Whereas traditional school environments rely on stability, predictability and routine, a Sudbury school environment like Fairhaven is characterized by change and variability. To be sure, we do have our routines and structures here: just today we convened our first School Meeting of the year, where we elected students to run the meeting and record the minutes. We also elected students to run the daily Judicial Committee meeting. We decided many other issues, including purchasing a new fire alarm annunciator for $510 and authorizing a room use change. All of these were orderly, routine decisions. However, the outcomes were not predetermined; rather, they were unknown variables until the meeting voted.

Meanwhile, the activities of the students this week were absolutely unknown until they (the students) chose them. Play on the swings? Talk with friends on the porch? Play computer games? Check Facebook? Join a creative writing class? Eat now, or eat later? A Fairhaven day and education is absolutely variable. While the meetings and rules provide the bones of the school, the muscles, nerves and organs rely upon student initiative, curiosity and interest. They rely on adaptation, and there may be anthropological evidence that the most significant advances in evolution from apes to homonids came in response to climate change, i.e. adaptation.

A recent NOVA series called Becoming Human included a theory that the advance from apes to homo habilis (proto-humans) coincided with a relatively short period of unstable climate changes on the African savanna. After millions of years of constant climate, suddenly brain sizes grew, eye sockets faced more forward, and bodies walked erect, all in response to periods of drought and flooding. Here’s a quote from anthropologist Rick Potts, one of the proponents of this theory:

“Maybe this has something to do with human evolution, and it’s not the survival of the fittest in any one environment but the survival of the more versatile, the more general and flexible creatures that would really persist over time. This gave me a new insight into human evolution. The origin of stone tools, the expansion of the brain, and the complexity of social life that we see with the emergence of our own species may actually be a response not to just the dry savanna or the cold Ice Age but to the wide and dramatic variability of climate over time.”

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/adaptable-human.html

It’s not the survival of the fittest in any one environment but the survival of the more versatile, the more general and flexible creatures that would really persist over time. When I heard this, how could I not think of the efficacy of a Sudbury environment for growth and development? If indeed we are headed into a time of climate instability, I want our young people to have experience with change, to be able to think and thrive in an environment that is not predetermined. If Potts and others are correct, we are, in fact, hard-wired for it!

Of course, both homo habilis and homo erectus became extinct prior to the emergence of homo sapiens, and anthroplogy is a complex science. Nevertheless, the conclusion that life on earth can be unpredictable is irrefutable, and schools should mirror and thereby prepare people for this unpredictability. Thankfully, ours does.

Great to be back at Fairhaven School, the dynamic savanna of Maryland school options!

Mark McCaig,

September, 2010

There’s a buzz on the internet this summer about New York high school valedictorian Erica Goldson’s thoughtful speech criticizing the educational system she’s just completed. One highlight:  School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible. Here’s a link to the text of her entire speech:

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/212383-Valedictorian-Speaks-Out-Against-Schooling-in-Graduation-Speec

We begin school next Tuesday, our thirteenth year. New students will join Fairhaven and Sudbury schooling veterans. Our busy, bright students will make of their time and their lives just what they determine they should make of them. They’ll play, study, sing, dance, paint, climb, run, read, improvise, and  work. They’ll enact a hundred other verbs I can’t imagine. All in the first week!

Staff and students will decide the issues of the day in JC and School Meeting. While the colossus of public education continues its gallant, ultimately flawed work, we here at Fairhaven School will continue ours, inspired by the values that brought us together in the first place: freedom, respect, curiosity, creativity, and democracy.

On September 24th we will continue our ongoing dialogue about education in America by hosting a screening of “Race To Nowhere”, a documentary about the competitive, stressful atmosphere in twenty-first century American public high schools. For some students, these schools work. For many, we wonder if they do not, and we look forward to seeing the movie and having a lively discussion about it afterwards. Visit our website for ticketing information.

Here’s a link to the movie’s website:

http://www.racetonowhere.com/

We have other events planned for the fall, including a Poetry/Jazz night (October 15th) and an Open House (October 23rd). See our home page for details.

Mostly, we’re here to celebrate another year embodying another way to become educated at Fairhaven School, where young people have freedom and responsibility, a school designed by its founders and students “to be all that it can be.”

Mark McCaig

August, 2010

(Fairhaven School has just graduated five students. As a way to celebrate the class of 2010, over the next month, we will be posting the theses that they  successfully defended. In italics below is a brief description outlining how somebody earns a Fairhaven diploma, followed by the seventh and final thesis. Enjoy!

Students who have spent at least three years at Fairhaven School may earn a diploma by defending the thesis that they have prepared themselves to become effective adults in the larger community. Diploma candidates must declare their intent to graduate and answer questions at a special winter Assembly of parents, students, staff and public members. They also meet with their individual graduation committees, and defend their written theses before a Diploma Committee made up of three experienced staff members from other Sudbury schools. A majority of positive votes from the Committee is the final requirement of  the diploma process.)

How I have prepared myself to be an effective adult

Effective adult means many different things to many different people.  I believe an effective adult has responsibility, knowledge of self, effective communication and community integration.

When you are self responsible, effectiveness within the adult community is assumed.  When you aren’t responsible for your self other pursuits become irrelevant, not to mention impossible.  A job is essential for food, clothing, housing, and general finances.  And if a person is to have a job they must have responsibility.  I believe when you know who you are work becomes an act of gratitude.

I see work as something that becomes apparent through constant pursuit of happiness and balance.  With the pursuit of a balanced life there are many opportunity’s for responsibilities.  I believe through responsibilities we can find peace.

Now that I am of legal age, responsibility means knowing what needs to be done. I have learned to manage my money, take care of my car, and contribute to the household.  I am currently working for the Bowie Blade delivering newspapers once a week.  I have learned to be dependable in doing my job and recognize the importance of work ethic.

During my time at Fairhaven the judicial committee exhibited a fair justice system; I believe this system taught me responsibility as a necessary characteristic. Being written up repeatedly through out the years has been a cycle of learning resulting in a new perceived value of responsibility. The first case I remember was when I was 5 years old. My friends and I rolled a giant pumpkin across the co op grounds only to be written up later.  The pumpkin had an owner and we hadn’t asked permission.

Knowledge of self is critical to being an effective adult.  I believe an effective adult recognizes their infinite potential for self discovery and growth.    I believe it’s important to consistently ask yourself what you need concerning this.  I have been seeking knowledge of self primarily through a spiritual manner. Meditation has been a beneficial route in self discovery.

At Fairhaven I have been given an abundance of freedom.  This has been essential in pursuing the constant discovery of where I want to be in life.  Following enrollment I found interest in video games and learned to read from playing them.  I grew up with a love for nature that was nurtured by the structure of Fairhaven; spending hours in the woods, collecting rocks and building forts.  I was quick to follow my heart.  At Fairhaven I also found an environment ideal for relationships, that environment being one with few restrictions that would prevent me from discovering my truest nature.

I have been producing and composing music since I was 14.   Working with music has helped me open to myself and others.  Music is my primary inspiration as a career.  I also have interest in horticulture. Living in a rural area, I feel much motivation to learn how to live off the land.  I aim to project my value of a better world, through artistic and other expressions.

I believe an effective adult recognizes communication as the connection with the outer world and manifests this knowing with that very communication.  I believe communication to be essential for any connection. At Fairhaven I have learned to communicate with clarity and integrity, from discussing my job as “sound guy” in the plays, to talking about life with younger students. I find the widest knowledge to come from communicating to the widest age group.

An effective adult recognizes the importance of being integrated within a community.
Community is essential in a balanced life.  I find my inner balance most present when I reflect upon a community for support.  I have participated in music corp. and have been the DJ at school dances and coffee houses.  I have enjoyed being a part of many of the school plays as the sound engineer, helping to create various musical scores.  I have found much contentment coming from simply being a part of the bigger picture.

I went to the Fairhaven school co-op at age 5 and went to Fairhaven at age 6 when the doors opened.  I have been a student at Fairhaven for 12 years. During my time at Fairhaven School I have acquired responsibility, communication, integration within the community and knowledge of self. This is what an effective adult is.

By Jimmy Jackson

Fairhaven School Class Of 2010

(Fairhaven School has just graduated five students. As a way to celebrate the class of 2010, over the next month, we will be posting the theses that they  successfully defended. In italics below is a brief description outlining how somebody earns a Fairhaven diploma, followed by the seventh and final thesis. Enjoy!

Students who have spent at least three years at Fairhaven School may earn a diploma by defending the thesis that they have prepared themselves to become effective adults in the larger community. Diploma candidates must declare their intent to graduate and answer questions at a special winter Assembly of parents, students, staff and public members. They also meet with their individual graduation committees, and defend their written theses before a Diploma Committee made up of three experienced staff members from other Sudbury schools. A majority of positive votes from the Committee is the final requirement of  the diploma process.)

Catching Leaves

“In the blink of an eye, babies appear in carriages, coffins disappear into the ground, wars are won and lost, and children transform, like butterflies, into adults.”

–Brian Selznick

My art is not writing, it is telling. I tell stories through my artwork, but today I am telling you a story through my words.

I believe that an effective adult is a self-sustaining being, who does not need to rely on anyone but herself, and who knows responsibility and self-discipline. She is also aware that every action she makes has a reaction that will affect others and she is successful, meaning she is satisfied with herself and how she lives her life. An effective adult is also able to communicate her needs and feelings in a respectful and mature fashion, and can work and compromise with others to obtain contentment for all involved. She is also very adaptable, able to work with any type of situation easily and efficiently.

I was born July 16^th 1994 and I was given the name Lillian Ashanti Lani. I lived and learned from my experiences. When I was four years old I decided I was ready to travel across the Atlantic Ocean and the United States by myself. I flew from Kauai, Hawaii (which was my home then) to Delaware where my grandparents lived. That journey gave me a greater sense of responsibility for myself and my actions; it also quenched my thirst for independence and made me hungry for more. Ever since that trip I have loved to travel. I am captured by the thrill of experiencing new places and different cultures and I can acclimatize very easily.

In the summer of 2004 my mother and I moved to Maryland so I could attend Fairhaven School. I was very nervous, I didn’t know what to expect and I didn’t know if I would “fit in.”

My first day at Fairhaven went like this: I was walking into the office with my mom and out of nowhere popped this boy with long curly hair, bare feet and mud on his clothes. Zack Bennet. He looked at me and literally screamed, “HEY YOU’RE THAT GIRL FROM HAWAII RIGHT?!!” He didn’t give me a chance to reply. He just introduced himself, “I’M ZACK! YOU’RE GOING TO LOVE IT HERE!” Then he ran off. I remember being excited that I didn’t have to wear shoes and being terrified of that Zack creature. I also thought about what he told me, “You’re going to love it here.” I was skeptical; I had been to so many different types of schools and so far none of then had worked out. I had been uprooted and transplanted so many times it was hard for me to believe those words. But he was right, I loved it.

My first week at school I spent in the Art Room by myself. I was so happy I could just draw all day. ALL DAY!  I loved my new freedom and I fit perfectly into Fairhaven’s unique system. I watched; I played; I learned; I grew. I was no longer a child, not in my eyes, no.  I was a….  Well I wasn’t exactly sure what I was yet, but I was sure I wasn’t a child anymore. Why?

Because I had an opinion, I had a voice, a vote equal to those older than me; these are all things that were and are very important to me. I have always wanted people to listen to what I’ve had to say and I have always had an opinion about something.

At Fairhaven I also had the right to do what I wanted to do with my time, but occasionally what I did with that time landed me in J.C. My first time in Judicial Committee was as a plaintiff. I had written Jared Luczak up for repeatedly taking things out of my cubby. The other times I was there as a defendant. I went through a period of time when I lied. See, I was accustomed to the “you don’t get caught, you don’t get in trouble” policy, but at Fairhaven if you get caught and then you don’t tell the truth, you’ll get in much bigger trouble. When people found out I wasn’t being honest I got scared. I thought everyone was going to hate me for it.  But no, they didn’t.  I soon learned that it was okay to make mistakes as long as you learn lessons from them and that at Fairhaven School everyone is just learning together. Even though they might be learning very different lessons or might be at very different stages in their lives, we still all learn together and help one another along. I wasn’t I anymore, I was we, a part of the most amazing community I had ever experienced. When I figured out that J.C. wasn’t against me and out to get me, the judicial system was so much easier for me to work with. J.C. helped fine tune my ideals of respect, my actions and the reactions to them (in this case room restrictions and community service) and the benefits of telling the truth.

This year I found myself clerking J.C.; in previous years I had been interested in clerking or alternating but I just wasn’t ready to commit that much of my time. Julia Rubin and I were elected together. Clerking on the Judicial Committee really helped me improve my communication skills, and my patience. J.C. also helped me determine the most efficient ways to hear everyone’s thoughts and feelings and meet all their needs. I hadn’t ever really run a meeting before, unless you count a Music Corporation meeting comprised of three people. I had watched J.C. and School Meeting run so many times that I knew the theory by heart. So I dove into clerking and I loved the experience.

When I was younger and to this day I was given art supplies and puzzle games instead of a TV, so naturally when I saw the Art Room I thought I had walked into a dream. I have always been a very creative person and just being at Fairhaven inspired me to put my talents to greater use. I mean the entire campus is a beautiful work of art. I love to paint, draw and make 3D art. Working on my art projects enables me to dive into my imagination and just let go of all the stressful things in life; and it is amazing where my imagination takes me. This school year I went to School Meeting and got an attendance acceptation to have more time to work on my larger pieces of artwork. Art is really a passion of mine and I am basing my career off of the things I love because I believe that in order to be successful in life you need to enjoy your occupation.

I made a lot of amazing friends at Fairhaven. One thing that really helped me to do that is that I could just be myself at school and I didn’t have to worry about anyone judging me. After I had gotten comfortable with myself and my surroundings I started to be more outgoing.

Once, this girl, Josette Jackson, and I spent two weeks in the shop building a jump so we could play horses. Josette and I later became very good friends. We were inseparable, we played all day together, we ate together, and we practically lived with each other. She helped me learn and grow, and I likewise, helped her; it was a great friendship. Fairhaven showed me it was okay to be an individual. It was not a bad thing to stand out of the crowd and say, “Here I am. Accept me like this or don’t at all, but I don’t care because I am just me and I like who I am.” The school also helped me learn how to connect with lots of different types of people and cope with all their different habits and needs; I also gained courage to make new friends. At the age of twelve I even had the courage to take a trip to Tanzania, Africa, with my mother; we volunteered in the schools everyday for a month and during those days we were separated by miles. I taught my own class of twenty-five kindergarten and preschoolers who spoke mostly Swahili (the common language in Tanzania). I wasn’t afraid at all. I just took things as they came to me and worked my hardest to teach the children in my care. It was an amazing experience living there for a whole month. A lot of people that we met didn’t want me to leave and I seriously considered staying.

It was late spring 2008 when my mom told me I had matured enough to carry my secret name; she also told me we were moving to a different house. We had been living in the same house for four years. When we had lived on Kauai we had moved from house to house a lot, so I was kind of excited for the change. During that last school year at Fairhaven I had been debating whether or not to change schools, and in mid-summer I made my decision. I was going to try something new.

A new house, a new name, a new school.

So at the beginning of the new school year, instead of getting in the car with my mom and driving to Fairhaven, I got on a school bus for the first time in my life and headed off to the local public school, Southern Senior High. My first month at Southern I didn’t say a single word; all I did was listen, observe and memorize. This was such an abrupt change for me. I had attended public school on Kauai for second grade, but elementary school on an island is a whole lot different than a high school on the “main land.” I knew no one, and when I say no one, I mean every single person at Southern High had no idea who I, Salvia Lani, was. All of a sudden after four years of running barefoot though the woods, jumping in the stream and having Munchkin wars, I had a schedule. I had classes, I had homework, and I had to be there on time. It was kind of a culture shock at first but I adapted well to the very different school system and I thought it was a lot of fun.

I confused the teachers more than anything. No previous grades, no classes, no preparation and straight A’s! That is another thing I really love about Fairhaven, you just learn even without realizing it sometimes. Also I am just, “stubborn” as my mom calls me. If I want to do something I will work as hard as I can until I finish it or I will fall short, then I will get right back up and try again until I succeed. I am a very determined and self-motivated person. When I was very little I figured out that I can do anything I put my mind to no matter how difficult it is and no matter who tries to stand in my way.  With my artwork I like to set myself tasks and deadlines in order to exercise my self discipline and keep the gears in my brain well-oiled. That year in the public school system was really enlightening. It made me realize just how lucky I really was, how much freedom I had, and how much trust I was given at Fairhaven School. I learned some valuable things at Southern High School, and I met some people that I won’t ever forget and a lot more things that I can’t forget soon enough, but by summer I was ready to go back to good old Fairhaven.

I really enjoy working; I love the satisfaction of getting the job done even if it is extremely difficult. At the moment I hold two seasonal jobs, one in a catering kitchen and the other at a local café. I also provide child care for a couple different families. I am a very quick learner; you can show me how to do something once and I will be able to do it or you can take me somewhere once and I will be able to get you there again no problem.  This has been very useful for me in my places of work as it allows me to move up to the harder tasks quickly, plus I am a walking GPS.

When I was younger I would always answer that question, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” with something different. Now that I have to answer it for real the list has become insanely long. (But everyone has to start somewhere, so here goes.)  I am going to get a full-time job for this summer in order to save up money to pay for my schooling and housing down the road. Then in the fall I will switch to part-time so I can attend community college, either AACC or PGCC.  My reasoning for this is because I would like to have a few credits under my belt before I start a four-year university. Next fall I am also going to take EMT training; I feel that I will learn a lot of very useful information and I really like to help people. That is another possibility for a job. In the field of four-year colleges I am looking at schools that major in art. I am very interested in a career as a fashion designer, an interior designer or a chef. These are all things I take pleasure in doing and I believe they will make lucrative careers.

Attending Fairhaven School has given me amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.  It has taught me to speak out for what I want and what I believe in. Fairhaven gave me the opportunity to focus on one subject or endeavor for as long as I was interested, and allowed me to follow my passions. It has helped me establish and govern my ethics of independence, self-discipline and responsibility; my efficiency and negotiation skills, my adaptability, awareness and self satisfaction. The school has helped me learn and grow throughout all my stages of childhood. It has helped me become who I am today, an effective adult ready to move on to new challenges and experiences in the larger community.

Even if I get nervous about taking the next step, I know all I have to do is take a deep breath, hold my nose, jump into the cold water, see where the current takes me, and work with it.

“It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

–Ursula K. Le. Guin

by Salvia Lani

Fairhaven School Class of 2010

(Fairhaven School has just graduated five students. As a way to celebrate the class of 2010, over the next month, we will be posting the theses that they  successfully defended. In italics below is a brief description outlining how somebody earns a Fairhaven diploma, followed by the seventh and final thesis. Enjoy!

Students who have spent at least three years at Fairhaven School may earn a diploma by defending the thesis that they have prepared themselves to become effective adults in the larger community. Diploma candidates must declare their intent to graduate and answer questions at a special winter Assembly of parents, students, staff and public members. They also meet with their individual graduation committees, and defend their written theses before a Diploma Committee made up of three experienced staff members from other Sudbury schools. A majority of positive votes from the Committee is the final requirement of  the diploma process.)

My Last Walk Home

Hello! My name is Zachary Taylor Bennett. I am seventeen years old and have been attending Fairhaven School for 13 years now. Every single second has been a learning experience because Fairhaven has allowed me to pursue my passion in whatever way I saw fit at the time. I love adventure, being outdoors and exploring. Among other things, early on, I wanted to become a paleontologist and a geologist, so I spent alot of time getting muddy in the stream searching for shark’s teeth, and finding that one rock that was so much better than the rest! I spent days, weeks, months and years exploring, happy with my wet clothes caked in mud and God knows what else. I was diligent, devoted and playing hard.

One of the things that Fairhaven urges its students to do is follow the rules. When I was younger, I spent a lot of time in the Judicial Committee.. I was suspended, indefinitely suspended, and even expelled at the age of six because I left school property three times. I decided to walk home, and got pretty far the first time. I was angry, frustrated, and wanted to get away from being bullied. Since my independence made me a liability for Fairhaven, I was expelled. I attended Davidsonville Elementary where I came to the realization that my opinion meant nothing. I had no control over anything; it was the opposite of everything I was used to. I was determined to do better the next time at Fairhaven where freedom is everyone’s right.

I have been traveling since the age of three months. I have been to several places including St. Martin, Bolivia, Panama, Mexico, Canada, Jamaica, the Canary Islands, Hawaii, and all over the United States. I have seen huts with dirt floors, given clothes and toys to the poor, and enjoyed the pinnacle of extravagance. I saw the devastation of 9/11 a month after the fact. I remember playing in the Circle Room of Fairhaven’s old building that morning and not knowing what was happening. At the end of September, my mom showed me. I was nine years old, with my scooter, in the city of New York. It resembled a war zone yet the people stood stong and proud. Being an effective adult means showing up.

Presently, my passions are snowboarding and spelunking. I helped organize the annual Fairhaven ski trips to Seven Springs three years in a row. I have been caving and snowboarding for ten years and traveling from coast to coast, often alone, to do it. After you do something for that long, you find ways to relate it to your life in general. For example, when you’re coming up on a thirty foot jump, there are a few things going through your head: Am I going fast enough or too slow? Am I going too far to the right or left or am I in the middle? Is there someone at the bottom of the jump? All these factors are in play. Let’s say I have a job and am excelling. If I tell them I can do things I cannot really do, I am going to overwhelm myself and get fired/ fall. On the other hand, if I take my time, in business, good jobs are quickly taken by people willing to take that hard fall.

I enjoy caving because it is one of the most beautiful ways to see nature at its best. Most caves remain untouched for thousands of years before we find them. They are a sight to behold. You would never believe how amazing it feels to be hundreds of feet underground until you have done it. I have been in lava tubes, tight spots, gigantic rooms, and in complete darkness. There is a cave in particular in West Virginia, named Simmons Mingo. Just entering the cave is a feat of its own. You literally climb down a thirty foot hole in the ground about as wide as a barrel of wine, followed by several other decents. In general, cavers must be prepared with the correct eguipment, cooperate and trust each other. We also take out of the cave whatever we bring in and the trash others leave behind. It is a sport that requires patience, endurance and skill, just like life.

Fairhaven has taught me to give back to the community. Whether you are sentenced to by J.C. or you do it on your own, it’s positive. Since I enjoy helping others, I decided to volunteer at the Woodland Beach Fire Department. From cooking at fundraisers to cleaning the trucks, I learned to deal with some of the nicest to some of the most unpleasant people in Edgewater. I am grateful for my communication skills. To further my experience, in July of 2009, I took a five week EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) course through the University of Maryland. The class required me to take five ride alongs on the ambulance and really buckle down and get serious. Unfortunately, I didn’t pass the final written test. This summer I will. Some of the people I encountered during my training were drunk, on drugs, and I witnessed one suicide. Treatments of patients must remain confidential so I will not elaborate. How it affected me is another story. I learned how desensitizing something like a suicide can be. I did not have nightmares or unwanted memories, it was just terrible.

I’m comfortable speaking in public, communicating, traveling and enjoy working. I have had an array of jobs ranging from cooking at Smoke and Spice, a BBQ pit, to working as a dockhand at South River Marina. In my current job, I do everything from working in the office to being outside with the mechanics, so I don’t make a lot of money. I do not have this job for money; I have this job for experience. I may join the military, not for the stereotypical reason, but for the stability of having a job, going to work everyday, and having a purpose in this world. It’s a lot to think about. My current plan after leaving this utopia of a school is to work for six months to a year at the marina, but no longer than a year, because believe me you cannot live on what I make.

In my intent to graduate, I spoke about balance in life and how it must be maintained. This is what’s most important to me in being an effective adult. If you work too much you’ll lose your friends. If you play, party, or just straight up goof off too much, you’ll lose the stability of a job that most people need for a happy life. Being an effective adult means being true to oneself. Being devoted, funny, responsible, honest, mature, and dependable is who I am. My life, so far, has required many choices. I want to live fully, take chances, change when necessary and remain flexible Whether walking my dog, spending money, managing time, being a friend or doing laundry, it all matters. Right now, I still make mistakes and do things that aren’t productive, but I’m learning all the time, and that I know for sure. My name is Zachary Taylor Bennett. I am seventeen years old, and this is my last walk home.

Zachary Taylor Bennett

Fairhaven School Class of 2010

(Fairhaven School has just graduated five students. As a way to celebrate the class of 2010, over the next month, we will be posting the theses that they  successfully defended. In italics below is a brief description outlining how somebody earns a Fairhaven diploma, followed by the seventh and final thesis. Enjoy!

Students who have spent at least three years at Fairhaven School may earn a diploma by defending the thesis that they have prepared themselves to become effective adults in the larger community. Diploma candidates must declare their intent to graduate and answer questions at a special winter Assembly of parents, students, staff and public members. They also meet with their individual graduation committees, and defend their written theses before a Diploma Committee made up of three experienced staff members from other Sudbury schools. A majority of positive votes from the Committee is the final requirement of  the diploma process.)

Yellow Jackets and Angry Chairs

Because ‘effective adult’ is a subjective term, I believe I should share my personal definition.  An effective adult in my opinion is an adaptive, self-sufficient individual.  I do not believe that age plays a very significant role in determining the effectiveness of a person in the larger community.  While it may be more difficult at times for a younger person to achieve the same goals as a legal adult, I believe with enough determination and maturity, nearly anyone can be self-sufficient and effective.  Furthermore, I believe that I am still on my way to becoming my ideal version of an effective adult.  I still have plenty to learn and experience before I would call myself completely effective, however, I believe I am off to a good start and headed in the right direction.

I began attending Fairhaven School when I was four years old, prior to its existence at its current location.  In 1997, Fairhaven was a co-op held in a house on the Pittman’s farm in Davidsonville.  It was only a part-time school; students enrolled there were considered to be homeschooled by the state of Maryland.  I can recall learning many life lessons at the co-op. These included how to use a broom, improving my chess skills and discovering debate through arguments over the existence of faeries.  One particularly memorable experience I had happened when I was on a walk with former staff member Romey Pittman, and I managed to irritate a nest full of yellow jackets.  I got stung by four yellow jackets in succession, and had to be taken back to the school to be treated.  Even though I had just been stung multiple times, I felt compassion for the wasps, and I was sad that I had upset them.  I’m told that despite the fact that I was in pain, right after I was stung I grinned and said “They must like my African-American meat!”  The co-op was a great place for me to begin learning skills that I still use today and will aid me in becoming an effective adult.

When I was three years old, I began taking violin lessons with a Suzuki accredited teacher until she recommended I play piano.  She told my parents about a piano instructor named Dr. Oster.  I took lessons from Dr. Oster for about a year and a half, and during that time I learned quite a bit about the piano.  When I was four years old, Dr. Oster invited me to play with some of her other students at a recital at the French Embassy in Washington, DC.  I recall practicing very hard to learn the song, and being nervous on the day of the recital.  In the end the recital went very well and I received high praise from the audience and my instructor.  From this experience I began learning the benefits of self-discipline and working hard to achieve my goals.

At Fairhaven I have been a clerk on the Judicial Committee three times and Alternate JC Clerk three times.  My first experience clerking full time was with Anna Droege; I was 11 years old and she was 10.  Being a clerk at that age was a big responsibility for me.  I had to remember to do the sentence list before JC, run the meeting or write the reports, and enter the case information into the database after each meeting.  At the time, one of the duties of the JC Clerks was enter the JC reports into the computer database after each meeting, a job the school’s secretary now handles.  Because I had good spelling skills I wrote most of the reports and did most of the database entry. Clerking could be considered one of my first jobs because of the skills that I was required to have and learn, and the amount of time I had to be willing to commit.  I recall dealing with some challenging cases and people in JC, and through that experience I improved my managerial skills and learned how to be a more patient person.

I have been a member of several corporations and committees at Fairhaven over the years.  These include Public Relations, Art Corporation, Music Corporation, and the failed Chicken Corporation.  I was also the Executive Director of Kitchen Corporation from 2004 to 2005, and I have been the Executive Director of Digital Arts Corporation since 2008.  As the Executive Director of DA Corporation, I run the meetings and help manage the budget.  I also am the sole certifier for the Digital Arts iMac and its miscellaneous hard and software.  At the beginning of the school year two years ago, I was voted successor of the previous Executive Director and at the time, the iMac was in a state of disarray.  There were no designated folders for students to save their work and no limitations on how much memory each student was allowed to consume.  Pretty much all of the RAM was in use when I began working on the Mac, and people had saved files in completely random folders.  It took two weeks of research, deleting files and password protecting folders that were not for general use for the iMac to be in a useable state.  I became more competent with Macintoshes during those two weeks, and even though I am nowhere near mastering that operating system, I’m happy that I was able to succeed at that task by myself.  In many of the corporations that I have been involved with, I have certified School Meeting Members for the various tools the corporation offered.  Being a certifier means that I have to be willing to get up and go teach someone how to properly operate the object in hand, even if I am having a lackluster day.  I have been accountable for certifying Fairhaveners for many things, including how to operate a sewing machine, graphics tablet, scanner, iMac, microwave and conventional ovens, knives, and Photoshop CS2.  I learned how to be a better teacher and I got better at operating some of the aforementioned devices through certifying people.  General knowledge is essential in the outside world, and I believe that I gained some through teaching others at Fairhaven.

When I was seven years old, I had to leave Fairhaven because of the tuition increase.  I left mid-year, which was devastating to me at the time.  I homeschooled for the next three years, but my parents were only involved in homeschooling me for the first year.  My father was unemployed for about a year and stayed at home with me, although he did not do very much teaching.  The next two years were spent at other homeschooled families’ houses, primarily my friend Gillian Brown and my godsister Jasmin Hall’s houses.  I missed Fairhaven so much and pleaded with my parents to let me return, but they could not afford to pay for the tuition.  I believe Fairhaven is a better choice for me, however, I learned some beneficial skills from my three-year homeschooling stint. These include how to entertain myself and how to get along with people that I was constantly around.  My cooking also improved when I was homeschooled, which I think is a crucial skill for an effective adult to have.

When I was eight or nine, I enrolled in an eight-week animation class in Greenbelt, taught by George ‘Mr. Geo’ Kochell.  There, I learned how to make claymation films.  I made a short film entitled The Angry Chair, in which the New York Stock Exchange bell awakens a giant chair, sending him into a rage and ultimately causes him to eat Enron.  I recall reading the newspaper briefly while brainstorming story ideas for my film and seeing an article about Enron’s downfall.  Not knowing anything about Enron, I made up a story about how they reached their demise.  Mr. Geo entered some of his students’ films into various film festivals, and one day in 2002, he told my parents that my film got accepted to the Ottawa ’03 International Student Animation Festival.  In October of that year, I flew with my mom to Ottawa, Ontario to attend the festival.  There were lots of really great animations; my favorite was a series of German films about a man who always wore an electric blanket.  My film did not win any awards, although I did get recognition for it.  Going to Canada was a really great experience; I remember trying to decipher the weather forecast because it was in Celsius, learning about different kinds of animation and tools, and being educated about local foods.  I believe that the chance I had to be really creative turned into a greater learning experience, and I ended up becoming worldlier because of it.

Another incident that I have experienced that has caused me to grow significantly is my estrangement from my mother.  One night in May, 2008, my mother dispossessed me from her home.  We had been having communication issues for many years; I disliked quite a few of her parenting tactics and she felt that she did not need to evaluate or change her tactics since she was the adult in the relationship and had authority over everything.  Needless to say, that caused problems in our relationship.  Since then, I have lived exclusively with my father, with no financial support from my mother.  This has been a burden for my father, especially when he was unemployed again in September, 2008.  This time he was unemployed for six months, and there were times when our water and electricity was shut off.  I definitely worried that I was going to have to leave Fairhaven, and he told me a couple of times that I was probably going to attend a public school.  A couple months after my dad became jobless, I started applying for positions at fast food restaurants, the only places that were offering positions for 15 year olds. In December of that year, I was hired as a Customer Service Representative at Domino’s Pizza, a position I still hold today.  These experiences have been very hard for me, but I have become a much stronger and more effective person because of them.  I have gained work experience and independence and I know that when I move out, I will be able to live by myself successfully.

For the last two school years, I have known that I wanted to go to art school, and I educated myself about the things I needed to learn in order to get accepted.  Last school year I began taking SAT Preparation courses at Fairhaven.  These included Algebra, Geometry and English classes.  I learned so much in those classes that was imperative to getting a decent score on the SAT Reasoning Test.  I took the PSATs twice before taking the SAT this January, which I believe also helped improve my score because I was more familiar with the testing process.  This school year I also searched for and applied to colleges.  I narrowed down my candidates to three: Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Denver, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland.  I have been accepted by all three colleges, and all of them have awarded me with merit and talent scholarships.  Taking the SAT and applying for college has really given me a sense of working with deadlines, which is something I’ve needed to learn as I become an effective adult.

To conclude my thesis, I believe an effective adult is a self-sufficient and adaptive person that does not necessarily have to be a legal adult.  While I am working steadily towards becoming a completely effective person, I do not believe I am quite there yet.  I have had many experiences that have helped guide me to become a capable being in the outside world, including maintaining a steady job, learning how to enjoy solitary pursuits through homeschooling, studying for the SAT, and searching for colleges without the aid of an advisor.  I will continue to work hard towards becoming a more self-sufficient and adaptive person, and I am looking forward to attending college next fall.

Imani Stewart

Fairhaven School Class of 2010

SVS Press Ad

For fifteen years , we at Fairhaven School have relied on the voluminous writings and videos from the Sudbury Press. For forty-two years, students at Sudbury Valley School (SVS) have been free to spend their time as they choose, and have had to take responsibility for their choices and lives. Just like at Fairhaven, the young people of Sudbury Valley have been playing, thinking, and learning on a lovely, dynamic campus. Almost from the beginning, people at SVS have been documenting the school’s philosophy and history. Although we did release our first book two years ago (Like Water), we still rely heavily on Sudbury Press materials.

From the day our school founders group opened its first SVS “Startup Kit” full of books, cassette tapes, and a management manual, we knew we were going to become a viable school. Their follow-up studies of graduates alone have proven invaluable through the years. Yes, the school is a wonderful, arresting idea, but, as the expression goes, the proof is in the pudding.

Now there are DVDs and CDs of Sudbury Valley School  alumni. Who are they? What do they do? How do they connect their years at SVS with their adult lives? Their material has been priceless for us, and has inspired our Public Relations  Committee to one day compile our own alumni information.

All of this is to say: check out Sudbury Valley’s new bookstore.They’re even having a sale to celebrate!

http://sudburypress.com/

Recently the idea of “Unschooling” has come up in the news, raising suspicions of the education those who are “unschooled” receive. There was an article in the news with George Stephanopolous about this idea of non-traditional schooling. (http://news.yahoo.com/video/health-15749655/parents-defend-unschooling-19235564) People have been confusing this concept with Fairhaven’s model of schooling, so I’m here to explain the differences. Fairhaven is a school, “Unschooling” is a concept that some who are home-schooled practice.

In the aforementioned article, one family in Westford, Mass.  is taking charge of their children’s education and letting them decide what they want to learn and do. “Unschooling is self-directed life-long learning,” said Christine Yablonski, the kids’ mom. The most accurate definition of “Unschooling” is: “a home- schooled education with the child taking the primary responsibility instead of the parent or teacher.” Fairhaven is a lot like this in that they follow the Sudbury model of school, which also means that the student is in charge of their individual education. This by no means proves that we are in any way “unschoolers.”

I spoke with a few of the staff members about Fairhaven in regards to the Sudbury model of schooling. Caity Pittenger, a staff member who transferred to Fairhaven her sophomore year of high school as a student and now teaches here, said that at Fairhaven, she had more confidence in herself as a student and became more direct as a student. She also commented that school and education felt fun again because she could pace her own learning.

Sudbury schools are a radical transformation from the accepted idea of school. An article published by Fairhaven School and written by former staff member Romey Pittman, discusses the similarities of Sudbury Schools to other school such as Montessori, Waldorf Schools and, home school. As with Montessori, Sudbury schools allow for the students to have more freedom to make decisions. It holds the general assumption that students are curious about life on their own. (“Unschooling” holds the same idea.) In comparison to a Waldorf School approach, Sudbury cares about the child as a whole, with interests beyond academics. Also Sudbury schools are interested in the overall happiness and potential of every student. The wisdom of a child is respected as with their view on topics such as society, politics, and world issues. The needs of the student (which are self determined) are heard and responded to accordingly. The idea of “unschooling” was first seen in home school, which is much like the model of Sudbury schools. The idea is that learning is possible without teaching, and students want to succeed in life. Lastly, the Sudbury model and “unschooling” share the idea that kids learn from experience and experiments over textbooks.

Education is necessary to the advancement of people no matter where you receive your education. For some, good ol’ fashion, traditional schooling is best; for some “Unschooling” is their method of choice. Personally, I prefer Fairhaven’s model of education primarily because I can learn what I want, when and where I want. This drives me to want to learn more because I am the master of my educational destiny. Before I go, I want all students reading this: to know that education is power. Work to the best of your ability and never let someone hold you from your educational destiny, and most importantly, pursue your dreams!

~Kiara Marie

Down the hall, young students are playing in the Kid Nook like they have been for weeks, animating piles of dolls big and small for hours . In the old building, teens are continuing their latest Dungeons and Dragons campaign. People are swinging on the playground; computer gamers are playing League of Legends. Packs of boys will certainly be waging their Nerf wars in the forest later. Play. It remains the most prevalent activity on campus. As the students say, “what’s up with that?”

A Fairhaven parent sent me a link to an article in this month’s Atlantic Monthly about Melvin Konner’s brand-new, 900 page book The Evolution Of Childhood that provides clues. (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/04/play-8217-s-the-thing/8028/) Here’s a paragraph from the article:

Konner is especially interested in play, which is not unique to humans and, indeed, seems to have been present, like the mother-offspring bond, from the dawn of mammals. The smartest mammals are the most playful, so these traits have apparently evolved together. Play, Konner says, “combining as it does great energy expenditure and risk with apparent pointlessness, is a central paradox of evolutionary biology.” It seems to have multiple functions—exercise, learning, sharpening skills—and the positive emotions it invokes may be an adaptation that encourages us to try new things and learn with more flexibility. In fact, it may be the primary means nature has found to develop our brains.

With freedom, we gravitate to play. My best writing time feels  playful and open-ended. The results of play are serious, sometimes even life-changing. As Konner documents, a habit of play balances life, and stimulates growth. We seem even to be hard-wired to do it. Here at Fairhaven, it reigns supreme, setting the table for the mysterious transformation from childhood to adulthood. Fortunately, our democratic structure at school compensates for the pervasive play. Rules, limits, and consequences  keep chaos at bay. Should the doll-players not clean up, they might lose access to the room. When the Nerfers left water balloon shrapnel on the grounds, they had to do grounds work. And so on.

Next week I travel to Sudbury Valley School to serve on their diploma committee, and in preparation I’m reading the theses of eighteen graduate candidates. The thread that runs through all of their papers? Play. Coming (and staying) to your nearest Sudbury school, it is the sine qua non of successful development, the pinnacle of human developmental adaptation.

“The true object of all life is play.”

G.K. Chesterton

“Letting your mind play is the best way to slove problems.”

Bill Watterson

“If you want creative workers, give them enough time to play.”

John Cleese

Mark McCaig

May, 2010

We often think in terms of “growing up at Fairhaven.”  This month we’ve hosted and enrolled a number of younger students, and each one reminds me of what the arc of a Fairhaven career might feel like.

To our youngest students, the school must seem big in every way. We have twelve acres, with a forest. We have a veritable forest of older students to wander among and one day comprehend. We have two buildings with some twenty-odd rooms, not to mention the six bathrooms. The lawbook is huge. Young students who pass the computer certification also have limited access to the internet.

Then, one might ask, how large is a young person’s imagination? For surely they have unlimited access to it here. Whether through play, or books, or art room supplies, even our youngest students surf the endless wave of their own minds at play. So, yes, being a student at Fairhaven must seem enormous in many ways .

As they grow , our students learn their place in all of these areas. They learn the paths in the woods, often finding their favorite spots. They might master climbing the swingset poles. They become friends with students of all ages. They learn the rules, then learn to follow them. Always, it seems, they discover the contours of their creative worlds. Their worlds sing, they might splash green across a canvas, they might dance across the Chesapeake Room floor. Often, these young people play at being older. It might be “house” and she’s the mom. It might be “school,” and he’s the teacher. Cops and robbers, war games–the mind wanders.

Then, one day, they are older. Most years, at least one senior Fairhavener explains their bad mood to me by saying, “Fairhaven’s just not like it used to be.” I look at them: they used to play in the stream and now they’re a lifeguard. Or they used to ride the scooter down the hill and now they drive a car on food runs. They used to spend most of their time as a defendant in the Judicial Committee, and now they’re a JC Clerk . You get the picture.

By the time somebody leaves, the school seems small, and the big rest of the world beckons. They leave with their imaginations intact, with their creativity still keen. Mostly, they leave with a sense of mastery, over this place, over information and how to get it, over themselves, and, crucially,  mastery over the fears about whatever awaits down the road. We can only wish them well, and look forward to seeing them when they come back to visit.

Maybe they’ll check out the newest, smallest students and remember their first days here. How big it used to be.

Mark McCaig

April, 2010