Tony Danza

I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High is television, screen and stage star Tony Danza’s absorbing account of a year spent teaching tenth-grade English at Northeast High -- Philadelphia’s largest high school with 3,600 students. Entering Northeast’s crowded halls in September of 2009, Tony found his way to a classroom filled with 26 students who were determined not to cut him any slack. Featuring indelible portraits of students and teachers alike, I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had reveals just how hard it is to keep today’s technologically savvy – and often alienated – students engaged, how impressively committed most teachers are, and the outsized role counseling plays in a teacher’s day, given the psychological burdens many students carry.  The book also makes vivid how a modern high school works, showing Danza in a myriad of roles – from lecturing on To Kill a Mockingbird to “coaching” the football team to organizing a talent show to leading far-flung field trips to hosting teacher gripe sessions.

At the Festival: I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High Tony Danza Saturday, October 27 Paramount Theatre