Year: 2018

Posted on by

Annual Meeting of the Modern School at Rutgers University in NJ to Feature Unique Performance This Year!

The Modern School was the first significant democratic school of the 20th century, predating Summerhill. It was based on the work of Francisco Ferrer of Spain. After he was unjustly executed in 1909, Modern Schools were started all over the world in his name, including one that started in 1911 in New York City. Even though the last Modern School in the USA closed in 1958, its attendees were so profoundly affected by it that they continue to have reunions every year, although they are now called meetings as their numbers dwindle.

I first heard about the Modern School from Nellie Dick, a former teacher there, when she was 96 years old, in 1989. I’ve attended most of the annual meetings since then and have met many truly remarkable people there. For example, one was Alfred Levitt, who was 100 years old when I met him there. He was an immigrant from Ukraine, His teacher was Will Durant and a fellow student was Ariel. They became a famous writing couple selling millions of their books on philosophy. Meanwhile Levitt studied art with some famous Dadaist artists who dropped into the school. I attended a special event at Ellis Island to honor Levitt, at age 103, as one of the most important people to pass through there. They displayed 20 of the paintings he had made, borrowed from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. You can see a video of it here. You can read some of the history of the Modern School here. One of the pictures from 1911 is of Durant, and I assume Levitt was one of the students in it.

Following is the official announcement of the Annual Meeting. Rutgers houses the archives of the Modern School. If you are nearby you should go!

The Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Modern School this year will again be co-sponsored by Rutgers Libraries. The gathering will begin with a musical theater performance followed by a speaker and refreshments. This year will mark our 46  th annual gathering of the Friends . It will be held from 1 2:00 to 4:00 PM on Saturday, September 15, 2018 in the Remigo U. Pane Room in the Alexander Library, Rutgers University. The building and room are accessible for the disabled . Directions and parking availability are given on page 2. There is a $20 entrance fee to cover the cost of the presentations and refreshments.

The play is called Mother Jones in Heaven featuring a musical theater performance by Vivian Nesbitt. ED
More information and directions here
Posted on by

Please Read This Note To You From AERO

AERO supports educational alternatives around the world. There are a lot of dramatic stories about transformation that AERO has been a part of. For example, we came back from the International Democratic Education Conference that we cosponsored in 2003 and worked with people to create the first democratic school in the NYC area in decades, Brooklyn Free School, which led to several others in the NYC area. Subsequently, we worked with people to start Manhattan Free School from the waiting list for Brooklyn Free School. When that nearly folded several years later I was invited to what was supposed to be their final meeting. At that meeting, I encouraged the parents, students and staff members there to use the resources they had, a nonprofit status and a building in which to operate and get volunteer parents to keep going. One parent, from a software background, volunteered to be the interim director. Because of his IT background, he applied the agile learning approach to the school and thus Manhattan Free School morphed into the first Agile Learning Center. The idea has now been spreading around the world.

One of the most dramatic alternatives we work with is the Sri Aurobindo Ashram/orphanage in Kathmandu, Nepal. It was started by Ramchandra who ran away from Nepal to India at 12 years old. Educating himself there, he returned 20 years later and saw the great poverty in Nepal with many homeless children on the street. He then started the Ashram, an orphanage that now takes care of over 200 children with nothing paid for the children and no government subsidies. They raise 100% of their food at the Katmandu location and at another one in southern Nepal. They also started a retreat center in the mountains, staffed with graduates, to help support the Ashram.

The children there are raised almost like middle-class children. They now have a school that goes through 10th grade, but they send their graduates on to high school and university. One, who came as a 4-year-old now has a masters’ degree in math and physics from Germany and has returned to be principal of their school. Another also came back to teach and is now teaching at a gap year program. He recently visited us after bringing 22 American students back from Nepal after visiting the Ashram and other adventures. Another graduate became a world-class dancer.

The Ashram was preparing to host the 2018 IDEC when the deadly earthquake hit Nepal. As fortune would have it, all the students were outside unloading hay when it hit, and nobody was injured. But it did tremendous damage to their buildings. AERO members raised $10,000 to help them with repairs and found other resources, such as an architect to help them design the repairs. We also arranged a $5000 donation from a famous actress to help them buy a new milk truck to help them deliver excess milk from their dairy to sell in Kathmandu. They now plan to host the IDEC in 2020 in the new school building they are erecting brick by brick. You can see a video we made of the ashram here.

This is an example of the work that AERO continues to do. We do not receive any government funds and foundation grants only cover about 20% of our costs. This is why it is important that our new membership initiative to get 100 more sustaining donors is so important. We are just a small nonprofit that depends on the niche of readers and supporters who understand that children are natural learners and believe in learner-centered education.

Nevertheless, we put out a newsletter every week of the year, have an annual conference, have published more than 10 books , and have an annual school starters course. We also have the #1 alternative education website, according to Google, with a half million accessing it every year. We don’t know how many schools and programs have been inspired by AERO but we do know of more than 100 we have directly helped to start. This year’s school starters online course begins September 24th.

So, if you see we have gone to the effort of putting out yet another e-newsletter, even if we seem to be selling something that helps us keep going, please open it, and if you have time, give us some feedback. If we ask you to become a sustainer or AERO member, please consider it.

Thanks!
Jerry and The AERO Team
Posted on by

Blue Mountain School is seeking an Administrative Director

Blue Mountain School is seeking an Administrative Director to join the other administrators, staff, students, and families in guiding the 37-year-old school into the next stage of its development. The primary responsibility of the Administrative Director of Blue Mountain School is to carry out the school’s stated mission and to oversee the day-to-day operations of the school. Areas of oversight include strategic planning and analysis, documentation and record keeping, personnel, relationships in the school community, finances and fundraising, and physical facilities. BMS operates with a collaborative organizational structure.

Requirements:

  • Personal values that match the mission, vision, and values of BMS
  • Bachelor’s degree or higher in the field of education or human services
  • Experience working collaboratively and in a leadership position
  • Experience working in an educational environment
  • Administrative or educational leadership experience working with children, ideally 5 or more years
  • Proficient with MS Office, QuickBooks, and Google Suite
  • CPR / First Aid Certificate
  • TB screening
  • Criminal background and CPS check

Blue Mountain School is a Contemplative Progressive educational community located in Floyd, Virginia. BMS is dedicated to cultivating capable community members who possess the courage and wisdom to lead fulfilling lives. As a Contemplative Progressive school, we commit to providing a holistic approach to education that nurtures the mind and the heart, the rational and the creative, the physical and the spiritual. Together, the Contemplative and Progressive elements of our model honor the whole child.

For more information or to submit a resume, please contact the Blue Mountain School Board of Directors President, Martha Sullivan, at marthasullivan1974@gmail.com or by phone at 540.745.4234.