Episcopal Schools are Involved
Diocesan Press Service. September 7, 1966 [46-11]
"Church schools are not exempt from the restless contemporary probing that is leading to a reappraisal of all our social institutions. They are challenged to show what they can do that a public or independent school cannot do better." Thus states the Very Rev. Samuel J. Wylie, dean of General Theological Seminary, New York City, and former rector of Church of the Advent, Boston, which operates a parish day school.
"Episcopal School Week," he continued, "is an occasion both to affirm the unique contribution of the Christian schools and to encourage them by material support and prayerful concern to be at their best."
"The Christian school is privileged to face the problems of racial strife, poverty, cultural and class tensions in the context of the Old Testament prophets, the parables of Christ, the charity of the early Church, and the spiritual example of a Vincent de Paul, a Wesley or a Schweitzer. In this day when school policies are so often influenced by pressure groups, it is a great boon to be able to look for guidance and precedent to a wider and wiser authority than the Public Schools Committee or the alumni. Church Schools, at every level, have the great opportunity to encourage excellence without snobbery and democracy without mediocrity."
Programs already underway in many Episcopal schools show that they are, indeed, concerned with the problems of people today. They are attempting to use their facilities to meet needs in their communities and to create, within their students, an awareness of, and concern for such problems as race relations, automation, unemployment, and housing which they must someday help solve.
A few such programs are:
.... Lenox School's summer work program. This boys' preparatory school in Lenox, Mass., trying to live by its motto "not to be served but to serve," gives its students the opportunity to work with persons of different cultures around the world. These students have listened and learned as well as given service in such places as Japan, Mexico, American Indian reservations and, this past summer, in Shefferville, Quebec, on the western border of Labrador, among the Cree Indians.
.... Trinity Episcopal School's summer enrichment program. This parish day school in New Orleans, La. began this past summer an enrichment program for public elementary school students. The 43 students who attended the six-week program were from varied economic, racial and religious backgrounds. Their family incomes were generally below $5, 000. The program included a "core topic" class which, through literature and discussions, dealt with the theme of courage; a music program; a math class which covered elementary number theory and an art program which provided opportunities for expression in a variety of media. While statistics are poor evidence of an inner change, the fact that circulation in the school library rose from 61 books in the first week to 130 in the fourth week indicates that reading was becoming more of a pleasure, and less of a chore. Also included in the program were field trips to the Federal Court Building, zoo, Louisiana State University, and a boat ride around New Orleans harbor.
.... Wooster School's "UpwardBound". This boys' preparatory school located in Wooster, Conn. is the scene during the summer months of an intensive eight-week course for high school students from the urban centers of Danbury and Waterbury, Conn. The staff of this federally-funded anti-poverty program is composed primarily of teachers from the two cities involved, for they are also responsible for the thirty-five-week follow-up which is the second part of the program. It is hoped that the desire to learn, developed while at Wooster, will result in academic improvement in the traditional high school setting; and the tutoring program during winter months is designed to encourage such a process. The summer courses - visual arts, film making, creative writing, math games, biology and music - allow students to participate freely in the materials of the discipline and encourage them to ask their own questions and discover their own answers.
.... St. Paul's Advanced Study Program. During the summer the facilities of this boys' preparatory school in Concord, N. H. is the scene of an intensive academic experience for gifted students from public and parochial high schools of the state. During the six-week summer session they have the opportunity to study a year's work in one subject and may, under certain circumstances, receive advanced standing from colleges. Cooperating in this venture are the State Department of Education, the University of New Hampshire, and the colleges of Dartmouth, Keene, Plymouth and St. Anselm's. More than $40,000 in scholarships are awarded annually.
.... Groton School's summer camp. For the last 75 years this boys preparatory school in Groton, Mass. has run a camp in Bristol, N. H. for boys from the greater Boston area who would not otherwise have such an experience in outdoor communal life. Groton students and graduates help run the camp and are thus given an opportunity to relate to the whole community. They are made aware of problems of boys from a different socio-economic background.
.... St. Stephen's course in "Urban Dynamics." This school in Austin, Tex. has recently introduced a course in "Urban Dynamics" into its curriculum. The course is designed to dispel ignorance about cities, their operations and their problems. Books on the reading list include Michael Harrington's The Other America; Mitchell Gordon's Sick Cities; and The Exploding Metropolis by the editors of Fortune magazine. Outside the classroom students visited areas of poverty and participated in a neighborhood survey along with members of the Neighborhood Youth Corps, a federal training program for school drop-outs. Similar courses have found their way into a number of Episcopal schools throughout the country.
Through these and similar efforts Episcopal schools are preparing students to meet the challenges of our society. As Father Wylie stated, "Confidence and joy in the midst of change may be the greatest gift the Church School can give to the present generation of students. If they have reason to believe that their teachers confidently trust the future both to them and to the Lord, they are likely to meet the challenge with maturity and with confidence both in the Lord and in their teachers. "
(EDITORS - This wraps up Episcopal School week materials.)