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MY SCREEN TEST

On a very hot summer day I took a day off  from Tri-State and instead drove to a Philadelphia high school that had a closed circuit TV “studio where I .  Waiting for Ms. Eberman and several of her ITV department staff.  I had prepared a "newscast" from articles about education I pulled from the Philadelphia Bulletin in at the Glassboro State campus library.  (My wife Nancy was a "dorm mom" and we were living in a very nice faculty apartment in Mullica Hall while she studied for a Master Degree in School Guidance)  This was long before the Internet and Google - what a difference having those tools would have made in my career, my life, but that's another story.

I sat at a desk and read my copy.  John, the coordinator of ITV services for the School District was as my “crew”  - he started a tape rolling and cued me.  I read three stories.  Nina barked, "That’s great, when can you start?"  Just like that I was hired as the Producer/host for the Division of Radio and Television school news show.  I replied that I would like to give a week's notice to my present employer.  Nina replied, "Done then.  It’s hot in here.  See you in a week."   And she was gone.

Little did I know that was the last of her "instructions" for me.  After my week of transition I reported to "21st and Parkway" the massive Board of Education headquarters for a massive school system.  I had my picture taken for an ID; given a desk; showed around the building and visited the top floor cafeteria that overlooked the bustling avenues of the City of Brotherly Love.

 I don’t remember about the rest of the day except the lunch was excellent - I think I was in shock.  But I do recall that at the end of my first day in broadcast TV I sat at my desk waiting for the rush hour traffic to subside when it hit me.  I just got a ten thousand dollar raise..."What the hell do I do now?" and called it a day and what a day it was!

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