Quaker Principles & Practice April 2008
Posted by usnl in : Quaker Principles & Practice, April 2008 Edition , trackback In the December Upper School newsletter, I was excited to be able to describe the process and energy that had been put into implementing Meeting for Worship for Business in the Upper School at Penn Charter. In the months since, we have had our first two Meetings, and I have been interested to see how this new opportunity for engaging the community in dialogue and empowering student voices has continued to evolve.
It can be nerve-wracking to open up an uncensored forum on a community issue to a group of 400 students. It is an act of faith, to be sure, not only in the good will and good sense of the students, but in the strength and vision of the student leaders who help to guide the conversation. Fortunately, our faith in the student leaders and the student body have proven well-founded, and we have done a good job of learning together what kinds of strengths, challenges and opportunities are offered in Meeting for Business.
So far this year, we have met twice, opening up two very different topics. In November, we gathered to discuss how we experience and embrace difference at Penn Charter. Students met the week before in advising groups to discuss this topic, and then brought these thoughts to the larger group meeting. This is a big topic, and a charged one, and students who rose to spoke talked about their experiences, and the ways that the community does offer opportunities to connect with others from different backgrounds and with different perspectives. Although this Meeting seemed to stick to what is good about our community life, conversations that grew out of the Meeting also noted that there are challenges and tensions that are equally important, and plans have begun to structure more conversations on this topic, this year and next.
More recently, we gathered to reflect on a topic that is somewhat more mundane, but that also affects all of our lives at the school. A committee has been formed to investigate the advisory program at the school, and as a part of laying the groundwork for this discussion, we posed the question to students: “What should the role of an advisor be at Penn Charter?” Currently, the 9th grade mentor program is distinct from the 10th – 12th grade advising program, so we met separately in these two groups. In the larger group, a lively and thoughtful exchange of ideas helped to get at a number of the key issues, including timing, course planning, grade advisors, course planning, relationships and logistics. Being in a smaller group seemed to allow ninth grade students a good opportunity to make their voices heard and, after some initial shyness, a variety of thoughtful reflections were shared, touching on similar topics, with a particular focus on time usage in advising and relationship-building.
These Meetings for Business have been important in their own right for opening up space where we can hear a variety of voices together and move toward a more connected and unified community. They are also exciting to me as part of a process that has allowed all of us to engage in a Quaker practice that will continue to develop and bear fruit for our community in the years to come.
Ben Dziedzic
Clerk, Religious Life & Values committee