The School Without Walls

Hello Readers,

Today was a very exciting day, as Ebony and I went to visit the School Without Walls. We were really amazed at what we learned and saw.

Firstly, we waited for the principal, Dr. Owens, to arrive. While we waited, we took in the central hub of the school. Right after entering the building, we found ourselves in a large, open space with paintings on the walls done by students. Accompanying the paintings was the mission statement of the school and many inspirational posters. It was in this space that we learned that the School Without Walls has been in operation for 40 years!

The central area had tables where groups of students were sitting and talking. Ebony and I were surprised by the number of students who were walking around and sitting in the central area. Shouldn't they be in class? But, thinking back to the free school philosophy, we remembered that the students are given free rein to learn where and when and how they want. What we were also amazed by was the diversity among the students. All of the students range from 10th to 12th grade and they are from all different racial backgrounds. I was surprised to not only see African American students, but also Caucasians, Latinos, and Asian students.

Upon Dr. Owens' arrival, Ebony and I were introduced to Winston, a member of the board and a teacher at the school. We came back later to talk with him about his classes and students. The student who escorted us was very willing to discuss his feelings for the school, openly stating that it wasn't for him, as he liked having more structure, but he also like the relaxed attitude of the school and the time built into the school day to just 'chill'.

We then returned to Dr. Owens' office where she praised our efforts for helping her school. She also informed us that all of the donations we received would be put into a sort of slush find, to help with the costs of anything they may need in the future. Before we left, she took down the concert information to forward to her teachers, thanked us profusely and hugged us both.

Back to Winston's room we went. He had just finished his Activist 101 class and explained to us that the class was hoping to go to New Orleans to build houses for Habitat for Humanity. He also stated that a graduation requirement of the school was that each student had to participate in 75 hours of community service A YEAR in order to teach them the importance of giving back to the community. He also expressed an interest with working with us again next year and praised our efforts for putting on a benefit concert, a rather large endeavor. Winston will be attending the concert tomorrow.

We left right after that, meeting a very courteous group of students as we left the building. I would love to go back to the School Without Walls, as it is truly a remarkable place of learning.  It think Ebony would agree!

See you tomorrow!

~ Joelle