Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 133

Prayer At The Old Ballgame, In 'Rituals' Page H3 SUNDAY 'THE LARAMIE PROJECT THEA TER WORKS HARTFORD i ALABAMA OAKDALE WALLINGFORD TO QUOTE THE THREE STOOGES: ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL AND EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF SUNDAY. SEPTEMBER 9,2001 THE HARTFORD COURANT SECTION SERVICE IS ADRIANNE BAUGHNS-WALLACE 'S PRIORITY To Teach, To Dream, Of Course To Buy 1 11 II IHIIIIUfMl SUSAN CAMPBELL During a particularly heavy and persistent rain last March, my friend Tina watched her basement fUl with 5 or 6 inches of brackish, oily water that came from everywhere and soaked into her stuff. Fortunately, when the rain stopped, the flood did, too. Unfortunately, by the time she got a pump and cleaned the mess, she was out about $1,200 worth of school supplies. Tina's an educator, and nooks and crannies of her Cape are stacked with lesson plans and workbooks and the like.

The stuff on the top shelf made it. The stuff on the bottom did not. Tina has been in education since she got out of college in 1978 first as a teacher and now as an administrator. When she first stepped into a classroom at an urban elementary school, she immediately loved it. She loved the dark-eyed children who hugged her and called her "Miss." She loved the brushed-and-scrubbed students who smiled shyly at her, and she loved the ones who gave her attitude maybe especially the ones who gave her attitude.

One day early in her career, she thought she was doing a fantastic job when one of her litde darlings a happy boy named Deogracia leaped upon his desk and began singing and dancing to "Le Freak" "Aaaah, freak out! Le Freak, C'est Chic!" Tina can still remember his delighted face while he, for a moment, gave himself over to disco fever. It makes for a funny story now, but at the time, it made Tina wonder at her efficacy as an educator. She learned not to sweat those little incidents, just as she learned that every year, while the rest of the parents buy school supplies, she would buy supplies as well. Except where the rest of us are buying five or six pens, she was buying them by the gross. Someone always forgets a pen, but the world can't stop for someone ill-equipped for learning.

Other parents contribute a box of Kleenex to the school; teachers buy them by the case. Teachers learn the whys and wherefores of the sales at B. or Sam's or other warehouses that recognize the need for some people to buy in bulk. One year, Tina bought protractors and scissors, because such items were not in the budget. She's bought crackers and snacks, because sometimes kids skip breakfast, and sometimes those same GOTOH3 ADRIANNE BAUGHNS-WALLACE is now director of financial education in the office of the state treasurer.

BY TARA WEISS COURANT STAFF WRITER her former life as a TV news anchorwoman, Adrianne Baughns-Wallace was as prominent as local news personalities come. Adrianne Baughns, as she was known before she got remarried, co-anchored the main newscasts for the state's dominant station; WFSB, Channel 3. She is "I don't know how you quantify popularity, but if you walk down the street and people are kissing your hands that's popularity," says Pam Cross, a former WFSB anchorwoman who now works at WCVB in Boston. Then, as suddenly as she joined the TV news SPOTLIGHT OUT business back in 1973, she left WFSB in 1982 and never looked back, leaving behind what many considered a promising career. But for Baughns-Wallace, then a 37-year-old divorced mother of 12-year old Jules, the choice was clear, and it had been a long time coming.

"I really needed to define for myself what my son needed and what I needed for our lives," she says. "The structure of the anchor lifestyle was no G0T0H8 acknowledged as New England's first female African American news anchor. Meetings with her son's teachers were scheduled for first thing in the morning so she could get in and out of his school discreetly. She was approached by viewers in stores and restaurants so often that she began wearing disguises. But those efforts were often futile, as her sultry, smooth voice was ultimately too recognizable.

She was a bona fide Connecticut celebrity. PHOTO BY SHERRY PETERS THE HARTFORD COURANT 'Let The Kids Play' Advice From A Pro By VALERIE FINHOLM COURANT STAFF WRITER Once a month, The Courant talks with authors of recently published books offering advice on relationships and living our lives. Years later, the memory still clings. Standing on the sidelines of my young daughter's soccer game, I approached the head Soccer Mom with a check for the upcoming coach's party. "I'm sorry, I don't know you," she said, making it clear in an instant that she knew I had been in violation of the perfect-attendance policy required of soccer moms.

Next time I'll hand her a copy of former NBA player Bob Bigelow's new book, "Just Let the Kids Play, How To Stop Other Adults from Ruining Your secret: Your child doesn't always want you there." Bigelow iscallingfor in the adult-oriented way youth sports are set up. It is the system, he says, that should be targeted, as well as the wayward adults who fake birth certificates so their 14-year-olds can play in baseball GOTOH5 Child's Fun and Success in Youth Sports" ($12.95, Health Communications, In the book, written by Big-elow with reporters Tom Moroney and Linda Hall, he advises parents to make it a habit to miss a game once in a while. '1 chuckle when parents proudly tell me they haven't missed even one practice or game in the seven years their children have been playing sports. Here's a little CONVERSATION: THOUGHTS ON OUR 'MOST ITALIAN' STATE, H2 LOVE STORY: BOYFRIEND MAKES ONE GREAT PITCH FROM SECOND BASE, H6.