Living into the Equality Testimony

CHRONICLES OF

Quaker Education SPRING 2017

Living into the equality testimony Creating space for all voices In the uncertain times following the 2016 presidential election, we are thinking a lot about safety and ways Quaker schools strive to build communities that feel secure and welcoming for a diverse range of people.

Friends school faculty member Megan Evans Kafer phrases it well in her fall entry of the William Penn Charter School (Philadelphia, PA) teacher blog when she writes: “How can a diverse community create a space for all to have a voice that is encouraged, respected and reflected?”

For Quakers, one way to approach safety is through the equality testimony.

In Friends schools, Quaker testimonies are at the core of all aspects of school life and influence program, curriculum, and the school’s relationship to the wider community. Friends schools strive to develop cultures of respect, demonstrating the belief that there is that of God in every person.

We invited Friends Council member schools to share how their school stands for the Quaker principles of equality, diversity, community, and peace; how voices of respect and equality are heard in Friends schools; how students use skills and values taught in Quaker education to reach out to those who are different and to seek common ground; and to share stories of how school communities support multiple perspectives and seek to hear many voices and points of view.

We hope you find their responses as inspiring and instructive as we do.

Finding their voice By Beth Reaves On January 19th, I attended The Alice Paul March for Equality with a group of students, parents and teachers. Organized

by Anna Holemans, a former Friends School Mullica Hill (FSMH) (Mullica Hill, NJ) student, now a junior in high school at Friends Select School (Philadelphia, PA), the march was intended to bring attention back to the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment).

Anna shared that she has been planning this Under William Penn’s watch, march for nearly two Alice’s March for Equality comes down the Parkway. years, and so while it seemed to be timed in reaction to the recent election, the reality is that her hard work in planning took place long before our election and without knowledge of who our incoming president would be.

Reflecting back, I am still most impressed by that thought — that one young woman can passionately and confidently work on her cause for two years, eventually creating a march attended by hundreds of supporters that day. Anna’s mother shared with us that she has long believed that Anna developed her strong voice for justice while a student at FSMH. Our students are encouraged to critically think about issues big and small, and learn how to form their “truth.” They develop an appreciation for opposing points of view through listening to each other and understand that varying opinions can provide insight not previously seen. Anna’s interest in Alice Paul arose when she first learned in third grade about suffragists, and her strong concern in supporting women’s rights grew as she did. It is so validating for her former teachers to see how that initial seed of interest has now blossomed. Having a voice, working on something personally important, and understanding the difference that just one person can make are vital lessons for our students. It is our work preparing them to be positive contributors in a larger, more complicated world.

Beth Reaves is Head of School at Friends School Mullica Hill.

A Publication of the

Reflections Truth-seeking within a loving community The days and months since January 20, 2017 have been a challenging time for our country and for educators in our nation’s schools. The news comes at us at lightning pace and the sheer speed and volume of the orders and announcements coming from the new administration can take one’s breath away. How are educators to respond and through what filter? How do communities of varying makeups navigate this time? Most importantly, how do we create safe spaces for the broad spectrum of people in our Quaker school communities?

It is important to affirm that the guidance our school communities are looking for lies in our 328 years of principled education -- education that seeks to discipline our thinking and learning through the lens of truthseeking within a loving community. Just as William Penn gathered children from all walks of life at the very first Friends Schools, we too seek to create a community of students that represents the full spectrum of our neighbors in our local communities.

Friends schools impose no test of creed or social or cultural disposition upon students; and we know that once part of a Friends school community, we serve them best by asking that they develop a disposition to learning that is influenced by the Society of Friends. As faculty and students consider recent political and cultural events, it is critical to remember that the lens through which we practice learning affirms Quaker principles and testimonies - many of which are universally-held values: the practice of simplicity in order to focus upon what is most important in our lives, peace to honor the sacredness of life, individual integrity as a guide for individual action, community built on universal respect, equality for all, and responsible stewardship of our resources natural and temporal.

At our pedagogical best Friends schools teach young people skills of reflection and inquiry; to ask critical questions; to seek insight and information; to listen with respect to others; and to share their own thinking in the context of a learning community. These are practices that we know will serve students well after they leave our schools. These skills are affirming of students’ identities and their roles in the world. And they are skills that can serve them well as they go forth to mend a broken world.

It is indeed possible to state what Quaker schools and Quakers are “for.” Edward Burrough, an early convert to Quakerism, described this principled foundation in 1672, writing that:

“We [Quakers] are not for names, nor men, nor titles of Government, nor are we for this party nor against the other; but we are for justice and mercy and truth and peace and true freedom, that these may be exalted in our nation, and that goodness, righteousness, meekness, temperance, peace and unity with God, and with one another, that these things may abound.”

Now more than ever, students need us to affirm that at Friends schools they can practice a way to learn about and be in the world that provides them a sense of hopeful optimism about their common future.

Drew Smith Executive Director

Friends Council on Education

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Peer facilitator training accentuates the positive

By Laura Taylor

Is preschool too early to teach kids about social justice?

by Tuesday Vanstory

Head of Media-Providence Friends School Earl Sissel with two peer facilitators.

In tune with the old song, students participating in the Peer Facilitator Training Program at Media-Providence Friends School (Media, PA) are learning to “accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, and latch on to the affirmative.”

The program aims to strengthen four primary characteristics in participants: understanding, caring, trustworthiness, and acceptance.

Facilitators learn to help themselves, peers and adults to be observant, act helpfully, offer situational alternatives, and make responsible decisions.

Using skills and values deeply rooted in Quakerism, students promote personal and academic growth through positive interactions and relationships. “I was learning how to help others stand up for themselves and I figured out how to [stand up for] myself, too,” said one student.

The project reinforces the importance of learning to read faces, ask open-ended questions, clarify and summarize what you have heard, and give respectful feedback. The belief “there is that of God in each person” underlies these empathic actions.

Beyond a typical conflict resolution program, which deals with existing conflict, peer facilitation assesses and addresses situations to preempt problems. These students embody “Friendly presence” without power, age or size being a factor in their ability to treat others as they would want to be treated — as a person of equal worth.

One sixth of our student body has received the free after-school training, offered each fall, to become a certified facilitator. Fourth through 8th graders are actively using their skills to reach out to others in and outside our community, putting into practice the values-influenced education they receive at MPFS. Mixed-aged groups of peer facilitators have worked together during monthly lunchtime gatherings to brainstorm ways to improve a specific social dynamic or redirect student interactions at recess.

Recently, program alumni met with 4th graders who were struggling with focus in class. They encouraged the younger students to think about themselves as individuals within a community, and asked non-judgmental questions such as, “How do you think your behavior in class affects your [and others’] learning?”

One 8th grader shared the importance of working hard in school because, “you never know what you will end up doing in your life . . . anything you learn here may be important later.” That message had greater impact because it came from a peer rather than from a teacher or parent.

At MPFS, it is important that students develop academic, social AND emotional skills. Our Peer Facilitator Program is just one of the ways we do this, empowering our students with a strong sense of agency and fostering skills that will serve them well for a lifetime.

Laura Taylor is the school counselor at Media-Providence Friends School.

Is preschool too early to teach kids about social justice? I don’t think so. It comes down to a discussion about what’s fair and what isn’t. It comes down to how people treat each other and treating each other the way we want to be treated — with care and kindness. It is a discussion about equality.

The engine of the preschool curriculum at Friends School Haverford (Haverford, PA) is the Social Curriculum. This includes respecting ourselves and others, taking turns, asking if we can use something when another is done, making sure to use kind words, making sure to include others in our play, etc. This preschool curriculum serves as a natural foundation for our Social Justice Unit, which focused on fairness, inclusion, and community. Of course, these ideas are important in the Quaker tradition. It points to the Quaker belief that there is that of G-d in everyone.

We begin our unit with The Berenstein Bears book called No Girls Allowed, and we explore nonfiction picture books about Rosa Parks, Ruby Bridges, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gandhi, Wangari Maathai, and other moral giants of our time. We make the lessons accessible by role-playing some of the stories.

When our preschoolers learned about segregation on buses, or schools where kids didn’t have what they needed, they knew that wasn’t right. Preschoolers intuitively understand fairness.

We discussed whether or not unfair rules should be changed. We discussed things we could do to change unfair rules. Some kids said that they would get mad. Some kids said they could make their own things. Some kids wanted to make rules fair. We discussed how many people try to change unfair rules, and that if something is wrong, they need to fight using their words, and not with their hands when others can get hurt. As people have done in the past and still do, we made signs and went on a march to show the world that we stand for peace and friendship.

To round out our unit of study, we listen to music from the civil rights era, and view artwork and photographs of the inspiring people we discuss.

So is preschool too early to teach kids about social justice? I can’t think of a better time to start.

Tuesday Vanstory is the lead teacher in the preschool classroom at Friends School Haverford.

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A time to honor our differences We are at a critical time in our nation’s history, a time when we should deepen our commitment to broad social issues.

This moment highlights the personal and institutional impacts of race and class and forces us to question our collective responsibility to our students and the social function of schools.

In what ways do this moment and these movements shape the lives of our students?

How do we create a community that privileges difference where the experience of each child, parent, teacher, and staff member is recognized and nurtured? These occasions are opportunities to stand firm in our Quaker values and expand our social justice vision to prepare our students to be in the world and to serve it.

Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.) students are invested in challenging all injustices. Our educators and students are committed to leading the community

Sidwell Friends School students standing in silent protest in Washington, D.C.Â

By Philip McAdoo

in difficult dialogues about race, equality, Quakerism, and social justice. We are committed to the details of daily life that affect our students and families as we continue to listen and lean into silence.

During these times, our hope and faith are strengthened by our Quaker practices.

Once a week we gather in silence as a community in Meeting for Worship.

Through the practice of sitting together as a community, we seek guidance as we hold the world in love and light and, as Quaker poet Geoffrey Weeden reminds us, Draw Breath:

Breathe in the quiet purpose of this place; Through outward stillness, seek a calm within.

Here we can find forgiveness and forgive; Here feel the healing miracle begin.

As a community, we understand that an ever-changing world requires substantive engagement and a pedagogical celebration of difference, that we build value into our differences and sustain that with our educational practices. This celebration demands that we address race, class, and difference to build relationships and view each other as an unlimited resource. It requires that we infuse empathy into our policies and be willing to reimagine our own experience of others because of the way they look, act, believe, think, or live.

This transformation of thought begins with honest dialogue and concerted action as we work together to respond to the needs of our students.

Philip McAdoo is the Director of Equity, Justice, and Community at Sidwell Friends School.

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Safe schools = Open, honest conversations

By Chris Singler

Students leave the meetinghouse at Germantown Friends School

Living out the equality testimony in a time of uncertainty

By Andrew Lee In a time of uncertainty, what does it mean for a Quaker school to be a safe community for all? As an educator at Germantown Friends School (Philadelphia, PA), I am writing to share two stories about how our community has lived the equality testimony following the 2016 presidential election.

On November 9, our Upper School gathered for a worship sharing. This was a Meeting for Worship centered on a specific query to guide thought and testimony: “How has the recent election impacted you? What do you think is the path forward from here?”

Students and faculty stood to speak their truths, expressing a wide range of emotions, beliefs, and sentiments. To me, it was striking how many voices were expressed in the meetinghouse that day. Some individuals expressed anger and hurt at the tone of the electoral campaign. Others professed a desire to move forward with resolve and hope. Multiple viewpoints were being set alongside each other without rancor or judgment, in stark contrast with political discourse in various media outlets. While the general mood of the room was somber, the meeting provided a space for all community members to hear and be heard.

A few weeks later, in another Meeting for Worship, a student stood up and stated that he had been thinking a lot about the election and had just watched the documentary 13th by director Ava DuVernay. He publicly resolved to do more than be “not racist”; to actively be anti-racist and work against divisive rhetoric and behavior.

Later that day, in the human rights student club meeting, other students continued this theme of action, discussing in a group how they might respond to situations such as the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and the resettling of Syrian refugees in our community. The students resolved to educate themselves further about these issues, seek to understand a spectrum of conservative and liberal viewpoints, and decide together what they would do to stand up for human rights.

Watching students go from expressing different viewpoints to collectively making decisions demonstrated to me the power of creating safe spaces in our meetinghouse, our classrooms, our student clubs, and our campus as a whole.

In times of uncertainty, being a safe community means being a place where all community members can equally express their truths, listen to the truths of others, and take positive action to move forward.

Andrew Lee is a history teacher and Director of Student Activities at Germantown Friends School.

November 9 stands out as a day when many of us in Quaker schools had to think about how the rhetoric and outcome of the 2016 presidential election impacted our students, faculty, staff, families, and communities. We also had to think about how we responded to and cared for our community members, many of whom (but not all) were experiencing shock and a sense of dislocation.

The hard work of safe schools is not to create conflict-free zones. Nor is it, in our oft-quipped Quakerese, “to lean into discomfort,” a tepid response at best. The hard work of safe schools in 2016 and beyond is to work tirelessly in the service of honest conversations, where hard truths and questions are mandated, and where curricula and community standards elicit an openness to all people while standing firm on the Quaker notion of continuing revelation.

As Quaker schools, we recognize the divinity in each individual. As Quaker schools, we affirm that notions of truth are ever-evolving. A Quaker school has the unique potential to become a nexus of panel discussions, deep research, and to help clarify what’s good and essential in our society.

Looking beyond curricula, there needs to be policy, process, and outcomes that work toward a unified vision of what “walking cheerfully” is today.

On November 9 at Friends Select School (Philadelphia, PA), some students were wearing T-shirts that celebrated president-elect Trump; other students were writing signs that read “Not My President”; others were working on organizing a march in January supporting the Equal Rights Amendment. Emotions were raw at the variety of responses that day, but what transpired is a kind of blueprint: the head of school reaffirmed our values of equality and love; the school held a Meeting for Worship for myriad viewpoints to be shared; the school’s policies held freedom of speech high yet drew the line before such speech harmed others; and the school prioritized a spiritual place of togetherness over dogma or flash-in-the-pan anger.

What I heard that day was, “This was a good place to be today.” Which, at the center, is what our schools aim to be every day, not just on November 9.

Chris Singler is the Upper School Director at Friends Select School.

6 Suggested Resources Embracing the Tension: Moral Growth in Friends High Schools Results from a four-year study of the moral growth of adolescents in Friends upper schools.

Schooled in Diversity: Readings on Racial Diversity in Friends Schools A collection of essays, research examples, case studies, and queries, offering frameworks for understanding diversity and inclusion.

Schooled in Diversity Action Research: Student and African-American Alumni Collaboration for School Change A companion to Readings on Racial Diversity in Friends Schools (2001).

See www.friendscouncil.org for diversity resources — print, online, and consultants.

Q UA K E R T H O U G H T A N D L I F E TO DAY DECEMBER 2016

$6

CONNECT your students to today’s Quakerism GIVING and

Philanthropy

Q UA K E R T H O U G H T A N D L I F E TO DAY JANUARY 2017

$6

READ

Friends Journal in print and online

LISTEN

to podcasts of articles

Quakers in the Workplace

WATCH Q UA K E R T H O U G H T A N D L I F E TO DAY FEBRUARY 2017

Respect Is the Heartbeat of Standing Rock Seven Tasks to Heal the World Mystical Experience, the Bedrock of Quaker Faith

$6

QuakerSpeak videos QuakerSpeak.com

PARTICIPATE in the annual Student Voices Project

FriendsJournal.org

At Tandem Friends, student empowerment cultivates equality

By Peter Gaines At Tandem Friends School (Charlottesville, VA), cultivating student voice often involves empowering students to be in the lead on school initiatives. We had several important examples this fall under the umbrella of the school’s Friends Council, the student group charged Students meeting on the Tandem Friends quad with caring for the spiritual life our school.

Friends Council at Tandem Friends School is led by two seniors and a collection of younger students preparing to be future stewards of the Council when those seniors graduate. The Council tends to our weekly Meeting for Worship and plans other events during the year. This includes a full-day, student-led teach-in, which this year will explore the concepts of femininity and masculinity as they are shaped by media influences.

In our community, the Council plays an essential role in cultivating the testimony of equality. They support a safe space on campus for all, honoring student voice and the value of listening with intention to every student. Tandem’s Friends Council holds open meetings several times a month; students are in the lead and adult advisors are present to offer guidance and facilitate their goals.

For Meeting for Worship, Tandem’s Friends Council leaders tend to the physical space, arrange for student greeters, and choose students to close Meeting, invite afterthoughts, and hold others in the light. Every three weeks, the group’s leaders prepare queries for grade-level groups that gather in various locations around campus.

Each student group is joined by a single faculty member who listens and supports the class as needs arise. The queries themselves are generated by the students, and the worship sharing generated by these queries is guided by student leaders.

This fall, as we processed controversy and hardship in our nation and on our campus, query groups guided student reflection and student voice in response. In one instance, our students shared an article written by Lucy Duncan offering “A Quaker Perspective on Colin Kaepernick and #BlackLivesMatter.” Students were then invited to consider how people can share divergent opinions and be open to where others are coming from. They also posed a series of questions: ● How can we as individuals and part of a small community express our opinions? ● How can we start conversations about these kinds of topics? ● How do we explain why we are standing up for something without coming across as disrespectful?

This fed important dialogue on our campus that continues to evolve as we explore appropriate ways to protest, engage our own community fully in similar conversations, and reach out to the wider Charlottesville community to invite others into our dialogues.

In our school community, thoughtfully generated queries, along with true student leadership and ownership, support a climate in which our students are given a structure for their voices to be invited and heard, and for positive change and growth to develop in response.

Peter Gaines is the Director of the Upper School at Tandem Friends School.

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National Endowment for Quaker Children 2016 – 2017

Tuition aid for Quaker families on a national scale Quaker children attending Friends schools in the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) region have been supported with tuition aid in some way for more than 60 years. FCE established an endowment fund for Quaker children across the country to attend Friends schools, and we’re excited to see the impact this funding is already having.

Through the National Endowment for Quaker Children (NEQC) Pilot Program, tuition aid grants were distributed to six schools supporting five families starting in 2015-2016. Each tuition aid grant of $1,000 was for a Quaker family with a child new to a Friends school. In 2016-2017, the number of schools receiving grants has doubled and the number of tuition aid grants distributed has tripled.

This noteworthy growth and feedback from participating schools demonstrate that this type of tuition aid support is needed.

“When I first heard of this initiative, my Board and I knew this was a bold and critical step for the future of Quaker education,” says Bo Lauder, Principal of Friends Seminary (New York, NY).

“We were pleased to be the first Friends school to contribute to the endowment and we are gratified that one of our students is now benefiting.”

The NEQC initiative is enhancing the Quaker character of Friends schools by increasing the presence of Quaker families and students in those schools.

“The values espoused by Quakers over more than three centuries have helped shape nearly every social change movement in our country’s history — abolition, women’s suffrage, peace activism, prison reform, and of course, education,” says Matt Glendinning, Head of Moses Brown School (Providence, RI).

“The network of Friends Council’s 78 Quaker schools has enormous responsibility to carry on a legacy for the social good,” Glendinning adds. “How can we do that without a strong Quaker presence in the student body? NEQC provides critical resources to enroll and educate the next generation of Quaker leaders.”

NEQC provides a scholarship amount that is a positive financial tipping point for Quaker families who want a Friends education for their children.

“I just received the notice from the school that my child’s account has been credited for the NEQC, just while I was figuring out how to pay for her July 1st payment,” writes an appreciative parent. “Thank you, thank you soooo much!!”

Please contact Betsy Torg at betsy@ friendscouncil.org or 215-241-7245 if you are interested in learning more about NEQC and the role it plays in supporting schools, families, and Quakerism.

16 students 12 schools ● Abington Friends School ● Arthur Morgan School ● Brooklyn Friends School ● Friends Community School ● Friends School Atlanta ● Friends Seminary ● Minnesota Friends School ● New Garden Friends ● Oakwood Friends School ● Tandem Friends School ● Westbury Friends School ● Westtown School

2015 – 2016 5 students 6 schools ● Arthur Morgan School ● Friends Community School ● Friends School Atlanta ● Minnesota Friends School ● New Garden Friends ● Woolman Semester

Exploring the future of Quaker education and Friends Council What are the most pressing issues faced by Quaker schools as they consider their future over the next five years?

What role should Friends Council on Education play in supporting Friends schools in addressing those issues, building on their unique strengths, and harnessing the power of the Friends school network?

These questions and more have been the focus of a year-long strategic planning process underway at Friends Council on Education. This fall the Friends Council Board and Heads of Schools engaged in strategic planning sessions together. Then the Board heard from a panel of thought leaders holding a range of teaching and administrative positions in Friends schools. The strategic planning process continues this spring and we look forward to sharing the results with you.

1507 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 215.241.7245 | info@friendscouncil.org www.friendscouncil.org

SPRING 2017

Living into the equality testimony CHRONICLES OF

Quaker Education

Printed on reliably sourced paper

REGISTER NOW online at www.friendscouncil.org Heads Gatherings Heads of Friends Schools with Secondary Divisions Gathering April 27-28, 2017 Westtown School Elementary, K-8 and Early Childhood Heads Gathering April 30 – May 2, 2017, Chestnut Hill Friends Meetinghouse

Peer Network Events Friends Environmental Educators Network (FEEN) April 6 -7, 2017, Buckingham Friends School Early Childhood Educators, April 20-21, 2017, Wilmington Friends School Development, Admissions & Public Relations, May 5, 2017, Friends Center

Special Event Gathering of Friends Schools’ Religious Life Committees May 10, 2017, Abington Friends School Co-sponsored with Philadelphia Yearly Meeting Committee on Friends Education, this gathering is for trustees/school committee, administration, faculty, and students active in the religious life of the school.

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