9th Grade Graduation

In May of 1973, I was deemed ready for the big leagues in terms of schooling. According to the Mills School, the ship was righted regarding my dyslexia and I was ready to jump back into the Flint public school system. They fixed my dyslexia issues by having me learn how to type on a typewriter. Personally, I didn’t feel any different. And I wasn’t like 100% back to the level I needed to be. I still have dyslexic issues today, but it definitely helped. 

from my perspective back then, school and learning was as tough as an overcooked steak. My parents didn’t think that it would be a good idea to throw me back into the public school system in Flint so they went searching for other private school options. I didn’t have a lot of say so in where I was going to school the following year. At 15 several of the friends I had back in elementary school had moved away so I didn’t know too many people in flint. I’m sure had I gone to the local high school the following year there would have been some familiar faces. 

The Leelanau School

After doing their research (no Google back then, so it was a little tougher LOL) My parents decided on the Leelanau school which was in Glen Arbor Michigan. I was like, “Is that close to Ann Arbor” when they first told me about it. “No. Not even close” my mother said. She said it was up in Travers City close to where we would go skiing.

As a family, we would go skiing in the winter at Boyne Mountain which was in Northern Michigan probably 90 minutes from Travers City. I loved our skiing trips and when I was informed that I might be going to school up in that area I thought it would be kinda cool. You got a ton more snow in northern Michigan in the winter than you did in Flint. At the time Leelanau was touted as a “College Preparatory” school. I was like, “What is a College Preparatory school” I questioned my parents.

The way I remember them explaining it was: “It’s a school where the smart kids go to prepare for college.” In other words, it was for smarter kids. Not like the Mills School which was for “educationally challenged” kids. I was thinkin, “So, now I’m considered an advanced student?” I didn’t feel like one at that point. 🤣

We had to go there to interview with the Headmaster and check the place out over the summer. It was about a 3.5-hour drive from Flint to Glen Arbor. The drive from Travers City to Glen Arbor is about 40 minutes. The last 15 minutes of the drive was like nothing I’d ever seen before. I think M-22 is a world-famous road now which the school runs directly off of.

The scenery up there is to die for. The rolling hills with all the trees and foliage was breathtaking. The day we drove there it was bright sunshine. But the road was covered with shade because trees were heavily lined on both sides of the road. The foliage created an umbrella like awning that kept the bright sunshine from hitting the pavement. Then, without warning as we wound our way through the winding exquisite landscape, to the left, there was a big aqua-blue lake that seemed to come out of nowhere through a brief opening in the dense trees on the left side of the road. we were above the lake by about some 200 feet. I about snapped my neck when I first saw the lake shimmering in its glorious beauty.

At first, it scared me because there was no warning, and then all of a sudden I get this glimpse of what looked like a bright glistening emerald. There was so much foliage and trees you could only catch little snapshots of the lake as we drove down country road 675. Every little clearing I saw I had to take in the majestic beauty of the aqua glistening water. It was so captivating. 

Christian Science

But here’s the big kicker on the Leelanau School back then…It was a Christian Science school. I was like, “Christian Science. What the heck is that?” I never heard the term before. I later learned that “Christian Science” was a religion founded back in the late 1800s by Mary Baker Eddy. I thought it would be strange having a Jewish kid going to a Christian Science school. I felt uneasy of the thought of going there.

Every morning from like 7:00 am to 7:20 am we were required to read from the book, Science and Health with keys to the scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. The primary belief in the Christian Science faith is that all healing comes from within; not from medication or drugs. Click here to learn more via Wikipedia. 

Conclusion

I remember we were out to dinner one night at the PX Barbecue in Flint and my parents were talking to some of their friends about my upcoming experience of going to Leelanau. When my dad told his friend about the school and that it was Christian Science he said, “Yep, my son’s gonna be a Scientist.” I was like, LOL!

Being Jewish and going to a Christian Science school made me a little nervous. I kinda knew that this wasn’t like going to a Christian church which terrified me at the thought of it, but it was was close second. I definitely wasn’t going to be wearing the Star of David and a Yamaka all the time. I played the Atheist card whenever I was asked about my religion. If someone pressed hard I’d say, “I was born Jewish, but I was never Bar Mitzvahed so I don’t consider myself Jewish.” 

Epilogue

I remember that first trip I went there with my Mom. She said, “This is God’s county up here” as she was inspired by the awe-struck beauty of the area. It’s beautiful there no doubt. But I think those words “This is God’s country” were more than just words. There’s an energy there I’ve never felt before. There’s a presence there I’ve never witnessed anywhere else. There’s a feeling that felt like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I’m convinced that God hung out there. I think anyone that went to that school at that time will tell you the same thing. There was a powerful supernatural energy there that I felt on a daily basis. In my next post I’ll share a couple with you. Stay tuned…