Ethics and Character Development @ IDEAL

Inclusion represents a true appreciation for diversity and acceptance of human differences. Inclusion recognizes that we can all learn from one another, and that every person has an inherent right to participate fully in society. Our commitment to equity and justice encourages discussion about and appreciation for our shared experiences and our differences, whether based on ability, age, gender, ethnicity, family structure, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomics. We honor the uniqueness of each individual and embrace diverse backgrounds, values, points of view, and experiences to build a strong, inclusive community and to prepare 21st Century students for lives in a multicultural, global society.

At The IDEAL School, our commitment to the principles of inclusion, diversity, and acceptance is reinforced by our discussion of ethics and justice in weekly Town Meetings, and is celebrated at school assemblies. Our objective is to promote school practices that support students’ character development and provide them with the skills they need to be successful students, friends, and citizens. A healthy racial/cultural identity, plus skills to aid in recognizing and combating bias, are essential to all children’s self-esteem and ability to function productively in our society. Fostering growth in this direction is, therefore, a major parental and teacher responsibility. Adults need to be able to not only respond to children’s concerns but also to initiate activities and discussions.

Town Meeting discussions and assembly themes focus on a different value each month. We build on these throughout the year. Below is an overview of our monthly guiding concepts:

Guiding Concept        Concept in Action

Respect                      Inclusion
Rights                         Responsibility
Compassion               Service Learning
Peace                         Cooperation
Justice                        Negotiation & Mediation
Friendship                  Advocacy
Perspectives              Conflict Resolution
Change                       Perseverance
Choice                        Words, Attitudes & Actions
Hope                           Purpose

Civil Rights Studies @ IDEAL and Resources for Families

During the month of January, The IDEAL School focuses on the history of civil rights. In town meetings, at assemblies, and in classroom lessons, our community explores the people, organizations, and ideas behind movements for equitable laws and equal rights.

To deepen their understanding, each class uses a specific concept and corresponding historical figure as a lens with which to examine civil rights movements around the world. The kindergarten studies Courage and Martin Luther King, Jr.; the First Grade studies Integration and Ruby Bridges; the Second Grade studies Social Action and Rosa Parks; the Third Grade studies Nonviolence and Mohandas Gandhi. In the middle school, M1 studies Democracy and Fannie Lou Hamer; M2 studies Justice and Thurgood Marshall; and M3 studies Revolution and Che Guevera.

These concepts and figures are useful entry-points to conversations about civil rights, in general, and the history of our country. For families who are interested in continuing these conversations at home, we suggest the following as helpful resources. We have included literature for children, as well as books and films for adults who wish to enrich their own understanding of civil rights movements.

For Children:

Literature

Rise Up Singing. Peter Blood and Annie Patterson.

Giant Steps to Change the World. Spike Lee & Tonya Lewis Lee.

She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story. Audrey Vernick.

Let it Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters. Andrea Davis Pinkney.

Fredrick Douglass: The Last Day of Slavery. William Miller.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Marion Dane Bauer.

Martin’s Big Words. Doreen Rappaport.

As Good as Anybody: Martin Luther King and Abraham Joshua Heschel’s Amazing March Toward Freedom. Richard Michelson.

The Story of Ruby Bridges. Robert Coles.

Rosa. Nikki Giovanni.

Ghandi. Demi.

The Gateway Civil Rights Series (Includes titles such as Malcolm X and Black Pride and A. Philip Randolph and the Labor Movement). Various Authors.

Audio Collections

Voices of the Civil Rights Movement: Black American Freedom Songs

 

For Adults:

Literature

A Testament of Hope: Essential Writings and Speeches of MLK, Jr. Edited by James Washington.

Autobiography of Malcolm X. Malcolm X.

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. Phillip Hoose.

Freedom Writer: Virginia Foster Durr – Letters from the Civil Rights Years. Edited by Patricia Sullivan.

The Story of My Experiments With Truth. Mohandas Ghandi.

Local People. John Dittmer.

The Children. David Halberstam.

Films

Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years

Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

The Road to Freedom: The Vernon Johns Story

Winterfest a Success!

This past weekend, The IDEAL School held its annual Winterfest celebration. It was a fun afternoon for all the many families and friends that attended. The festivities included holiday craft making, live music, a magic show, balloon art, and face painting. There was also a cafe, featuring holiday treats, and an IDEAL School store.

Winterfest is also home to the annual book fair, sponsored by Scholastic Inc. Families could purchase books for personal use, as holiday gifts, or for donation to classroom libraries here at IDEAL. The Parents Association also collected new and gently used books for donation to Odyssey House, a local organization that helps families affected by substance abuse.

Thank you to the many families and friends that attended. And a very special thanks to the many parent volunteers that made Winterfest possible!

IDEAL Short Film

Erica Hill Studios recently completed a short film about life at IDEAL. You can view the film here: http://vimeo.com/32406127.

A Commitment to Service Learning

Angela Bergeson
Head of School

“No one is born a good citizen; no nation is born a democracy. Rather, both are processes that continue to evolve over a lifetime. Young people must be included from birth. A society that cuts itself off from its youth, severs its lifeline.” –Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General

As part of our commitment to inclusion and acceptance, The IDEAL School provides students with a service learning framework that supports their development into “good citizens.” Service Learning is different from community service in several ways, the first being that it is outreach that ties directly back to classroom themes and curriculum. Service learning is used in a structured way that connects classroom content, literature, and skills to community needs. This type of learning allows the students to:

• Apply academic, social, and personal skills to improve the community;
• Make decisions that have real, not hypothetical results;
• Grow as individuals, gain respect for peers, and increase civic participation;
• Gain a deeper understanding of themselves, their community, and society;
• Experience success no matter what their ability level;
• Develop as leaders who take initiative, solve problems, work as a team, and demonstrate their abilities while and through helping others.

Service Learning can be structured in the following ways:
• Direct Service – face to face outreach that has an immediate impact;
• Indirect Service – impact a cause or need that is not personal;
• Advocacy – advocating for a cause or need through information sharing and raising awareness;
• Research – seeing an issue and doing constructive research on how to solve the problem.

When our students participate in service learning projects, they incorporate academic skills and gain a more comprehensive understanding of issues facing our community. Additionally, they develop a deeper understanding of skills through real-world application of tasks. This year, The IDEAL School will once again focus on hunger and homelessness.

Through service learning, students will examine conditions that cause poverty and lead to hunger and homelessness. They will become familiar with local needs and the services that address them, and study history through lenses of hunger, homelessness, and poverty, thereby making the issues more human and real. Literature, both fiction and nonfiction, can vividly bring these events and the people who were affected by them into students’ lives today. Although affecting policy concerning people who are homeless is very challenging, students can work to help shape sustainable programs, can participate in new and existing programs, and can help in many other ways to meet immediate needs.1

To learn more about the ways this work will be integrated into students’ experience throughout the year, IDEAL families are encouraged to attend our Service Learning Kickoff Assembly on Friday, November 4 at 8:30 am, here at the school. ____________________________

1 The Complete Guide to Service Learning. Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A. (Minneapolis: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc., 2004).