SUMMER 2004Drew Smith
Head of School
loucester County Times reporter Jim Six observed, “This is something you don’t see every day: eighth graders who would have kept on asking questions even though it was the end of their school day.” The occasion was the February 24 visit from Congressman Robert Andrews to our campus.
After opening with some remarks about making the Internet accessible to all students, no matter what their economic status, Andrews opened the floor to questions from our fifth through eighth grade students. On at least one occasion, the maturity of a particular question caused Andrews to literally choke on his water! I was impressed with the congressman’s ability to keep pace with our students in a way that was respectful of their age and enthusiasm.
I also observed the engagement amongst our students during the Andrews visit. They were eager and aware; mature and thoughtful. And most of all, they were deeply and genuinely concerned about important national and global issues impacting all of us in the United States. It was clear to me, and to our visitors, that our students have been lead by their teachers through some careful and deep investigations regarding world events. It was also obvious that the practice of questioning and listening to find new meanings, new truths, is one to which our students have grown accustomed.
Are our students truly unique in our region? I believe so. By the time our students have reached the eighth grade they have all:
- attended a silent worship service once per week;
- made many public presentations of their academic work or spoken during worship;
- written a number of research papers and at least two short stories;
- most likely acted in a play or musical and participated in an interscholastic sport;
- mastered or nearly mastered algebra;
- helped homeless refugees somewhere in the world;
- raised money for a program to help prisoners attend to the needs of retired greyhounds;
- baked cookies;
- danced with or walked with a new friend from the ARC of Gloucester County;
- argued a case or two involving one or another school rule in front of the Head of School.
Our students have also attended a school where for nine years matters of character, conscience, and conduct were an integral part of their education.
The spring is always a time when the community takes stock of the Friends School experience. This is the time of year when parents must decide whether or not to re-enroll their children, and teachers must decide whether or not to sign their next contact. Although these very real, financial sacrifices can make the long view difficult, I think that Jim Six offers a small window into every Friends School student’s future: It is a future that finds our students mature and involved, curious and knowledgeable, respectful and concerned. Above all, it’s a future where their knowledge of self and others allows them to confidently rise to challenges presented to them by their parents, their high school and college teachers, and even by their congressman. Theirs are lives that will remained touched by the practice of truth-seeking and witnessing that is central to the life and work of the faculty and students at our Friends School.
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Last modified:
Saturday, June 05, 2004 at 11:30 PM
