More Than a Calligrapher
 
 
 
Have you seen this lady walking around campus?  Browsing Shakespeare books in the library and teaching seventh graders literature lessons?  Her name is Nan Black, and she has a remarkable history in the Mill Valley School District.
    In the beginning, she rode her bike to and from various Mill Valley Schools, working in their libraries.  In fact, she was the ONLY librarian at Mill Valley schools.  Before her career started as MVMS librarian, she took a calligraphy class at Berkeley, and discovered what would soon be her favorite activity.  When MVMS first opened, Mrs. Black was there.  She remembers the four pods, Sun, Wood, Wind, and Sea, which contained grades sixth, seven, and eight.  
“The school was huge and busy with people wandering everywhere,” she recalls.  Black would practice calligraphy at early hours in the school library.  
She remembers, “Kids would come up to me and say, ‘Can you teach us?’  I guess that’s how I started the calligraphy club.”  What began as a small group of kids in 1975 turned into a school class, and then a club.
     These days, in addition to calligraphy, Black teaches seventh graders about William Shakespeare.  The program, which has been going on for seven years, has students study Shakespeare quotes and discuss the meaning of his plays.
 
When asked about the funniest thing that ever happened at MVMS, she replied, “I once had a student who did very good work and shaped all her letters beautifully.  When she did a poster for A Midsummer Night’s Dream it looked a bit too serious.  I said, ‘You must add something frivolous.’  She answered, ‘I don’t know how to be frivolous.’  I told her to try.  It took some time, but she embellished her work with flowers, branches and leaves, and wonderful curlicues. And- she was greatly pleased with herself- over and over she said, ‘I learned to be frivolous, I learned to be frivolous!’”
    When she’s not with students at MVMS,  Black enjoys cooking, baking, knitting, quilting, and of course, calligraphy.  She’s quite the artistic person.  
                                                           
 
 
 
By Lauren
STAFF WRITER