AERO-GRAMME #23 The Magazine of the Alternative Education Resource Organization 417 Roslyn Rd., Roslyn Heights, NY 11577 * ISSN # 10679219 516 621-2195 FAX 516 625-3257 E mail: jmintz@igc.apc.org Web site: HTTP://www.speakeasy.org/~aero WINTER 1998
See Special Changing Schools Section for new Articles and info on International Alternative Education Conference
AERO is on NPR's Talk of the Nation In early February a call came in from National Public Radio, in Washington, DC. They wanted to do a story on alternative education on Talk of the Nation, and had found our web site. It was to be a full hour, live, call-in show. They pointed out that this was not yet definite, and they also wanted to get somebody on the show who would be a proponent of traditional public school education, to get an opposing point of view.
I was enthusiastic about the idea, but I had a couple of concerns. One was that I didn't want to set a debate format between myself and a traditional public school proponent. What I really wanted was to present the idea that this is a spectrum, and that alternatives are choices which parents need to know about. Secondly, I asked that we be able to give some contact information, so that people looking for alternatives would be able to call AERO.
After the weekend she called again, and the show was on! Furthermore, they said that we would be able to give contact information for AERO, our 800 number and our web site address. The other person on the show was to be Clara Hempill, author of The Parents' Guide to New York City's Best Public Schools.
National Public Radio didn't want to interview by telephone, and arranged for us to go to their studio in New York City. On February 5th we went to Second Avenue and 42nd Street. Ray Suarez, the host of the show, was in their Washington studio, and interviewed us from there.
After 20 minutes of interviews, the phone lines were thrown open, and we responded to many interesting calls. At the very end of the show I was able to give contact numbers.
After the show there were so many calls to AERO that even the busy signals for the 800 number were overwhelmed and gave some people the message that the number was out of order. For the next several days the phone hardly stopped ringing. We gave out all sorts of information, signed up a lot of new subscribers and sold many copies of the Almanac. This was graphic illustration of the tremendous interest that there is in educational alternatives, if only we can find the way to tell people about them.
Of course, our weekly radio show on the Talk America network, the Education Revolution, continues every Sunday at 9 PM EST. If all of our readers would contact their local talk station and ask them to carry the show, we would have even more impact. There are about 35 stations around the country that are carrying the show now. Here are some of them: KZNG AM, Hot Springs, AR; KUKI AM, Ukiah, CA; WYOO FM, Springfield, FL; WIEL AM, Elizabethtown, KY; KEEL AM, Shreveport, LA; WKMI AM, Kalamazoo, MI; KLID AM, Poplar Bluff, MO; KDRG AM, Deer Lodge, MT; KICA AM, Clovis, NM; WIOI AM, New Boston, OH; KBNP AM, Portland, OR; WMTN AM, Morristown, TN; WREL AM, Lexington, VA; WIGM AM, Medford, WI; WRNR AM, Martinsburg;, WV; and KGAB AM, Orchard Valley, WY. Our sponsors now include Antioch College, Goddard College, Clonlara Home Based Education Program, the Resource Center for Redesigning Education, and the Consortium of Innovative Boarding Schools, which AERO organized, and which includes Summerhill School, the Meeting School, Arthur Morgan School, Stone Soup School, Maple Hill School, Stone Mountain School, and Horizons School.
The show can also be heard on the Internet at www.realaudio.com and www.talkamerica.com. If you do contact a local station and they are interested, have them call the AERO 800 number for more information, 800 769-4171, or call us yourself, and we'll follow up. Also, call us if you would like a copy of the NPR show.
AERO Seminar for Ministry of Education in Czech Republic In early November Albert Lamb and I traveled to the Czech Republic to do a seminar for the Ministry of Education, sponsored by the Soros Foundation's Open Society Fund. This was the first time that the Ministry had expressed interest in learning about educational alternatives and democratic education.
I first made an unscheduled stop in England to go to Ena Neill's funeral, at Summerhill (see Albert's description in the Changing Schools section).
When we arrived in Prague we were taken straight to the conference center. At the seminar I described different kinds of educational alternatives. Themembers of the Ministry of Education were particularly interested in the charter school model. Albert introduced them to the democratic decision-making process by actually having them participate in a democratic meeting, Summerhill style. Albert was a Summerhill student, and later a staff member, and his children have gone there.
After the seminar we had a great tour of the beautiful city of Prague. On the last day we visited a school which is part of the Soros-sponsored Step-by-Step program, through which they are trying to encourage educational reform in the Czech Republic and other countries.
I stopped in England again on my way back and spent a couple more great days at Summerhill. Among other things.I gave about 25 students table-tennis lessons, and visited with Stephen Sanford, the student who visited Summerhill with us after last Summer's International Democratic Education Conference and is now one of the first American students as Summerhill in a long time (see the letter from his mother in the Mail section).
Traveling north to Birmingham, I was hosted by Mike and Jan F-W, who are homeschooling their four children. We had a meeting with a group of homeschoolers who are exploring "flexi-schooling," with students taking some classes at St. Paul's, a local alternative school. Roland Meighan from Education Now also participated in the meeting. In his publication he later said that our "contribution stimulated valuable discussion on ways of developing such partnerships in this country."
New AERO Staff Member! John Sauer is now a full-time staff member at AERO. When you call, don't be surprised if John answers the phone. He's working hard to help AERO move to a higher level of service in promoting educational alternatives.
John Found us on the web. He has previously worked in Uganda, Rwanda, and for the last two years, Russia, as a project manager for relief and development projects connected with unaccompanied children and street children. He has recently taken the gransmanship course at the Foundation Library, in New York City.
Longer School Year not the Answer By Jerry Mintz This letter to the editor was in response to Sheryl McCarthy's article, "We Need to Make Better Use of the School Day," in Newsday: Dear Sheryl:
I'm sure your heart is in the right place, but your article on year-round school and the use of the school day is rife with assumptions which are not borne out by fact.
Assumption #1: That the Japanese have a good school system. The reality is that the Japanese system is so brutal to kids that there are over 180,000 "school refusers," children who have been so traumatized by school, who are so school phobic, that there is no way to get them there. In the face of this, dozens of alternative schools are beginning to pop up, and people are even beginning to talk about homeschooling. A recent feature story in the Japan Times highlighted this new phenomenon.
Assumption #2: That going to school longer will make students learn more. The reality is that the basic approach being used by public schools today is as antiquated as the summer break to harvest the crops. More of that would likely make things worse rather than better. The current system extinguishes chrldren's innate need to learn, making them passive non-learners.
Homeschoolers have learned that two hours a day of good learning experiences is enough to let their kids leapfrog over students slogging in unresponsive schools. Witness the Colfax family in California, who raised their children on a goat farm with only two hours of schooling a day. Their three oldest all went to Harvard, and the oldest went on to Harvard Medical School and is a practicing doctor now. The AVERAGE homeschooler in the country now is in the 85th percentile academically. Over a million children are currently homeschooling.
Charter schools have grown from only five a few years ago to over 750 now. At least 29 states have passed charter legislation.
Why are these alternatives growing so rapidly? Because the current system is unfunctional for most children! If your kids hate school, listen to them! Kids are natural learnings, as brain research has shown. So something must be wrong with their school.
And please do not think that this is a political issue. Not only are religious right-wingers talking about alternatives, but black inner-city Democrats and others along the whole political spectrum are pushing for alternatives such as vouchers and other educational choices.
I know of one democratic alternative school where the students regularly choose to abolish the vacations and have a rule which says they can't stay after school unless they are good! Yes, that's how to lengthen the school year and the school day, not by dishing out more of the same failed system!
Mail and Communications Edited by Carol Morley
A new program, San Francisco Independent Scholars. is offering scholarships to San Fransico-based high school students has begun operating. There are two types of scholarships available: Step Scholarships for public school students in eighth grade who would like to attend private school, and Star Scholarships for high school students who wish to enroll in or design their own independent study program. To find out more, contact Alison Weeks at SFIS, 755 Sansome St., Suite 450, San Francisco, CA 94111. Tel: 415-982-3435. Fax: 415-989-2411.
Last spring a conference was held by The Four Worlds International Institute for Human and Community Development. The conference, "The Spirit of the Rainbow Youth Development Program," focused on educating youths on finding ways to make a difference in their lives. Put together by young Native Americans, community workshops to train model youth leaders were formed. The conference was reported on in Daystar News Report, Volume 28, Spring 1997, by Cherriese Veazey, 2404 E. Nutwood #H-36, Fullerton, CA 92831.
A prospective video documentary project on the history of the New Orleans Free School is looking for information. The School is a medium sized public alternative school that was started in 1971 by Robert Ferris and several others. Any one who has had any contact at any time with Bob Ferris or any other member of The New Orleans Free School, please contact Mika Buser-Ferris, 4865 Laurel St., Apt. B, New Orleans, LA 70115. Tel: 504-895-3645 (collect calls accepted).
A class taught by Daria Brezinski, Ph.D., takes an in-depth look at the direction society must take to create an environment that is conducive to developing the whole child. The course is called Holographic Education for the 21st Century and looks at the institutions of education, media, science, medicine, law, and communities and their effects on raising children who know their life's purpose. Daria Brezinski is President of Eartheart Foundation and To Protect Our Children, Inc. PO Box 6201, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Tel: 804-973-2777.
I received Aero-Gramme #22 a few days ago and was very impressed. The article that haunts me in particular, though, is the brief description by you on page two about your question to Secretary Riley about national standards. Like you, I fear that Big Brother's educational variant is lurking on the horizon, ready to mold every young person in America to suit its needs.
The thing is, I'm not at all surprised by this development, despite the enormous potential of alternative education. I agree with the analyses which claim that the chief function of state-run public education is to create a docile, obedient workforce. Centralization and homogenization are crucial for this process. Even though compulsory education proves its obsolescence with each passing day, we should expect the politicians and their corporate masters to solidify their grip on America's youth.
For this reason, I'm wondering if the alternative education movement should also become a real social-protest movement. It is no secret that the ideals of freedom upon which this nation was founded are being neutralized by an economic system which subordinates human dignity to the quest for profits. I fear we have precious little time to resist before it is too late. On the other hand, that is all the more reason to fight hard!
Those are a few reflections inspired by Aero-Gramme #22. Please keep up your outstanding efforts--Regan Haulotte, Menominee, Michigan (see below).
Regan Haulotte of Menominee, Michigan, would like to network with people who may be interested in starting a World Citizens School somewhere in the United States. Regan envisions it as an independent "school without walls" for young people interested in the betterment of society and planet earth. The theme of the school would encompass such areas as philosophy, ecology, peace, and social justice. The school would operate on the principles of self-directed learning, the world as classroom, and direct democracy. Regan can be reached at 818 11th Street, Menominee, Michigan, 49858, or via e-mail at rhaulotte@hotmail.com.
The Summer 1997 issue of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement contained information on voluntary national tests, charter schools progress, transforming ideas for the arts, and the results of recent research studies. The publication is put out by the US Department of Education, Washington, DC 20208-5570.
A new promotional video series created for Montessori schools has been produced as a means of introducing Montessori education to new families. It consists of two volumes: Planting the Seeds of Learning and Why Montessori for the Kindergarten Year? They are available from the Montessori Foundation, 901 N. Pitt St., Suite 310, Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax: 703-299-0360.
An interview with Rita Kramer was published in the Fall 1997 issue of the Public School Montessorian. Rita Kramer produced a biography of Maria Montessori (in 1976) as well as a number of other books. The two things she stresses concerning Montessori education today are that "there is no child or adult who cannot be taught to read by using her method" and that "children find enormous satisfaction in accomplishment. They develop self-esteem not because someone is telling them they are good." Excerpts from the biography are also in this issue. Jola Publications, 2933 N. 2nd St., Minneapolis, MN 55411.
Beginning January 1998, Vermont College of Norwich University and The Institute for Educational Studies is offering independent courses for graduate credit. They are accepting applications for their 1998-1999 Internet-based Master's program which is completed over three semesters. The program is designed for the teaching practitioner, teacher aspirant, or education advocate. For more information, contact TIES, PO Box 411, Brookfield, VT 05036. Tel: 1-800-386-7725. Http://www.tmn.com/ties/
The Landberg Foundation has facilitated a program called Education for Moral Courage at an inner-city elementary school in Denver for the past three years. They will continue to support the creation of innovative educational programs, but now also will try to provide a bridge between such programs and the conventional school system. They would like to continue to support the creation and expansion of such programs while trying to find a way for the conventional system to learn from their experiences. For more information, contact Arnie Landberg at 5376 South High Rd., Evergreen, CO 80439.
Ron Miller (founder of Holistic Education Review) is working on a book about the history of the free school movement in the 1960s and 70s. There has been no serious historical study of the origins of modern alternative education, which this book will provide. Ron is looking for collections of newsletters (such as Edcentric, New Schools Exchange, etc.) and any press clips or articles from that period, and would like to interview people who were involved in the movement, especially in the regional and national conferences that took place during those years. PO Box 1069, Williston, VT 05495. Tel: 802-865-9752.
Children in the U.S. between 7 and 14, working in teams of two, are being invited to design a project they can do to help their community "grow up" to be the best it can be in the 1998 US Children's Summit Competition. Five teams will represent the U.S. at the 5th Annual Children Summit at Disneyland Paris, May 4 to 8 1998. The theme is 'Growing Up" with sub-themes of Education, Nutrition, Sports, Relationships, and Children's Rights. Sixty countries will be represented. The event was established by Disney's magazine publishing group and the Just Think Foundation of Northern California, in cooperation with UNESCO. For more information, contact Children's Summit Competition, PO Box 6127, Burbank, CA 91510-6127. Tel: 800-728-0430. E-mail: www.justthink.org.
A special task force has recently been formed to make a comprehensive review of education in Maryland. It is particularly concerned with services for "at risk" children and how partnerships between public and private organizations could improve their education. Montessori educator Lee Havis presented testimony before three task force subcommittees and offered proposals to improve conditions for Montessori education in the state. This information appeared in the November 1997 issue of The Montessori Observer, 912 Thayer Ave., Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Woodbury Reports is a networking newsletter for educators and parents, particularly of children with behavioral or emotional problems. It includes a section called New Perspectives, which outlines new and/or innovative schools. Issue #89's New Perspectives summarized Crater Lake School in Oregon, Dancing Moon Ranch in Montana, Desert Mt. Youth Care, also in Montana, Alaska Wilderness Academy, and Stonesoup School in Florida. The publication is available at PO Box 1107, 7119 2nd St., Bonners Ferry, ID 83805. Tel/Fax: 208-267-5550. Online: http:// www.woodbury.com
On April 23 1998, Youth CaN '98 will be at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. This is a youth-directed and presented project and conference on environmental issues and environmental telecommunications project. It is for elementary through high school students and teachers. They will be connected to another conference in Texas as well as other sites around the world. For more information, contact I*EARN, 475 Riverside Dr. #540, New York, NY 10115. Tel: 212-870-2696. Fax: 212-870-2672.
Readers Speak Out! is a free 'zine for teens who write because they love to. The magazine is looking for submissions of 50 to 150 words about controversial and pertinent issues. Internships by mail are also offered. For a free copy, contact Ronald A. Richardson, 4003 50th Ave. SW, Seattle, WA 98116.
Tranet announced in August that they are about to stop publication of their 21-year old newsletter. They have started Yes!, a journal of positive futures, to promote fundamental social transition to a sustainable, humane, and ecological future. Their address is PO Box 10818, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110.
The Alliance for Parental Involvement in Education, Inc. (AllPIE) is looking for assistance to continue offering conferences, retreats, and workshops. New editors are needed for their newsletter, Options in Learning. They would also appreciate the submission of stories and thoughts through articles, letters and resource reviews for the newsletter. Please contact Seth Rockmuller or Katharine Houk at PO Box 59, East Chatham, NY 12060-0059.
CyberSearch is an information management tool that helps find, organize, and retrieve information from the Internet. Recent benchmark tests showed that CyberSearch performed a complex search and organizing function, including finding, compiling, and organizing relevant Internet sites, over five times faster than other methods. The program also works with files on personal-computer hard drives and includes an indexing feature that provides for custom searches across the content of Internet sites, local networks and hard drives. There are three editions of this program: the Personal Edition; the Information Retrieval Server; and the Enterprise Edition. All are designed for Windows 95, NT 3.51, and 4.0 platforms and include Internet Explorer 3.02. Contact AERO for more information.
The Merrow Report began airing its series on education on National Public Radio in September 1997. Programs include topics such as Will Boys be Boys?, Getting By, Gifted Children, The Schools We Need, Inside the Infant Brain, and WWW.Computers.Kids. Cassettes are available for purchase. Video tapes are also available on several topics. For more information, contact Learning Matters, Inc., 588 Broadway, Suite 510, New York, NY 10012. Tel: 212-941-8060.
The Holistic Education Review makes available a decade of issues of their newsletter, many of which are out of print. For a list of these publications and topics covered, contact PO Box 328, Brandon, VT 05733-0328. Tel: 1-800-639-4122.
Public/Private Ventures' 1995 study of Big Brothers, Big Sisters showed that mentoring can have tangible and significant effects on youth. Involvement with a mentor reduced first-time drug and alcohol use, cut school absenteeism, improved parental and peer relationships, and enhanced confidence in doing school work, with grades even improving somewhat. More results, articles, and programs about mentoring were published in the National Dropout Prevention Newsletter, Summer 1997, College of Health, Education & Human Development, Clemson University, 205 Martin St., Clemson, SC 29634-0726. Tel: 864-656-2599. E-mail: ndpc@clemson.edu.
Mary Leue of Albany's Free School writes: Congratulations to Jerry, on behalf of us all, for his radio appearance on NPR and his own show! Our new website is at www.lowmedia.com/AltEdFreeSchool Send us word by e-mail if you've been able to access it: MarySKOLE@aol.com
Congratulations on the best issue yet. I especially liked the shot of Alfred Levitt with his goal of starting the school in New York City. Phenomenal! What an ad for the life-giving forces involved in the right educational stuff.--John Potter, New School of Northern Virginia, jpotter@nsnva.pvt.k12.va.usJohn
Ed. note: Alfred Levitt, a 103 year old artist, spoke at the opening of a special exhibit through February at Ellis Island honoring his work. The exhibit covers five rooms and includes 20 of his paintings on load from the Metropolitan Museum. will be there through February. He is considered to be one of the most important people to have come through Ellis Island. Alfred is still interested in seeing a democratic school start in the NYC area, similar to the Modern School, which he attended as a young man.
Public Alternatives The Center for Education Reform reported in September that there are now over 750 charter schools open in 23 states serving over 150,000 students. Also, this year over 18,000 children from poor families have been given the choice to attend private schools because of more than 30 privately-funded scholarship programs now in existence. 1001 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 204, Washington, DC 20036.
Bob Fizzell has put together the most recent edition of Patterns is a directory of public alternative education resources, including state alternative education contacts, information about alternative education associations, publications of interest, resources for charter schools, educational organizations, institutes and national offices, etc. The cost is $6 plus $3 shipping and handling. Send to EduServe, 1202 NW 109th St, Vancouver, WA 98685.
The U.S. Department of Education Community Update #51 announced that seven states, fifteen school districts, and Department of Defense schools have agreed to participate in voluntary national tests in fourth grade reading and eighth grade math. The tests will be overseen by the National Assessment Governing Board and will begin in the spring of 1999. They will be modeled on the National Assessment of Educational Progress; the math tests would also be linked to the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. For more information, call 1-800-USA-LEARN or http://www.ed.gov/nationaltests/.
Growing opposition to the above-described national testing program was reported on in FairTest Examiner, Summer 1997. The testing project is proceeding "without congressional approval or even debate" and reactions among educators is mixed. The Council of Chief State School Officers and the American Federation of Teachers have approved the plan. However, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development has several serious concerns, as does the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the International Reading Association. The Fall issue of FairTest Examiner reported further that Congress has put Clinton's national tests on hold until 2000. The issue will be back before Congress in 1998. In the meantime, the National Academy of Sciences will conduct three studies: to determine if an equivalency scale can be created that would enable comparisons between state exams; to evaluate test items already developed by the Department of Education; and to recommend safeguards against discrimination. FairTest, 342 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139-1802. Tel: 617-864-4810. Fax: 617-697-2224. www.FairTest.org.
In September, FairTest released the findings of a state-by-state study which concluded that most assessment systems need major changes and that states have been just "tinkering at the edges of reform." The report evaluated the assessment practices in all 50 states against standards derived from Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems published by the National Forum on Assessment. Only Vermont reached the top level on a five-point scale. Three states "did not have enough of a state system to allow scoring." These were Delaware, Iowa and Wyoming. The five standards used were: assessment supports student learning; assessments are fair; educators receive adequate professional development in assessment; systems are in place for pupil information, reporting and ensuring parents' rights; and assessment systems are regularly reviewed and improved. For more information, contact The National Center for Fair and Open Testing at 342 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139. Tel: 617-864-4810. Fax: 617-497-2224.
The cap on the number of charter schools was raised from 25 to 37 in Massachusetts last July. They also added up 13 "Horace Mann" charter schools, which are in-district but not as autonomous as regular charters. Geographic limits were removed and the enrollment cap was raised as well. This information was published in the Charter School Newsletter, Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, 85 Devonshire St., 8th Floor, Boston, MA 02109.
The commencement address given to the high school graduation class of the Alternative Community School by Principal Dr. Dave Lehman last spring was entitled "On Hope." He quoted from Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, who has said that hope in hopeless situations is "a state of mind, not a state of the world. Either we have hope within us or we don't. Hope is not a prognostication --it's an orientation of the spirit .... life is too precious a thing to permit its devaluation by living pointlessly, emptily, without meaning, without love, and finally, without hope." ACS is located on Chestnut St., Ithaca, NY 14850.
Lois Holzman's new book, Schools for Growth, presents three alternative schools which differ from conventional schools and most other alternatives in that they are based on the psychology of Lev Vygotsky and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein. The first one is Project Golden Key in Russia which consists of 30 centers. Each of these centers serves between 60 and 150 children, ages 3 to 10, organized into multi-age groups. Curriculum is activity-based. The second school examined is Sudbury Valley School in Massachusetts with 200 students, ages 4 to 19. There are no compulsory classes or grades there and all decisions are made democratically. Finally, The Barbara Taylor School in Harlem is a performance school which brings together the traditions of the African-American community schools and the free school movement. According to the author, each of these schools succeeds because they favor environment building -activity-based learning over the "knowing paradigm." The book is available from the East Side Institute, 500 Greenwich St., New York, NY 10013.
The philosophies of Rudolf Steiner, Aurobindo Ghose, and Inayat Khan are examined in The Common Vision: Parenting and Educating for Wholeness by David Marshak. Marshak explores the similarity of vision of these three men. Each life story is outlined, then the philosophies are presented and compared in detail. The author concludes the book with suggestions for applying the underlying common vision, major lessons to be learned from this vision for parents and teachers, and transforming schools and our culture. The book is published by Peter Lang Pub., Inc., 275 7th Ave., New York, NY 10001. Tel: 212-647-7700. Online: http://www.peterlang.com.
Lynn Stoddard has written an essay, "Start Education Revolution with Diversity, Integrity," which is a preview of his next book. Lynn says that the call to "higher standards is not a call to redesign education. It is merely a summons to repair the old system and require teachers to do what they have been expected to do all along: Mold students into a common form, but put the form at a higher level." His 5 Pivotal Principles for Better Education, 3 Dimensions of Human Greatness, and 6 Amazing Attitudes have been implemented in some public schools. 793 S. 200 E., Farmington, UT 84025-2239.
Tom Baker writes: Thanks for your mailing, which I received today. I am sending my check. I go back a long way with Changing Schools. I was Bob Barr's graduate assistant. at Indiana University, 1973-75. I supervised interns in his, Dan Burke, and Vern Smith's alternative schools master's program, helped edit Changing Schools' first directory of alternative schools, and participated in ICOPE's first International Conference on Alternative Education in Minneapolis, October 1973. My old pal and former IU classmate Roy Weaver edited Changing Schools for several years, and I even published a couple of articles in it in the late '70s and early '80s. I am interested in seeing the article on the Democratic Schools Conference in England. I spent part of my sabbatical in England last spring, investigating the effects of ERA. The National Curriculum and its mandated tests, with every school's scores published nationally, is certainly an example of heavy-handed, centrally imposed "reform!"
I see that Bob and my old friend Bill Parrett have a new book out on how to successfully create public alternative schools, but I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet. Years ago, I helped Bill collect data in Houston for his dissertation on alternative school instruction. He built on my dissertation, but he did a far, far better job than I! Bob Barr supervised both of us. I did get an AERA conference presentation out of my dissertation a long, long time ago, and a S(outhwest)ERA paper from Bill's and my collaboration a little bit later. For the last 22 years I have been primarily involved with teacher education in our five-year program, and have only been tangentially involved with alternative schools, primarily through occassional student field experiences in Dallas magnet and charter schools (about 65 miles away). Still, the alternative school movement was an important part of my early career, and I want to stay in touch with it. I had taught in a school-within-a-school in an inner-city Louisville high school before I went to IU for my doctorate; that may have given me an edge in being selected as graduate-assistant to the alternative schools program. I'll be presenting at ATE in Dallas and AACTE in New Orleans next month. Might I see you at one of those?
I may be reached at Austin College, Education Department, 900 N. Grand Ave.,Sherman, TX 75090-4440, phone (903)813-2455, fax (903)813-2326, e-mailtbaker@austinc.edu
Anne Evans writes from Sonoma, CA: I work at the Clean and Sober High School which is the second program of its kind that we know of in the country -- the first was Sobriety High in Marin. There is also one in Minnesota. We fall under the blanket of "alternative ed" in the public school district -- Sonoma County is quite venturesome with many charter schools already existing and we are full and wait-listed and could fill over again in ten minutes.
The school is as alternative as I can make it and still comply with grades and hours required in "alt ed" under the public school jurisdiction. We are voluntary but students must make a commitment to sobriety, to attend 12-step meetings, to random urinalysis at school and to daily school attendance. We have two classrooms, each of 22 students, and a counseling staff of four (paid out of Medicare funds) full-time on-site counselors.
Students attend an hour of group counseling daily and additionally have individual sessions with their primary counselors during school time. We hold some spaces for teen drug-court kids mandated to attend by the judge- but even they attend voluntarily they have other options. If students are using, they are out the door. Relapses we work with but behavior that endangers other students in recovery is not o.k.
We hold them to high standards of honesty about their recovery and they have to actively pursue recovery. Other than all those recovery things which I have little to do with (that is the precintct of their primary counselors), I see amazing changes in the students over very short periods of time as they clean up from drugs. Many become speakers in public and private high schools after a small amount of time, and are constantly in demand to talk about their experiences and the experience of getting sober and maintaining it.
There are some amazing stories. I have one student who will go to a four year college and one ,whom I just graduated, who is also four-year college bound. Other than that, for some, just graduating high school is achievement enough though some go on to the junior college with the intention of transferring. These students are the forgotten ones, the invisible ones who have been expelled from every other school in the county, been homeless, been abused in most cases, and for many it is the norm, these students have, many of them, been addicts since birth or at least since 4th grade. They come from three generations, sometimes, of substance abusers. They have pretty much all beeen in trouble with the law and many are on probabtion.
The school really does represent stability to them. And it is a truly warm and caring environment in which they do fully get supported in recovering from substance abuse. It is a really big step for some of the students to get clean and stay that way as they have to say goodbye to their old abusing friends and make new friends who are clean and sober.
But they are making it. We have a high success rate. I adore the kids, admire what they are doing and can reach these troubled and difficult ones in a deeper and more immediate way than other populations. They are needy though, and it is a constant barrage of attention demanders. Some just have to disrupt things to have it be normal for them but I manage to take them on field trips, out hiking and manage too to do carpentry and other fun classroom projects of a hands-on nature.
Home Education News In AERO-GRAMME 22 we mentioned that a new national group of homeschooled students had grown out of a workshop which we did on democratic decision-making process. The students named the new organization LOYO, for Learn On Your Own. Since the meeting there has been a lot of e mail discussion about what to do next. One of the students, Michael Delaney (FoolsRun@mindless.com) has created a web site, http://loyo.home.ml.org, which is now linked to the AERO web site, www.speakeasy.org/~aero Anyone interested in getting involved with LOYO is welcome to e mail us, or send e mail from the new web site.
Readers may remember Shiloh Moates, a homeschooler who went to teach in Africa when he was 15, and entered Radford University upon his return at age 16. He is now 18, going into his senior year after studying anthropology in a bi-lingual program in Bogota, Colombia.-- He writes: Only a few days left in Colombia and back to the University for the spring semester in Radford. The experience here has been incredible although a bit harder than I would have liked, having to live in this huge, crazy city with frequent problems in the stomach, etc. But it has really been unbelievable. The experience of learning Spanish alone was worth it, not to mention living with three different families and being that in touch with the culture. I did well for the semester as well and passed the anthropology class I took at the best university in the country, which makes me quite happy. Thanks a lot as always, speaking for myself and all the kids that in one way or another you have helped to free from the constraints of themselves and public education.
The Home Educator's Family Times says in an article by Dr. Raymond Moore ("Research Shows Benefits of Homeschooling") that despite calls for more research by educator groups and others, "homeschooling is, today, the most widely researched educational field." However, most of the research is ignored, such as the fact that more homeschoolers do better in math, reading, and socialization than traditionally educated students. The newsletter is available from the Homeschool Support Network, PO Box 708, Gray, ME 04039. Tel: 207-657-2800.
"College Admission News," by Ken Danford, (excerpted in Growing Without Schooling #119) reports on the limited existing data comparing college acceptance rates for homeschoolers and public school students. The results of a survey indicate that most colleges don't have data which clearly identifies homeschoolers or how many were accepted into the schools. They did find, however, that "no school categorically rejects or denies admission to those who homeschool, and it appears that homeschoolers who make strong cases for admission through test scores, portfolios, and other presentations, can gain admission to any college or university in the United States, and that the decision to homeschool in itself neither helps nor hinders this process." GWS, 2269 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02410.
An interesting article by William Upski Wimsatt called "Who's afraid of self-education?" was published in the premier issue of XXL. Billy states: "There's a long tradition of Black people teaching themselves by alternative means or questioning conventional wisdom." Yet, homeschooling "is a taboo subject for many black parents and educators. 'Historically, we fought to get into the schools, so the idea of fighting to get out of schools doesn't make sense to a lot of people,' says Donna Nichols-White, publisher of The Drinking Gourd Home-Education Magazine." Billy goes on to describe the ways that many Black families are homeschooling their children today in America. 1115 Broadway, New York, NY 10010. Tel: 212-807-7100.
Leslie Barson from England wrote about The Otherwise Club for Growing Without Schooling #120. The article tells about the history of the club from its creation in 1990. TOC is a group of homeschoolers that meets once a week and makes decisions consensually. The organizational structure is very relaxed; meetings are held only occasionally, but workshops are given regularly. Although the club does not "educate" the children, "it has become a part of the members' home education, for both the children and the adults." GWS, 2269 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02410.
The third edition of Genius Tribe is a catalog full of "tools for unschoolers & other free people." The catalog offers materials about homeschooling, learning strategies, curriculum help, work/volunteer options, community building, health, and much more. PO Box 1014, Eugene, Oregon 97440-1014.
The National Homeschool Association responded to a federal lawsuit involving homeschoolers in October 1997. The federal suit was introduced by a national homeschooling organization in an attempt to guarantee that recent federal legislation aimed at keeping guns out of schools does not prevent homeschoolers from owning guns. The NHA fears that the suit invites regulations to define homeschooling in ways which will prohibit homeschoolers' freedoms. For more information, contact NHA at PO Box 290, Hartland, MI 48353-0290.
Four years ago we created "scholarships for kids" as a fund with the New York Community Trust to be a permanent source of scholarships for low income families with pre- and primary school kids. We add to it each month and distribute the accumulated dividends and interest. We would like to locate or create if necessary a fund which awards sholarship funds to homeschoolers. can anyone refer us to such a fund or to anyone who might like to work on creating one?--JR Miller, emscuba@mail.idt.net Homeschooling is new to me, but I'm active to learn more about it. It is because I have a 4.5-year old kid and would like to find an alternative way of education. The following are a few of my questions for now #1. If both parents work full time, is it possible for their child to do homeschooling ? #2. I live in Washington state. Where can I get a list of homeschool sites in my state?--Chau Nguyen, chaun@lsid.hp.com We found out about you through Margaret Hiatt from the Mead School in Stamford, Connectiut. Our daughter is a student at the Mead School, and we are now homeschooling our 15-year-old son. We are looking for contacts, ideas, support and to benefit from the experience of others who have traveled this path, especially as it relates to home-schooling an adolescent.-- Sameh A. Fakhouri, sameh@us.ibm.com Oak Heritage Press is pleased to announce the publication of The Homeschool Yellow Pages, a comprehensive directory of home-education suppliers. Find hundreds of postal and e-mail addresses, telephone, fax, and toll-free numbers, websites, catalog offers, and product information. Online homeschoolers may get their own copy for only $5.50 from Oak Heritage Press, P.O. Box 1378, Boerne, TX 78006. Questions? E-mail: info@oakheritagepress.com
The Pagan Homeschool List is an e-mail list for pagan homeschool parents. By pagan we mean those who practice earth-based religions, including but not solely limited to Witches and Druids. Our activities mainly focus on e-mail support for one another. We put out a newsletter, Acorns, have some web pages, and some of us have had real-life campouts together. Several of us who live close to each other have actually gotten together for homeschool support! This is an open topic list and the discussions at times can be inappropriate for children. There is a digest option. E-mail Barbooch@aol.com for subscription information.
International News and Communications AUSTRALIA I am a teacher of 5-to-8-year-olds in Australia where alternative methods are now mostly mainstream: no textbooks in primary schools, contructivist approaches, authentic assessments and multi-age classes. I am surprised that more is not on the Net. We have a good system here even though funding is being strangled by shortsighted governments. I am researching learning centres, anyone using them. I am collecting all descriptions and forms. Love to hear from you--Julie Bradby, bradbyqonline.com.au
AUSTRIA We are fifteen to twenty people from the Schlerschule in Vienna, Austria. Maybe you remember us from the third or the fourth Hadera conference. We are planning an American trip for our new Inter-College which is an internationally networked high school for age fourteen to twenty. We would like to come in May `98 to visit New York, some democratic schools, and then fly to the West Coast. We would also like some contacts from democratic schools there. Our aim would be to stay with families from a school in order to improve our English and get to know America. Naima , Domenic , Ben , Krisi , Katharina , Rene , Louis , Paul , Sophie , Janina, Sarah , Susi , Jerry , etc. Ben Wunsch- Grafton : 0044-148-99346, School Tel/Fax: 0044-140-82039. E-mail: LOUIS_GERHARD_EXE@compuserve.com
BRAZIL A new book by Helena Singer has just been published called Republica de Criancas: Sobre Experiencias Escolares de Resistencia (Republic of Children: On Schooling Experiences of Resistance). Its theme is the free schools which Helena describes, including Summerhill and Sudbury Valley School. It's available from Helena Singer at Av. Angelica, 546 ap. 95 01228-000 Sau Paolo (SP) Brazil.
CHINA Dear Jerry, I just wanted to drop you a quick e-mail to thank you for referring my 'call for help' to Ms. Pat Montgomery at the Clonlara School Home Based-Education Program. I'm sure you must be very busy and I really appreciate your taking the time out to lend me some assistance. Although we have already celebrated the New Year here in China, they are preparing for their celebrations for Jan. 28, 29 & 30th. With this in mind, please, may I extend to you a "Xin Nian Kwai Le!" (shin nien kwaee luh) Happy New Year!!! With kind regards,--Laura Busche-Ong, wuhch@public.wh.hb.cn
ENGLAND Emiko Shinozawa has been accepted at a school in London and will be taking a one-year course in sound recording and production. Congratulations and good luck, Emiko!
Education Otherwise is a membership organization in England which provides support and information for families of homeschoolers and others interested in alternative education. Their newsletter #117 includes articles on home education, chess for young beginners, contacts, international links, child jails, and more. The publication is looking for volunteer editors. Contact EO at PO box 7420, London, N9 9SG.
Since 1978 Diana Grace has been implementing "whole child" approaches in education and child care. She conducts workshops for adults and for children in schools. These workshops provide opportunities to develop children's creativity, social awareness and higher values, self-worth, and concentration and listening skills. For more information, contact Diana Grace at 'Alianca,' 3, Glendale Drive, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 3BQ.
Another book, this one by Roland Meighan, is called Flexi-schooling. It describes the way that some families today are educating their children using whatever works best for the students at the particular time in their lives. Flexi-schooling is a "part-time arrangement whereby school and family share responsibility in an agreed contract and partnership." It is available from Education Now Books, PO Box 186, Ticknall, Derbyshire DE7 1WF.
The following is a message sent to Zoe Readhead of Summerhill, by Liz Rantz, whose son visited Summerhill on an AERO trip last summer and is now a Summerhill student: Appreciated your letter to parents today about the persecution of the school by the authorities. I am very pleased by all the changes I have seen in Stephen in his one term there, and he is excited about being there and planning on staying a long time. It is hard for me to relate to why they care about a handful of students so much, especially when so many of them are not British kids. Certainly parents know their kids and their needs and should be able to judge what is in their best interest. But we have some horror stories in the States about homeschooling families being harassed and even arrested, so I guess government abuse shouldn't surprise me. I'd be glad to write the powers that be, though I doubt my little American voice would matter. You are doing a great work there keeping the place going, and I don't want you to let the bastards get you down! Fondly,--Liz Rantz.
FRANCE October 25 to 26, in Vichy, France, the Annual Meeting of Les Enfants d'abord, the French homeschool organization, will be held. Brigitte Guimbol, 474 Chemin de Font Cuberte, 06560 Valborne, France. Tel: 04 93 12 93.49. E-mail: bguimbal@aol.com.
Theleme, a boarding alternative school in Vernet, France, in the Pyranees, had to vacate its main building because of financial problems, but continues with a small number of students and staff under the leadership of Michel Ferre. Contact AERO for more information.
INDIA Excited! yet to explore more, just thought will sign the guest book for now!--Kudlu Chithprabha, chith@manashi.cc.iitb.ernet.in
HUNGARY The Rogers School educates elementary-school children using a person-centered approach based on Carl Rogers' observations. Each class creates its own standards and guidelines. The school is operated by the Carl Rogers Foundation with a great deal of parental participation. Contact them at H-1121 Budapest, Fulemile U. 5 - 7. Hungary. Tel: 361-156-6894.
JAPAN Note from Jerry Mintz: Mike Corliss, a reporter from the Japan Times , e-mailed me that he wanted to do a story on homeschooling in Japan. I gave him Kyoko Aizawa's e-mail, and he did a major story on the problem of school refusers and truancy in Japan, interviewing Kyoko and others. "The law says we have the right to education, but we don't have the right to choose the form of education," Kyoko said in the story. Corliss said that 180,000 Japanese students are refusers and miss significant amounts of school. Tokyo Shure was also mentioned in the story. Kyoko subsequently e-mailed:
Hello Jerry, The article of the Japan Times appeared 4th January. The reporter wrote to me that he wants to write more! And he said he will contact me again. I hope to make the problem clear and make them re-think the system and forms of education in Japan. Thank you for your help as always! With love,--Kyoko, Otherwise Japan, owj@tkb.att.ne.jp
The day I left for the Czech Republic, Japan Television came to my house in New York to interview me for a feature they were doing about public and private alternatives and homeschooling in the US. They sent me the tape, which, of course, was translated into Japanese and left me straining to hear the words underneath. But it does seem that the winds of educational change have been reaching Japan.
NETHERLANDS I was looking for the address and more useful information about Summerhill and incidently found out that there's also the Sands school in Devon. Nice surprise! I myself work as a history teacher at Eigenwijs (means hardheaded) in Nijmegen, the only free school left in the Netherlands. We teach 14-to-20-year-olds at our school. Our anarchistic approach sort of developed itself out of the left scene in this town. It started out 15 years ago as an "extension" in squatting. Many of our pupils are people that live in squats or are part of the left scene. I enjoy it a lot and love to learn more about how things are over there today! We don't have a home-page (not online yet),but we are happy to answer questions about our school.--Jon. wilberts@antenna.nl
ROMANIA The SocRaTeE Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to audio-visual and information technology alternative education. Our goal is to propagate through audio-visual and computer networks means new ideas about education. We encourage projects for new forms of school and schooling. We collect and share new educational ideas and experiences from all over the world. We produce radio and TV programs on alternative education and offer them freely to local Romanian radio and TV broadcasters. We would be very happy if you could send us some videos (documentary, artistic, essay, interviews, etc.) reporting on any items related to alternative education. Depending on dimensions, we intend to use such material "as-it-is" (titled/dubbed translation) or mixed with other similar issues. Technically, the BetaCam professional standard would be best suited to our goals--but any other video standard (Pal, Secam, NTSC) could be used, at the expense of a certain loss of image quality.--Paul Silvestru, journalist, The SocRaTeE Foundation Tel: +40-(0)1-311.09.60. Fax: +40-(0)1-312.44.15. Intr. Victor Eftimiu 2-4, cam. 603/605, Bucuresti 1, Romania. E-mail: socrate@infotin.sfos.ro. Online: http://infotin.sfos.ro/socrate
SCOTLAND We now have 11 pupils (up from 9 at the start on 29/9/97). We are moving to school site on a 3-year lease next month and seeking to produce our first literature which is causing much debate amongst us as we try and reach consensus over curriculum policy and other matters. There is much happening. We have 4 full-time boarders, three of whom are from Japan and one from London. The rest are local day kids. Boarding has been a complicated issue for us (and our local authority) because we did not find a suitable property to house the residential school. So we arranged for "home hospitality" with families for those four kids that needed it. The Social Services have got themselves in great confusions trying to find a legal precedent for this hospitality scheme. They can't decide whether it is private fostering or whether we are running children's homes. In any case, they want us to go through a ridiculous process for new kids' applications for hospitality. Between these people at social services, building control and planning departments, school inspectors, and various other statutory authorities, it makes one wonder how any new community project can get off the ground without relying on help (with strings attached) from government or capitalist investors. Recruitment is our priority now. Paul Godden, The Galloway Small School, Foley Field, Barnbarroch, Kippford DG5 4QS, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Tel/Fax: +44 1556 620696, E-mail: gss@godd.demon.co.uk
SPAIN
I found more or less 70 in your Almanac of Education Choices that follow the ideas of freedom for children and non-compulsory class attendance, and I wrote to them asking for a job, or just a place to live with my wife and my two children, that allow me to participate in the school life. I am waiting for their answer.
I have been convinced of the idea of freedom in the school since I was 17 (now I am 39 years old). But I have always been the only one among the people and the pedagogues and teachers that I know. That's why, after three years of working in a school, I lost my hope in the possibility of opening a free school in Barcelona. I left education and started working in an insurance company.
Now is the time to come back. Since you are an expert and know so many free schools in USA, maybe you can help me to find one. I could teach Spanish, or economy, or math. When I was a teacher I worked with little children, four and five years old. After so many years working with adults, I think I can work with children of any age. It could be one of the nicest things in my life if I could work in a free school and later open my own school in Barcelona.
Thank you for everything. If you want to answer me, my address is: Alberto Alegre, August Font 33, 1, Barcelona 08035. Tel: 2124215 Fax: 2023563. E-mail: mersal@abaforum.es
Editor's note: After making some suggestions and contacts for Alberto, he recently sent us the following e mail--JM: These last two weeks have been incredible! I have at this moment four different schools that have offered me a place, and many lovely answers from people all around the USA (even Hawaii) that can't offer me a job but invited me to visit their school. I wish I could accept all the offers, but it is not possible.....I will visit these schools next March, and I will see in which one can I be more useful and learn more. In any case, thank you very much for your help. Without your web page, and your book, I would be still alone in my idea to start a free school in Barcelona.--Alberto
TAIWAN There are about four alternative schools in Taiwan. The most famous one is Forest School. Some students whom you met in Summerhill graduated from it. Our school is called Seedling School, established in 1994 by some parents who feel disappointed about the education in Taiwan. It's a very young school.
Some of our ideas indeed come from Summerhill, but we believe parents should and need to participate children's education. One of our former deans even visited Sudbury Valley School and she translated "Sudbury Valley School" into Chinese. In fact, we all hope one day our school can be the same as Sudbury Valley School.
There are 52 students from age 7-12 and seven teachers in our school. Our school is located in a Tayal village, one of the aborigines in Taiwan, surrounded by beautiful mountains and streams. We have a schedule but students can choose freely their favorite courses except Chinese and Math. They can do whatever they like during their free time.
Since the school was established, arguments, compromise always happen every semester, because everyone has their own idea about education. Some thought that students should be treated reasonably but they still hope students learn under the good structure and well constructed. Now our goals and ideas are more and more clear. We want a free-learning school. Some things I cannot explain become the tradition. But we all know that arguments still will happen because we emphasize the cooperation between parents and school.
We plan to extend our school to high school. It is more difficult because the government in Taiwan has more restrictions. We need to know the experience of other alternative schools. That's why I'm interested about this organization. I'm really surprised to see your mail.-- Kathleen. snipe@top2.ficnet.net.tw
From the AERO Web Site E mail addresses are: jmintz@acl.nyit.edu jmintz@igc.apc.org JerryAERO@AOL.com Web site is: http://www.speakeasy.org/~aero
John A. Thompson, jthompson@nhc.noaa.gov This site is a pleasant surprise! To think, I stumbled across the address in a thread on a boating mail list....My wife and I have been musing with the idea of creating an alternative education at-sea program when she finishes her masters in oceanography. The idea would be to offer courses in oceanography, marine biology, Caribbean history, literature of the sea, etc., aboard a large sailing ship homeported either out of South Florida or the US Virgin Islands. We would conduct charity work during our port visits to the different islands, and could use the ship to convey medical supplies, clothing, and building materials to those in need. Students would not only study, they would be engaged in charity and in the sailing of the ship. Besides her study of physics and oceanography, our qualifications include my degrees in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (MIT) and soon a degree in Applied Marine Physics. We are both sailors, living aboard our sailing ketch Tethys, and I was previously an officer of the US Navy. We help run our church's youth program, working with both middle and high school children. I have done some substitute teaching, and am currently looking for teaching opportunities in Florida to expand my experience in the field .We've been looking for resources and organizations which might help us to realize our goal. Anyone out there share our interest?
Carl Beekman, Ph.D., Wolfcarl@aol.com I am very impressed! I have had quite a bit of experience in the "Alternative" schooling. If you ever need any help in your endeavors, please let me know. We have just finished a 3-phased workshop on Creative Teaching & Learning styles for an Alternative School on the Navajo Reservation. I would love for those children to have a chance to participate in some of your programs. Beekman-Fraser Consulting, Inc. Carl Beekman, Ph.D.Vice President 2239 "B" Simpson Ridge Circle, Kissimmee, FL 34744 Tel: (407) 518-9552 Fax: (407) 518-9652.
Elizabeth Reid, Lizreid103@aol.com I am interested in hearing from any old students from Playmountain Place in Los Angeles or from Kirkdale School in London. If anyone knows about any old freeschoolers living in Orange County, CA, I would be very keen to get in touch with them.
H. Clouse, clouse@fnet.friendlynet.com Am in OH. Working on funding Alt. Schl. that is horse-based. Looking for any help & guidance on the funding maze.... Thanks.
Martha Catherine Alter, marthaaltr@aol.com I would be extremely interested in any information about alternative education that you could send me. I am especially interested in free schools. I am in my third year of undergraduate studies and want to eventually open my own school. I want ideas!!!!
Dave Douglas, Londonderry, NH, mail@self-ed.com SELF-ED is a concept of alternative K-12 education that goes beyond education reform. Those interested are welcome to check us out at www.self-ed.com.
Chieko Yamazaki-Heineman, thomas@hatelecom.or.jp Any guests who have surfed on this site from Japan and are interested in alternative education, please contact me.
Padmini Angel Jones I love Neil. I wish I could have met him, I only discovered that Summerhill existed some time ago when a dear friend Mark gave me "The Problem Family", and "Summerhill." I want to visit Summerhill. Is this possible? I have been driven to understand my childhood and others for so long. My instincts have never fit with the practices of others and many times I regret to say I have resisted even my own instincts due to my own selfishness. But I get better every day and the more freedom I give myself the more it appears when I am with the children. I love them, they are my teachers and I wish to somehow protect them from hate as Neil and his wife spent years doing. Please help me know everything I can about Summerhill. 325 Lincoln Avenue, Highland Park, New Jersey, 08904.
John Coakley, JimCoakley@prodigy.net Wonderful site, I am sure it will be an immense help. For anyone out there: I am a senior at a public high school in NH. I am doing a senior project looking at the evolution of free schools, and look to design a small program at my school based on my research. Please, if you have any information whatsoever on free schools, their development, their philosophy, and where they are now, by all means contact me. Anyone else who has thoughts/ideas/resources on educational philosophy in general, feel free to write as well.
S. Kegley, mordrum@aol.com I am a former Spanish (high school/alternative) teacher working to put together homeschooling help in foreign languages. Currently, I meet individually with students approx. 1 hour/wk. Any suggestions or existing info would be appreciated. Thanks for the great resource!
Meaghan Nelson, mnelson02@gw.hamline.edu I am a recent graduate of an alternative high school (adult based education) in Lakeville, MN and have gone on to a selective university. I am very happy to see your page with the many different types of alternative learning. I want people to see the value of an alternative education and the success that can come of it. I am also doing a research on alternative schools and your page has been a big help. thanks!
Francis D. Whitaker, fdw@mail.coos.or.us I am the what they call "Site Coordinator" of a private, non-profit alternative school in Coos Bay, OR. I constantly look for better ways to serve our students and will return to your site to look for information. I'm glad I found you. Don't know why it has taken so long.
Russell Ericson, Fritz812@AOL.com I am currently enrolled as a junior at Skyview Public High School in Billings, MT. I am strongly interested in trying to find some way of opening doors that would carve a path to my school to practice alternative means of education within the school itself. I agree very much so that grades, along with the unavailability of a way each student could study materials that they are interested in. I know that public schools are required to meet a base core of essential materials that they must teach, but I think it is possible to fit these educating styles somewhere into our curriculum. I know as a student myself, that I perform much better when I study something that interests me. I would like to hear any thoughts or suggestions someone might have in helping to accomplish this. Thank you very much
Ramonde Plumb, rmplumb@pacbell.net I am a homeschooling mom of a 4 year old and a 6 year old. We have schooled both kids since they where 1 1/2 years old. We have tried public schools and that was a choice. As my oldest now hates public schools and teachers. I hope my family can hook up with others that homeschool. Looking forward to getting some e-mail
Laura Corkern, laura-corkern@fwsd.wednet.edu I am interested in small, in-home schools. Beyond homeschooling to include others' children. Anyone doing this?
El Ivens, bsnevi@jdv.net.com I am looking for information on alternative schools and programs for Middle School students that are at-risk
Energeia Publishing, Inc., Energ123@aol.com Now online at: WWW.ENERGEIA.COM is Energeia Publishing's new catalog of career, education and self-help booklets. Energeia booklets help people reach their full potential. Thank you for visiting Energeia online.
Troy Judd, Website: Manual High School Art Teacher, Emmerich Manual high School, 4701 Crestview Ave., Indianapolis, IN, 46205 (317-255-8265)-Interested in any future correspondence
Anne Richert Hotz, avmallrat@ aol.com I am interested in starting my own school in southern California. I have attended "free schools," homeschooled my own boys, and am now working at a small private school catering to the iep needs of "hurt" children. The synapses started snapping at your web sight. thank you.
Jim Woods, jimwoods@edutechnet.com You may find our website to be very beneficial; www.edutechnet.comis the product of career technologists and educators collaborating together to enhance education through technology. Our site includes best practices, editorial opinions, software reviews, recommendations, and a good collection of links to lessons plans, standards, and other resources.
Hal L. Studholme, studhol2@TCNJ.EDU I am creating a web page that will have educational links as a resource for teachers and students. I will only have about 3 links and would like "AERO" to be one of them. Is this OK with you ? PS I have written to you in the past when I was a graduate student at Teachers College, Columbia. Thanks.-Hal. HStudholme@aol.com
Mahendren Chinniah, kaniv@tm.net.my I like to homeschool my kid age 4 and 5. Can you help me Mahendren Chinniah Hse No:183,Lorong Seroja 3, Taman Fortuna, Bt 2.5 Jalan Penampang, 88200 Kota Kinabalu.Sabah
Charlotte Miller, charlie@gisco.net I am and English major at St. Lawrence University. I am writing a representative piece on alternative education for a feature writing class. Any info would be appreciated. Please send it to the above E-Mail. I am a non-traditional student who has a strong interest in alternative ed. I volunteer as a mentor for Thousand Islands Community School.
Susan Langdon, Suezq73507@aol.com I would just like to thank you for this site. It has given me great info on how to help my son. Keep up the good work and good luck to you all.
Dan Fuchs, Dan_Fuchs@cce.org < |