The setting is the 1956-1957 school year in the southern lakes region of Wisconsin in the village of “Elk Woods.” While the story contains fictional aspects, it is a candid rendition of American culture during the era. It also depicts the potential for public education to prepare students and the community for thoughtful lives.

 

American schools typically have championed creative, resourceful curricula, writ large, and also been influenced by a robust, sometimes malign athletic environment. Thin Ice weaves from classroom and sports venues through the lives of students and adults who attempt to make sense of and have some effect on the complex, contradictory society that emerges during a formative period. It examines an underlying political temperament that too easily fosters dogmatic, authoritarian behavior. Yet, conveys the promise of democracy that is both progressive and educative.

 

Thin Ice is a metaphor for the socio-economic and psychological environment characters inherit, are party to creating, but challenged to comprehend. The three seasons — autumn, winter, and spring — of the school year frame the setting for the drama that unfolds in this intriguing aspect of cultural history.