''High Feather'' is a 10-episode educational television show which ran on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
in the 1980s; each episode was 30 minutes long. The program's name came from the
Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
expression "High Fettle", meaning enjoying life and cheerfully doing the tasks of living. The heartfelt spirit of the show was captured in the lyrics to its theme song: "I'm in High Feather. Feel like the sun is shining on me. High Feather. I'm as free as I can be..."
The series, produced by the
New York State Education Department
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) is the department of the New York state government responsible for the supervision for all public schools in New York and all standardized testing, as well as the production and administration o ...
in 1980, followed eight teenagers (four boys and four girls) at the High Feather Summer Camp, where they learn values of honesty, sportsmanship, nutrition, physical fitness, and getting along with others. The series was filmed at Camp Madison-Felicia and Camp Minisink.
Episodes included "Ballerina", where Leslie, an
anorexic
Anorexia nervosa, often referred to simply as anorexia, is an eating disorder characterized by low weight, food restriction, body image disturbance, fear of gaining weight, and an overpowering desire to be thin. ''Anorexia'' is a term of Gre ...
, starves herself to the point of exhaustion to achieve a dancer's body.
Cast
The cast was an ethnically and racially diverse group of teens:
* Jacqueline Allen (Leslie Reynolds)
* Brian Goldberg (Stan Lipton)
* Virgil Hayes (Leo Bartlett)
* Richard Levey (Tom Page)
* Cindy O'Neal (Suzanne Freestone)
* Emily Wagner (Cathy Ehlers)
* Tasha Washington (Ann Campbell)
* Tino Zaldivar (Domingo Ramos)
* Robert Y R Chung (Kim -the Counselor)
* Brendan Cavanagh (Baby Joey)
Most of the show's young cast were not professional actors. Emily Wagner, who played Cathy, went on to appear as the character Doris Pickman on the long-running
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
medical series ''
ER''.
Adults
* Barbara Brown (Mrs. Riggs)
* Ramona Brito (Nurse)
* Powell McGill (Swim Coach)
Episode titles
#"Deep Water Test"
#"Stan's Secret"
#"Swifty"
#"A Nose for News"
#"Ballerina"
#"Lost in the Woods"
#"Going Home"
#"The County Fair"
#"Saved from the Pound"
#"Food Follies"
See also
*
''Vegetable Soup'' (TV series)
External links
*
''High Feather'' at Rick's TVOntario
Health education television series
PBS original programming
1980 American television series debuts
1980 American television series endings
Education in New York (state)
1980s American children's television series
American children's education television series
Television series about teenagers
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