Phoebe Tufts
My principal handed me a book that changed my life. It was Zoe’s The Power and Promise of Humane Education. I immediately applied and was accepted to IHE's Humane Education Certificate Program, attended the July 2007 residency shortly after beginning the first course, and “voila!” -- a better informed, more aware consumer and teacher has begun to evolve. Watching the documentary The Witness with a fellow student changed me in the space of 45 minutes into a happy, healthy vegetarian.Upon returning to Virginia, I worked with a fellow teacher and began the “greening” of our school -- a work that is still in progress. My principal has committed to purchasing paper products made from 100 percent recycled paper, allowing students to leave class to recycle aluminum breakfast trays, researching biodegradable lunch trays and supporting fundraising programs for covering additional costs (not covered by the school system). Using Lynn Stoddard’s book Educating for Human Greatness as a model, the following questions are posted in each classroom and around the school:
- How can we green our school?
- How can we green our community?
- How can we green our homes?
My school’s journey into the issues that face the planet has begun.
After reading Lynn Stoddard’s book, I e-mailed him and said,
“Thank you for writing such a terrific book! I have ordered 10 copies to distribute to school board members and activist parents in my community. As I begin my 15th year of teaching, I weep as I recognize the truth of what you have written. Thank you for distilling what I have known to be true in my own educational experience and as a teacher.”
He wrote back and we decided we had a mission together. I researched and found a well-written article by Tamim Ansary in March 2007 Edutopia magazine that explains how the No Child Left Behind Act (a backward step in education) came to be. We are sending copies of that article (with Ansary’s permission) and a monograph written by Lynn called “A Teacher’s Answer to No Child Left Behind (and Other Counterfeit Reforms)” and a cover letter written by me to as many people as we can -- friends, activists, political candidates, school board members, PTA presidents etc.
All this has happened in a few short months -- who knows what the future will bring as I begin the second course in Humane Education!
Watch and share IHE President, Zoe Weil's TEDx talk -- an inspiring vision of how to create a just, compassionate, healthy world for all through solutionary education.
July 14, 2012 - 8:30 am to July 14, 2012 - 5:00 pm | Location: Institute for Humane Education
Live your values. Change the world. Choose MOGO! Our MOGO (most good) workshop is part retreat, part personal development, part educational experience, and 100% invaluable to anyone who wishes to make their lives a manifestation of their greatest vision for a more pea...
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