As I sit here in an Amherst, NY (just outside Buffalo)
coffee shop writing the last entry in this year’s GTE blog, I am struck by a
few things.
1) Things have gone so quickly. People have asked if we have
done touristy things in the cities we have been in. The truth is that our schedule didn’t leave
too much time for much of anything other than driving and doing the blog. There is so much to do back in Michigan -
moving out of my office, prepping for classes, and finishing up alumni stuff
(the Roeper Alumni Service Corps’ Week of Service & the Barnes &
Noble/Roeper Book Celebration) that we ready couldn’t spend much time on the
GTE. After we celebrate Linda’s father
91st birthday here in the Buffalo area today, we head back for a
crazy-busy August.
2) Linda Pence is simply unbelievable. She just makes everything work. Seeing what needs to be done, she goes about
taking care of it quietly with good humor and grace. She cringes when I thank
her in public so please don’t tell her I’m writing this.
3) The alums we have met still love and feel close to the
school. They consider the time spent at
Roeper to be life-changing and they are very, very grateful for being able to
go there. Maybe, everybody who has or is
going to Roeper should take a minute and convey their gratitude to the parents
who sacrificed so much to keep them there.
And, if you are contact with some of the teachers that gave you so much,
maybe a little “Thanks” to them would be appropriate also. Lastly, please consider how you might be able
to give back. From being a mentor in
RAMP to working during the RASC Week of Service in mid-August to talking to a
Roeper high school kid about a college they are interested in and you are knowledgeable
about to coming back to talk to the current community to sending in your
opinions, updates and memories for publication in the Roeper Alumni News to
contributing to the annual fund and more, perhaps you can thank those that did
so much for you by paying it forward.
4) We were impressed by the wisdom and eloquence of the alumni who
took part in our discussions.
Please take a few minutes and look back at the blog summaries. Then write to me with what
you got out of reading them.
Here is what struck me:
* The alums always thought of Roeper as their school. They “owned” their educations, their school
and their community. By being given
choice, by being encouraged to speak out, by being given responsibility and
being treated with respect they were not objects to be acted upon but partners
in running the school and the community.
* Many gathering participants spoke about social justice and
how the value of making a better society was never far away. The growth of the individual was important
but never just for its own sake but for the betterment of the Roeper and
greater communities.
*Roeper was a “lab” experience in which the idealistic
values of the Roeper Philosophy were never meant to be espoused and then put on
the shelf but referred to and lived by. Discussions
about ethics and their application were constant.
* No one thought Roeper was perfect. There have been over the years serious
shortcomings but always people would come back to our ideals and try better to
live up to them.
*Society needs people who question, are skeptical and who
possess critical thinking skills. Roeper has helped people develop these
abilities but could do better.
*We need folks who feel secure enough to be able to talk to,
learn from and work with others. It
seems like people in the general society are now too unprepared or scared to be able to do
these things.
*Roeper needs to continue to give students opportunities to
grow in confidence. From having a sense
of safety to having adults who are supportive to giving kids control and ownership
of their educations and community to providing appropriate challenge we help develop people who go into the world feeling
confident and empowered.
*If you want citizens to believe in democracy, you have to
have them in a school and community where democracy and shared-decision-making
are real.
*Technology has much to offer Roeper in better living up to
our Philosophy. Students can break down
walls and connect to the outside world via technology. They can pursue their passions and learn so
much more. But the technological change
can’t simply be imposed from “a-high.”
Students and teachers need to be involved with any planning,
implementation and assessment of any use of educational tech.
This is what I got out of reading the blog. But please, take some time and read it
yourself and come up with our own conclusions.
HINDSTRUM & HIS MISSION:
As we camped for 2 nights and a day at the beautiful Cranberry Lake in
the Adirondacks, we finally relaxed. It
would have been almost perfect except for the mosquitos and a restless
Hindstrum. Reading, meditating, hiking
and canoeing are not exciting enough for our furry friend. For a while he acted
as a lifeguard but became bored with that since no one was considerate enough
to drown.
Then the solution came to us. We told Hindstrum that mosquitos were tiny
birds and we gave him his ax (please don’t tell the California authorities we
violated his parole condition by letting him have his favorite tool of destruction).
Out into the night he went.
We heard the screams of the mosquitos all night. We actually felt a little bad for what we had
done but not much. In the morning, he
staggered back to camp with the tiny scalps of millions of bugs. Apparently, he had killed all the mosquitos
in northern New York State. He was
exhausted and slept for 24 hours and we could sit reading without being swarmed
by little blood-suckers.
Then, we hit the road and travelled to Buffalo. The GTE is mostly done except for our trip
home tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed reading
the blog.
Positive comments made be sent to emery.pence@roeper.org.
Corrections and negative comments should go to linda.pence@roeper.org.
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