Honor Thy Teacher

Hollywood on the Potomac: WL Luncheon with The Creative Coalition
BY JANET DONOVAN

Washington Life magazine sponsored- The Creative Coalition and American Federation of Teachers luncheon in July, while Tom Cruise was publicly bouncing around on Oprah’s sofa professing love for his newly acquired fiancée Katie Holmes and Jude Law was apologizing to his fianceé for his nannygate shenanigans. The luncheon at Le Paradou restaurant celebrated teaching excellence, honored Creative Coalition celebrity teachers and was followed by an evening event where the 2005 Spotlight Awards were presented at The Washington Hilton by “West Wing” producer Lawrence O’Donnell, who went to high school with Richard Dreyfuss.“I came because [President George] Bush couldn’t,” quipped O’Donnell, who went on to say he thought the source in the Plame affair was Karl Rove, which is why there would be no West Wing visit this year. This drew a knowing glance from former White House bureau chief and current Hearst columnist Helen Thomas and Newsweek’s Eleanor Clift of The McLaughlin Group fame. O’Donnell’s presence was particularly meaningful, since as a former substitute teacher he, “really appreciates what they do.” The day was all about celebrities and their relationship to their teachers. Antwone Fisher, best known for his screenwriting abilities (“Behind Enemy Lines,”“Master and Commander,” “Runaway Jury” and“High Crimes”), is an amazing gentleman who survived a desolate and degrading childhood. Chronicled in his autobiography “Finding Fish,” he recounts the story of a boy who made it in the world with the help of a few good souls and by believing in himself. One of those good souls was a teacher. “A teacher found me and changed my life,” he said. Phylicia Rashad, best known as Clare Huxtable in “The Cosby Show,” spent her childhood in a creative and talented family environment in Houston. Bolstered by the discipline of her music teacher, she astonished even herself when she later performed with the Dallas and the Oklahoma Symphony. The teachers who touched her life were James and Vivian Harrison, who taught her three and four part harmonies.“You get an understanding of the capacity to learn,” Rashad said. “Vivian is a good teacher, who also understands how the student learns. Mr. Harrison taught all of the instruments and he took the student where a student wouldn’t dare to go.”“I predicted she would be a star,” Vivian Harrison said. “We made a video of every show she ever did.” Independent film icon Steve Buscemi and“The Sopranos” star Joey “Pants” Pantoliano followed suit with their own sagas. Each of their good souls was a teacher, and both agreed that it’s disgraceful that the teaching profession is both underpaid and underrated, especially when today’s world often requires them to fill in when parental guidance is lacking. Other guests at the lunch included former NPR’s award-winning legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg and Dr. Susan Blumenthal, former assistant surgeon general, among others.

Vincent A. Panvini and Jill Daschle

Morris Reid, Gene Wade and Robin Bronks

STEVE BUSCEMI SCHOOL: Shaw Avenue School, Valley Stream, NY TEACHER: Carl Riccobono QUOTE: “I was so scared. I mean here I was, we had moved to Brooklyn to Long Island. I was going to be starting public school and when I learned my teacher was going to be a nun, even though I had some pretty tough nuns, I was intimidated.”

ANTWONE FISHER SCHOOL: Parkwood Elementary School, Cleveland , OH TEACHER: Brenda Profit QUOTE: “She always enunciated so very well that it confused us. So, we had to pay extra attention to what she was saying in order to understand her.”

LAWRENCE O’DONNELL, JR. (Daughter’s 5th Grade School) SCHOOL: Canyon Charter School Los Angeles, CA TEACHER: Doug Stoll QUOTE: “Doug Stoll told me that when he left the movie business to become a teacher, he went from working with one group of babies to another group of babies.”

JOE PANTOLIANO SCHOOL: Cliffside Park High School, Cliffside Park , NJ TEACHER: Donna Regan QUOTE: “A teacher found me and changed my life.”

PHYLICIA RASHAD SCHOOL: George Bernard McClinton Turner Elementary School Houston, TX TEACHER: Vivian Harrison& James Harrison QUOTE: “Vivian tells me I still have two papers due.”