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 Simply Magical!
Here's our first school van! Now when you look at this picture chances are all you see is an over-sized minivan. But what I see is a magic carpet ride to places, people, and events that promise to make this year's educational regimen come alive for our students! Read on to see what I mean. This 15-passenger school-on-wheels will allow us to double our current school population as we add a whole bunch of miles to the 35,000 on the odometer at the time of purchase.
This purchase also enables us to begin in earnest our local trips. Yesterday we visited a local amateaur photographer, Dr. Spencer Moore, for a great lecture in Photography 101! Monday we'll take up wood shop as we visit the carpenter who made our bulletin boards (and will actually get to help make a couple of additional boards). As important as the overnight trips are to our program, these local and regional day-trips will be equally important as we help our students make the connection between what they read/study and the real world in which they live. |
Editorial License?
There certainly is such a thing, but the typing and spelling gaffes in the last email (that mistakenly went out to our entire mailing list as opposed to the parents of current students) were inexcusable! I could blame it all on having a "senior moment," and that probably is partially to blame, but it wouldn't tell the entire tale! A combination of end-of-the-day fatigue, a lengthy phone call at an inopportune moment, and a rush to get that notice out before turning out the lights for the day resulted in a failure to proof-read and "spell check," both of which are essential if one cares about a quality writing product. Oh well, it was a great object lesson to our students on how NOT to write a newsletter! | |
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First Road Trip |
I could tell you about this particular "magical" moment, but let me hand my reporter's pen over to one of our students, Giorgi, and let her set the scene for you.
"Monday, September 14, 2009, 8:00 a.m. Groggy students are just beginning to arrive at the schoolhouse. The humidity and cold, brisk air are exasperating, but the least of our complaints as we walk around zoned out, preparing for the long day of travel . . . We started to come out of our creepy states as our adrenaline began to rise; the thoughts going through our heads! Gone for a whole week without Mom trying to dress me as a doll? Camping in a new environment . . . No siblings . . . how exciting . . . by 8:30 we were off."
And off we were, for a ten hour drive to Ft. Davis, Texas and the first of many exciting, adventurous, and learning-packed trips yet to come. Back to Giorgi: "When we finally arrived, we helped unpack and set up camp. Then we went on a short hiking trip. So many deer! They were gorgeous! Tuesday. McDonald Observatory, here we come. The telescopes were amazing! So large and vast! Incredible! I even enjoyed taking notes on them because I was so fascinated and intrigued by these masses of steel. The detail, the thought that went into this. Who could have created such a thing? I was truly amazed."
And that was just part of our day. After this initial tour of the actual telescopes and using one to access photos of the sun's surface we had a break for several hours before the nighttime "star party" was to begin. We used that time to explore historic Ft. Davis, an old cavalry frontier post manned by a troop of buffalo soldiers. Ranger Tim (pictured here)  added a special dynamic to our tour of this special place. And the star party was truly amazing. The weather accommodated us with clear views of Jupiter and other places on the outermost reaches of space, or at least the part of it we can observe. The vastness of the telescopes described by Giorgi paled in comparison with the distances mentioned by our hosts as we went star gazing that night. "Incredible" does not do justice to our sense of wonder and awe.
One of my personal goals for these school trips is to tour various college campuses across the state and nation. I want our students to begin, even as 1st-years, to think about the next chapter of their academic careers. Too often teens are seniors in high school before they give serious thought to this important matter. I also want them to understand the connection between what they do now in high school with that next step of college, to gain increased motivation to work hard, do their best, and take full advantage of every learning opportunity placed before them. Our first campus tour, of Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas, did this and more. The students were impressed with the personal, friendly atmosphere of the school. They visited with a number of professors and SRSU students who took time to answer questions and show genuine interest in our kids.
Our campus tour was scheduled for Wednesday. Also penciled in for that day was a visit to Marfa, to try to observe that famous phenomenon the Marfa Lights. Well, I'm here to tell you they really exist! They were there, in all their glory. One of the strangest things I've ever seen, too -- lights dancing all over the horizon with no logical explanation as to their origin. Earlier Wednesday evening we were given an unexpected viewing of the actual rooms where James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor stayed during the filming of the cinematic classic, "Giant." As soon as the hotel manager heard about our school and why we were in her lobby she was eager to show us around! Everywhere we went folks were like this, intrigued by the school's philosophy and goals and excited to help make our trip a better one in any way they could.
Giorgi: "Thursday. Rise and shine! After breakfast and packing up camp, we headed back for home, full of stories and memories." Indeed! Our first trip could not have been better had I written a script and paid someone to act it out. Everything I hoped might be accomplished by this travel component for the school took place before my eyes and unfolded exactly as I had imagined. And it's only the beginning, folks. Truly great things are yet to come! |
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Every day someone asks me how school is going. My answer seems pat, but is sincere, "couldn't be better!" Of course, that's not entirely true; obviously things can always be better. But what I mean is that everything I hoped would be accomplished by our somewhat revolutionary program seems to be taking place right before my eyes. And I must confess it's pretty gratifying.
Another question I'm often asked is whether I'm aware of anyone else "out there" doing what we are doing. My answer to this is also consistent, "not that I'm aware of." This is truly a one-of-a-kind educational program. That's probably why we meet with such interest and excitement everywhere we go. On this most recent trip folks couldn't help but notice us. We were a school-aged group out and about on school days. Then there were the logos on the shirts advertising the school. Not very many who cross our paths are familiar with the meaning (or pronunciation!) of "veritas." So conversation after conversation would start up about who we were and what we were doing -- or hoping to do -- with our program. I could fund a scholarship if I had $10 for every time I've heard an adult say, "where was this school when I was growing up?"
In spite of its uniqueness and intriguing philosophy and scheduling, the Central Texas community hasn't exactly been knocking down our doors to get into this newfangled, exciting program. I imagine that's for a number of possible reasons, chief of which may be because it is "newfangled" and most folks are uncomfortable with change. They might be intrigued by what we're doing, but they're happy to keep sending their kids to public schools with a long track record of ineffectiveness, or to private schools that do pretty much the same things, albeit with a measure of success, at least for the right kind of student. The norm, regardless of its degree of success, is a lot more comfortable than the revolutionary.
Not a lot we can do about that other than hope our small band of students, brave enough to embrace this new adventure, will grow as folks begin to note there really is something different in education going on in the southern end of the county! I must confess, I'd like to see us fill up that pretty, blue van by this time next year!!! |
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"There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come." | |
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'Til next time,
Jerry Sams
Veritas Varsity | |
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