Aura Kruger
Dr. Elaine Liftin
Last week, I was blessed to reunite with several friends from junior high school and one of my absolute favorite teachers, Mrs. Aura Kruger. What you have to know about this woman is that she along with colleague Dr. Elaine Liftin and the administrative team of Allapattah Junior High School changed the lives of several students back in 1969. I was blessed to be one of them.
The 1960’s were a turbulent time for this country. On the heels of major civil rights battles and the beginning of major protests of the Vietnam War, an uncontrollable and undeniable energy transformed this country and changed it forever. Mrs. Kruger, a diminutive woman, instilled in us a sense of infinite possibilities and the reality that attaining our goals might be met with obstacles but obstacles that could be overcome.
We were Title I kids. We had no idea that placement in the Title I Program was designed for students needing academic assistance. Dr. Kenneth Walker, principal of Allapattah at the time, chose to do the opposite. He made sure academically gifted students were selected for the Title I program at Allapattah. We would later learn that the powers that be in the Dade Schools district administrative offices did not believe our test scores or that we were learning different languages and reading Shakespeare. Mrs. Kruger and Dr. Liftin opened that world to us.
While the field trips for kids at other Title I schools consisted of visits to the Miami Seaquarium and the zoo, Mrs. Kruger took us to the Bass Art Museum at the University of Miami and to view movies like Good-bye, Mr. Chips. We also sang many of the popular protest songs and read the works of Maya Angelou. Whatever we saw or did typically resulted in a spirited discussion and/or an essay. It really didn't seem like work at all; it was so much fun. I don't know why, but each time I've thought about Mrs. Kruger over the last forty years, wondered what had become of her after she relocated to the West Coast, the first thing I think of is her teaching our class O Come All Ye Faithful in Latin.
Before last week's dinner, I reconnected with Mrs. Kruger through her daughter, Jo and my writing about Mrs. Kruger on the internet. She told me that her mom was doing well and she's writing her memoirs. It figures Mrs. Kruger would do something like that. It seems we had a profound effect on her as she did on us. Mrs. Kruger had been a housewife and raised her four children before teaching at Allapattah. She wanted to document her years at Allapattah because we were her first children.
Our dinner was definitely a surreal moment. I can only imagine the pride Mrs. Kruger and Dr. Liftin must have felt hearing their former students express how their lives had been impacted because of them. I could go on and on but just knowing that the Title I group produced teachers, physicians, ministers, administrators and business owners is quite an accomplishment.
I have left out many other tidbits about Allapattah and the lives of the Title I kids but perhaps I'll save that for another blog post. One of the reasons I'm a candidate for the school board is deeply rooted in my experience at Allapattah as one of Aura Kruger's Title I kids. She cared about us. She cared that we learned and challenged us because she knew we could learn more. I want every child to have a learning experience like the one we had at Allapattah Junior High School.
Thank you, Mrs. Kruger...Thank you, Dr. Liftin...Thank you, Dr. Walker and thank-you Allapattah Junior High family.
