A KOTO Radio show, called Friday Live, in which Terry Selby interviews Steven Gluckstern. This interview probably took place in 1981. At the time of the interview, Gluckstern was the outgoing Telluride school superintendent. Steven decided to leave his position to pursue other opportunities and use other talents. He didn't realize that Telluride would come with a variety of personalities, since it is a small town. He was criticized as being too one-sided and pointing out problems without coming up with solutions for the school.
When Steven started his position, one of his goals was to improve communication among teachers, students, and the school board. He feels like he somewhat accomplished this. He listened to the children/parents and changed the quality of education for the better. In one program, he got some of the students outside of Telluride to learn about life in other places. He also feels like he improved the communication between the teachers and school board by creating a teacher's group that works with the board. They are currently working together to create a master contract for teachers that benefits both the school and the teachers. This was an accomplishment considering Gluckstern started when the teachers were on strike.
Another one of Steven's goals was to challenge the complacency of general education. The teachers increased their standards and gave the students more intellectual challenges. Some of these challenges were too much for some students that ultimately quit. For these students, Steven proposed educational experiences that made these children leave their comfort zones and travel to other places to learn in this way. Steven and Selby then discuss the Californian trip that was taken recently by about 18 students. These students raised the funds for the trip and learned through their experiences about things that they wouldn't be exposed to normally in Telluride, like a ballet and a museum of natural sciences. Seeing kids grow through non-traditional education was a great joy to Steven.
Gluckstern helped to create the Telluride Montessori class that will be for Kindergartners, but ultimately (hopefully) will grow into a K through 3rd grade class. Selby and Gluckstern then discuss the problems with children switching from non-traditional education to a more traditional education system.
Finally, Steven and Terry talk about the Underground--an arcade that Steven started because Telluride didn't have one.
What does the future hold for Steven? Steven says he will finish his MBA at Stanford and the family hopes to settle in Telluride, because it's a good place to raise a family.
Supported in part by an award from the Colorado Historical Records Advisory Board, through funding from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), National Archives Records Administration
