In free schools
The Mountaineer, Montclair State College, Montclair, New Jersey (1970).
By TED TIFFANY
The beginning was the same old story -- a bunch of teachers sitting around one-upping each other about how they'd do things if they had their way, and someone trying a wipe-out with, "If you're so creative and so dissatisfied why don't you do something about it?
So they did, and lived happily ever after?
Not quite, Mother Goose. But, one-upping in earnest this time, they did gather a crowd of young people anxious for a different kind of summer educational experience, and in eight weeks they threw in money of their own and scrounged more, they found and arranged to buy a 25-acre old folks home on the Delaware River with a winterized lodge, a big dorm, a recreation hall and a chicken coop, they recruited a staff of people both professional and human (a contradiction in terms, you say?) working for free, and now they're stuff with their fantasies made real.
One of the kids designed a zappy, professional brochure, the hustlers (age 12 to 18) held a cake sale (liberated women?), a dance and a musical show to raise money. They're planning more hustling like a rock show and dance on May 15 in Montclair. They're hitting nearly everybody in North Jersey with their story, followed by bids for such things as canoes, bicycles, A-V-medical-sports-and-camping equipment, scholarship money for other campers, books, a big dinner bell and vacuum cleaners.
What are they into? Growth. Freedom. Responsibility. Choice. Curiosity. Community. Creativity -- from June 27 to August 22 only. Then it's back to the "real" world, the world of teachers-and-students, required subjects, imposed head-bending, and all the up-or-out games of the System. But maybe they'll be different somehow.
As the brochure puts it, "In order for a human being to be most fully 'human,' he must first learn how to govern himself and to share in the government of others. We are concerned with developing in young peopl and in ourselves the skill to understand ourselves and to extend ourselves in a real spirit of community to others. The idea of self-awareness and community awareness are, then, the two most important concepts of our program."
As one camper puts it, I'm going 'because I can be me -- all of me -- learning the responsibilities of a group I care about -- kinds of people, all there to learn from and to teach . . . a chance to find if a dream can work."
What are they going to do on their 25 acres of democracy (one person -- one vote)? That's what they have to decide -- how to build their own community. They also have to decide how to use their time, amidst unstructured educational resources including comparative religions, woods, swimming, art, drama, remedial math, philosophy, group dynamics, dance, and many others. For example, one girl wants to dig clay from the Delaware, search the woods for colorful berries and earths, and really make her own pottery.
But mostly they've got to learn to live together, something our present educational system doesn't seem to get across too well.
The group of dreamers-become-realists are so far mostly from Montclair, but help is welcome from anywhere. They're on their own road toward constructive alternative or supplementary education. Their thing isn't all put together yet, but it's going to happen. They do need a pick-up truck, snorkels, cameras, a ditto machine, guitars and such -- and a big dinner bell. Mostly, of course, they need money -- for scholarships now, so that all kinds of young people can go. If you're paying war taxes, donations are deductible. Or else do something crazy, pass the hat and "Send a kid to camp this summer." This place might just be worth it. It's called INNISFREE, and you can call Bud Rue at 746-7769 for more info.
Related articles
- The promotion of a deviant community, by Bud Rue (1976)
- Philosophical statement, by Lou Cammon (1970)
