hi Colton, how old are you? I'm seventeen years old
how long have you been a student here? Since its founding, eight years ago
How did you find the school? My mom found it, on a bulletin board in the local grocery store.
What do you like about this school? I love the freedom that every student has in the school, how they have the ability to learn at their own pace without the added pressure. And they do. I love seeing students learn to read in three weeks because they wanted to. I like how I have just as much say as the staff here, as other students here. We're all equal. This school gives me the ability to access recources and pursue things that I want to do.
Are there things you don't like about the school? There are things I don't like about the school. There are always issues that arise, but those are mainly because we are a new school - not a lot of people know about us, and not everybody accepts us. That created some hardships: funding, publicity, ... I don't like that aspect.
Do you think that there are things that people learn here that will be valuable in their lives as an adult? I absolutely think so. People can learn things here; not only reading, writing, arithmetics and things like that. Unlike most schools, we learn how to deal with people here, because we're dealing with people the entire time. We learn how to go through meetings and procedures, we learn how to talk to people, we learn how to listen to people, how to problem solve. It's a really good experience, we also learn how to think.
Did you learn to read in the school?I did. I learned to read when I was ten. I learned to read in two weeks. There was a book series that my friend had read and told me about, and I wanted to read it. So I set up a class with one of the staff members here, and I learned how to read.
What is hard being a student here, if anything?As an older student, there's a lot more responsibilities I feel obligated to take on. Like I said earlier, not a lot of people accept us, so trying to explain our school to the outside community can get a little difficult, if people don't understand what the school is like. That is what's hard.
Do you think any child could benefit from this kind of education? I don't think this education is for everyone, but I do think that every person could benefit from certain aspects of the school.
Like which aspects? Some students are not very self-directed and need direction. Other students I've met feel pressured, or pulled in too many directions at the same time. The freedom here can be excellent for those students. Some students are not as self-directed as others, and they end up not exploring all the possibilities. Like I said, it's not for everyone, but I think everyone can benefit from it.
Have you ever experienced students interested in just one thing? I have. There are students that come here that choose to do one thing, or just focus on one particular aspect. Now, that can be okay, but what I also find is that the students find that they need to learn other things, to pursue things they want to do. Like, I learned to read because I wanted to pursue something. That's what I find students do. They focus on one thing and they get bored of it, or they encounter an obstacle that they need to get passed, and then they learn the necessary skills to get passed it. It's a pretty amazing experience to see a student jump that quickly.
Does it ever happen that a student who's not very gifted wants to pursue something really big, like studying at the university to get a masters degree, and then discovers that he or she doesn't have the capacities to do it. Won't the student get very disappointed in that way? Not every student is as talented as others, but when they are really determined and really focussed on learning or developing some skill, they do. Even if it's difficult for them, many students overcome it. They may not become as good as they'd like to, but they learn the skills. I've seen very few students not having the capacity to do something they were interested in.
Are there any students with learning disablities at the school? How does the school deal with them, and how do they deal with their disabilitlies?I don't know if there are students with learning disabilities in our school right now. It's hard to tell. In our traditional schoolsystem lots of children are diagnosed with hyperactivity. Not the case here. They come here, and they don't have to sit in a chair all day. They don' t have to focus on one thing all the time. They can get up, they can move. The school is adaptable to the students, as well as the students are adaptable to the school. It's really good for most disabilities here, because students have the freedom to explore possibilities that may not have been presented to them.
Do you have any plans for the future? I've been practicing martial arts for a long time, and I would love to continue teaching [martial arts]. I've been studying anatomy and physiology, and there's a paramedics program at our local college that I would like to undertake.
Op 16 oktober gaat de film 'Stemmen van de Nieuwe Amerikaanse School' in première in de Brugse Cinéma Lumière. Info en tickets vind je op deze website.
Als voorbereiding op de film bezocht hij onder meer de Cedarwood Sudbury School, en studenten en stafleden van verschillende democratische scholen waren betrokken bij het productieproces. De film wordt op festivals gespeeld vanaf de lente van 2007.
