The Making of Mr. Leopold's Neighborhood
The idea popped up in a staff meeting one Tuesday afternoon while we sat, looking at each other with blank faces and wondering how we were going to go on as a school in the time of Covid 19. We’d just gotten word that schools were definitely closing. How could we, as a relationship-based institution, manage to keep our connections with students under this circumstance?
Mr Leopold joked, “I could do Mr. Leopold’s neighborhood!” he said, and sang “it’s a quarantine day in the neighborhood, a quarantine day from a neighbor, don’t you be mine…” Everyone laughed and Jeanette said, “I love it! We’ll do it.”
Chela picked up the ball and ran with it. She got a camera and a recorder and began booking the teachers into socially distanced segments to feature each of their courses with segues between features provided by Mr. Leopold’s songs and comments. Who knew the weeks of “sheltering at home” would drag on. Episode went to episode and what began as a modest no-budget stop gap fluff piece with slapdash editing would turn into a multi-million dollar Hollywood production…well…
Nine episodes did get made and Chela’s editing did improve modestly along the way. Particular episodes that come to mind are “Earth Day” and “Spring Break”. We spent the Earth Day week picking up trash all around the neighborhood. Spring break turned into an imaginary vacation by the Stern family to Maine for a canoe trip; a journey to the Blue Ridge Mountains with the Damiao’s, Mrs. Irimina in Hawaii, Kinchasa at the beach, and so forth. Mr Leopold added the bookends from his hobo camp where he sang us the tales from the hardknock days “riding the rails” by poor transient laborers. Other episodes included a voyage into the mysteries of Spring flowers with Ms Patricia, Tai Chi with Mrs Chin, Farm lessons from Mr. Bosch, and of course a chance meet up with Frau Haupt and her new puppy - who obeys German commands about as well as those in english.
As the landscape changed from late Winter snows through Spring rains and the greening and flowering of the fields and forests, we waited while the social landscape changed. We learned to distance ourselves physically while holding each other firmly in heart and mind. We zoomed and zoomed here and there, over the Threefold campus, and over the ethers of internet. As of this writing we’re hovering somewhere between knowing and not knowing what to expect in the future. The theme of Mr Leopold’s neighborhood, “it’s all a big mystery to me” still stands, and perhaps he’ll be back for more episodes if circumstances (and audience) demand.