everyday heroes
Real-life ‘Daredevil’
Dec 11, 2008 11:03 AM
Blind like the fictional superhero, teacher is a man without peer
Taking their rightful place in the hallway of fame are teacher Matt Brown and his sidekick, Stanley the guide dog, who are super heroes to kids at Brooklyn’s PS 36.
[For more photos, go to the “Real-life ‘Daredevil’” gallery]
In the pantheon of comic book heroes idolized by kids at PS 36, Daredevil rules. Daredevil — who has supernatural powers and zips across the pages of Marvel Comics in his red mask, leaping from Manhattan’s buildings faster than an express train — is blind.
The kids at this District 75 school don’t call him Daredevil, however.
They call him Mr. Brown.
That’s because Matt Brown is the name of their supercool teacher who — in rain, shine or snow, on subways swift or subways slow — appears at school every morning with his superdog, Stanley, the intrepid canine with a college education from Guiding Eyes to the Blind.
“Mr. Brown is inspirational,” said Ellee Hayon, speech teacher and chapter leader at the warm, UFT-friendly school in the East New York section of Brooklyn.
“He shows that no matter your disability, you can accomplish your goal,” she said. “Not to mention getting to school on time! The kids know that he doesn’t use Access-A-Ride but public transportation like they do. So no excuses!”
Similar to the orphaned Daredevil in the comic book, most of the students at PS 36 deal with abandonment. Whether in abusive foster homes or elsewhere, many survived forces of darkness the likes of which wouldn’t appear in a comic adventure series. Learning is impaired not by physical disabilities but by emotional and behavior issues.
Daredevil in the comic book became physically impaired on a rescue mission, when radioactive cargo blinded him yet mysteriously enhanced his other senses to a supersonic degree.
Brown — who was born with Leber’s amaurosis, a rare inherited eye disease that affects one out of approximately 80,000 people — has an enhanced way of seeing, especially when it comes to his students.
“Being visually impaired allows me to see past their exterior, like if they have the latest sneakers or if they’re white or African American or Hispanic, or skinny or large,” said Brown, who is a self-contained special education teacher of reading, math, social studies and writing, has served as faculty adviser for the school newspaper and on numerous committees, and helped write the school’s Comprehensive Education Plan.
“I notice the person first, get my impression of people from their actions and what they say,” he said.
Brown says one of the best parts of his job is working with a great team. With Brown, students and canine team member Stanley are paraprofessional Kilvis Evangelista (far left) and teacher Michelle Amey (far right).
One of the first things Brown did when he came to PS 36 five years ago was to make Lynn, the golden Lab who was his guide dog at the time, a team teacher in reinforcing good behavior. On Fridays after a good week, he’d take Lynn out of harness and let the class play with her. By then everyone knew the rules about interacting with a service dog.
“When Matt started here, he took it upon himself to visit every class to talk about his disability, about guide dogs, and to make Lynn part of the school,” said Principal Johanna Schneider. “He’s perfect with this population, but he would be perfect with any student population. He is absolutely the most awesome teacher I ever met in my life.”
At first the kids were afraid of Lynn, Brown said, because their only experience with dogs was with snarling ones lunging against chain-link fences.
But by the time Lynn was ready for retirement and left to live out her golden years upstate with Brown’s sister, the kids were devastated. Schneider, whose office features framed photographs of Lynn, cried.
“Stanley is still new on the job,” Schneider said. But the sleek black Labrador serving as Brown’s current guide is gaining in her affections, she added.
Stanley is taking a break now in his little classroom kennel as Brown teaches a dozen 13- and 14-year olds.
In the crook of Brown’s arm is a small machine that looks like a cross between a computer keyboard and a concertina. It’s a Braille display terminal, one of several high-tech accommodation devices the school bought that enable Brown to work with kids on classwork.
“A leopard dog?” Brown says as he goes over a student’s work. “Read it again, Hakeem,” he says, referring to a story about a fictional dog named Buster who wears a harness.
“Oh, a Labrador, like Stanley,” Hakeem says.
The class is in the midst of a disability project that Brown designed so that “kids can get a better understanding of physical disabilities and appreciate what they do have, instead of focusing on what they don’t have,” he says.
He works with props, including blackout glasses and super dense ear plugs, and is still trying to figure out how to simulate being paralyzed in a wheelchair. There are a lot of takers for a session with the blackout glasses.
A classroom visitor introduces herself to young Trevonne, whose turn it is today to wear the glasses.
“I can’t see you,” Trevonne says with great pride. “I’m blind.”
“I’ve been blessed to have a smart board in my room,” Brown tells the New York Teacher later, “which is a kind of computerized chalkboard. I let the kids type up math problems and they get a lot more interested.”
Motivating students is his top priority. He’s in the process of writing grants to be able to take them on more trips, to expose them to culture, not to mention the circus.
He says his main challenge is balancing enrichment with all the required testing and his biggest reward is when former students call to say they’re doing well — especially when they report they’re now in general education classes.
“I’m extremely fortunate to be at this school, feel blessed to be part of a great team, and I love my principal. How many principals would’ve taken a chance on a visually impaired person to teach kids with deep emotional and behavioral issues?” Brown said.
“I didn’t hire Matt,” said Schneider. “I hired his dog.”
That’s the long-standing joke at PS 36, she adds, recalling how she first met Brown.
Schneider was at a noisy, chaotic hiring hall, admiring from afar the confidence and independence of an aspiring young teacher making his way through the chaos with a guide dog.
Suddenly, perhaps a little disobediently, the dog veered, led Matt Brown directly over to the booth and sort of fixated on Schneider.
“What can I say, I had a cosmic connection with that dog,” Schneider said.
And Matt Brown, along with his intrepid superdogs, has been at PS 36 ever since.
