The secret of a classroom in New Jersey is finally revealed.
Daniel Gill has been teaching in Glenfield Middle School in Montclair for half a century already. And through the years, he left batch after batch of students with a lesson they’ll never forget.
It was the same lesson that gave the dedicated teacher a rude awakening and it was all represented by a single piece of furniture.
When a student walks into Gill’s classroom, they’ll chance upon an empty chair.
The empty chair sits at the center of the room. It’s not for detention nor is a seat reserved for school administrators when they want to observe the class.
The chair is a lesson in itself. It’s a reminder not only for the students but for him as well.
“Each year I teach lessons around Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday about the Civil Rights movement,” Gill told TODAY Parents. “I wanted to connect the students in a personal way to what that meant.”
It all started when he was 9. Back then, he was idealistic and has never relied on any bias except those that other innocent kids subscribe to.
Gill went to a children’s birthday party with a friend.
He and his best friend Archie were both excited and with gifts in hand. They rang the bell and the celebrant’s mother answered the door.
The mother of the child looked at Archie and Gill. Then, she told Archie that “there are no more chairs”. Gill was a bit confused. Why would someone refuse a visitor because of a chair? He even offered to sit on the floor or just get more chairs wherever they may get them.
The woman reiterated that there were no more chairs.
At that moment, a realization rudely shattered Gill’s perception of the world. The reason was blatant even if the means of refusal wasn’t – Gill was white and Archie was black. The woman was saying that Archie was not welcome.
They both went home crying. It was something a child wouldn’t have to go through. And through all those years, Gill has never forgotten.
Gill then fought for freedom against racial biases.
“We need to be a class of opportunity,” Gill told TODAY. “Archie was denied the opportunity to go to the birthday party because of a bias the woman had.”
That one moment when he was nine years old made him the teacher that he was today. Through his profession, he made sure that everyone is included.
Gill knew what opportunity meant and he fought for it.
As the magnet system for the school began, Gill was part of a task force that helped create a vision for the school and what kind of role it will play in the community.
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“This school was the promise of America to so many people in this community,” Gill said, as quoted by the Montclair Local. “The people in this part of Montclair were Irish immigrants, Italian immigrants, and African Americans who had emigrated to Montclair from the South. The building of this school was at least a testament to Montclair’s intention to provide an opportunity to everyone within the community.”
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It all started with a chair or the “lack” of it. Then it became a dream, a reality, and then a reminder. And ultimately, a guiding principle.
Watch what this strange empty chair meant for this school in New Jersey.
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