I originally put this in a dailykos comment earlier today. Since I do not expect to do another diary this evening, I am using my second to tell you that
Philadelphia will have a new high school this fall dedicated to Peace and Conflict Resolution.
I have known about this since January. Today I received an email on a Quaker list asking for mentors, the entirety of which is below. I wil make a few comments before giving a blockquote of the email in question.
My understanding is that the new school is a public charter school. It is an example of the kind positive creative things that can be done under charter school laws. It is also exciting given the main focus of Peace and of non-violent conflict resolution.
If you live in or near Philadelphia, I strongly suggest you consider getting involved, as a menotr or in some other fashion. I am too far away, or else I would jump at the chance.
In 2005, the School District of Philadelphia will be opening a school dedicated to the pursuit of peace. The Parkway High School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, located at the New Covenant Campus on Germantown Avenue, will open in September 2005 with ninety freshmen.
The school will offer students a safe, supportive learning environment with a strong rigorous core academic program. It is designed to help students learn the tools for managing conflict, decreasing violence, advancing justice, working with people form different ethnic backgrounds,
and helping create a culture of peace. It is the mission of the school to prepare our students to face a complex world prepared with the skills necessary to effect positive change locally and globally.
There is an Advisory Committee that includes organizations as diverse as Philadelphia Citizens for Children and Youth, Mothers In Charge, Philadelphia Anti-Drug Anti-Violence Network, American Friends Service Committee, Men United for a Better Philadelphia, Good Shepherd Mediation
Program, Arcadia University, United Nations Association of Greater Philadelphia, and Physicians for Social Responsibility. The Advisory Committee is dedicated to providing a mentor for each ninth grader as well as tutors to support the students academically. WE ROC, a group of
retired professionals, is responsible for recruiting the mentors and tutors. Our primary emphasis is to recruit a mentor for each of the ninety students in the freshman class of September 2005. Secondarily, we are interested in
creating a bank of tutors for all academic subjects.
If you are interested in being a mentor or tutor for the Parkway High School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, please contact GJC member Dena Lake at 215-233-1414 or denareva@aol.com.
