachers who could possibly make good candidates for the June special. Loccke was then introduced to the folks on the project and “it went from there.”
The whole process began in February. Loccke, who has taught English in public schools for 25 years, told the folks at TCM what she did, what kinds of movies she used, what kind of classes she taught and the reactions that she received from her students when the films were shown.
She provided TCM with a list of possible movies she could use and after trading emails for a few weeks, the whole process began to speed up in April and culminated with her filming her segment with TCM host Alicia Malone via Zoom in May.
Loccke said that despite talking in a classroom for more than two decades she was still nervous when it came time to record her segment. That it was exceptionally warm that day and the room in her house which she was filming doesn’t have air conditioning only added to her jitters yet she ultimately handled her day in the spotlight with aplomb. However, she is not excited to see herself on the small screen.
Loccke, however, isn’t at a loss for words when it comes to the films she shows in class or the reasons behind why she has chosen this medium to reach her students.
“I just love movies that capture an amazing story,” said Loccke, who also taught English in the Republic of Guinea in Africa while she was in the Peace Corps from 1994-1995. “The best classic literature spawns great, classic renditions of movies with iconic actors. I have done Streetcar with Marlon Brando with my seniors and I love Raisin in the Sun. Lord of the Flies doesn’t have standout actors but I think it’s a good rendition for a book that’s tricky. The writing is a little dense and there is a lot of high-level vocabulary and description. I think the movie helps bring it to life.”
Loccke said one of her inspirations for using film in the classroom is to provide her underclassmen with a reward. Her students are always asking her if there is a film that corresponds with the book so she uses the film as a payoff once the students have finished reading the novel. She shows as many as three movies a year to her underclassmen. Time constraints – her classes are 40 minutes long – usually prevent her from showing more.
“A lot of what they read they read on their own [and not in class],” Loccke said. “The movie is a great way to provide a communal feeling and it provides something they can share together. You can have a discussion and share it and the movie is something we all experience at the same time so it is very unifying.”
Such was the case when Loccke addressed the largest classroom of her career on TCM.
Harold and Stella Peterson, Jessica Mitchell, Marie and John DeCicco
Sapna and Dr. Vipul Shah, Dr. Scott Luchs, Jessica Mitchell Travis Fiume, Jimmy Macagna Corey Deixler, Mark Gross Stella and Harold Peterson, Dr. Mary Leahy, Marie and John DeCicco
Bill Pendergast, Phil Stiller, Charles Deputhod
Jan Klein, Geanette and Doug Katz, Bob Milone, Barry Lieber Diane and Joseph DeCicco
Cathy Grady, Adrienne Wasserman and Robin Kim Gayle and Dr. Cary Hirsch, Helene Guss
Kevin Kern, Jeff Deiss, Chris Tebbitt, John Bruggemann
Andrew and Jaymee Somberg, Dr. Patrick Murray Front row: Susan and Richard Baxt, Isabel and Jimmy Pestronk; Back row: Mark and Linda Greene, Gayle and Dr. Cary Hirsch, Jill and Stephen Feibusch
Mitesh Shah, Anuj Gupta, Juan Henriquez, Dr. Perminder Grewal, Timmy Grewal, Q. Bhatia, Ravi Kumar and Gary Grossman
Cindy VanderPlaat and Jessica Franjul-Pena Dr. Scott Luchs, Dr. Michael Schwartz and Dr. Ken Austin
Dr. Perminder Grewal and Dr. Arup Bhadra Dr. Michael Schwartz and Irene Tsetsekos
Bill Kelly, Frank DeCicco and Rich DeSimone Dr. David Ober, Gayle Hirsch and Doug Graubard
John and Marie DeCicco and Stella Peterson Back row:Sister Susan Evelyn, Harold Peterson, Dr. Mary P. Leahy, Joseph and Diane DeCicco, Susan Gerry and Helene Guss
