something to pass the time
January 2010
Last week our local book group discussed The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher by John Taylor Gatto. He was the 1991 New York State Teacher of the Year and this was his acceptance speech. Click here to download a free copy. It’s only 10 pages long and well worth the read.
The group here is fairly new to Leadership Education as outlined in A Thomas Jefferson Education by Oliver DeMille. In fact, half our group doesn’t have school age children. Yet each month we share a common experience; a book we’ve read and the discussion that follows. Simply because of its diversity it is different than any book club I’ve been a part of. And I love it.
The seminars and book clubs I’ve attended over the last few years have inspired me, taught me and helped me grow as a parent and a mentor. I crave the interaction with others as I seek to learn more and become a better me. The perspective that a group of diverse individuals with some common ground can provide is extremely satisfying and enlightening.
Since last fall I’ve been attending an online class entitled Gaining a Stateswoman’s Education, sponsored by Orchard House Academy. We met weekly from 6 am to 8 am. Initially we studied how to read a book and how to identify the phase we were in as regards to the Phases of Learning, but the majority of our discussions revolved around books. Our book list included The Well Educated Mind, Number the Stars, Animal Farm, Call of the Wild, Red Badge of Courage, The Great Gatsby, 1984, Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, Three Cups of Tea, and Gandhi: An Autobiography.
Today was our last meeting. It has been a wonderful experience.
There is something I will miss desperately about our Gaining a Stateswoman’s Education class. Each meeting started with a prayer and then we read a quote from Rachel DeMille’s article Steel to Gold.
It was a reminder of why. Why we were up at 6 am… Why we spend so much time studying and reading through the week {when there is so much else to be done}… Why what we are doing is important.
All of it. The seminars, the classes, the discussions, the books.
I will miss the weekly reminder.
Each time I read the quote, I feel a shiver run down my spine. What I do as a parent and a mentor matters.
“Raising children and mentoring the next generation is the most important thing we can do to change the world. It is the primary role of all women and all men, married or single. It is who we are. It is why we were born. We must train up the leaders of the future with confidence, power and grace.
We must deliver. We must achieve results. We are the stateswomen of the 21st Century. If we fail, the world will fail. If we shrink, hesitate, or doubt, precious time will be lost. We are the leaders of today. Our choices and our actions are the most important choices and actions occurring in the world today.”