Treating Each Life as Precious and the Commitment as Permanent

Among the features of the New Salem Educational Initiative that secure the success of students enrolled in the program, two essential features are given emphasis in this article: 1) We treat each life as precious. 2) We signal from the beginning that the commitment to each precious young life is forever.

Any teacher worthy of the name embraces each student as if she or he is a rare treasure to be handled carefully and polished to its finest sheen. Each student is intelligent, each student is capable of grade level performance, and each student is then capable of rising above grade level performance to embark securely on a college-bound track. This is true for the Grade K (kindergarten) student who enters into a schedule of weekly two-hour academic sessions and thus has the benefit of the academically ambitious program of the New Salem Educational Initiative from the very beginning. It is also true of the Grade 7 student who comes to me functioning at, say, a Grade 4 math level and a Grade 3 reading level. Even with those severe deficits, the ascent to grade level is typically accomplished within an academic year or two, at which point there is still time to get on the track bound for success in college. If a student enters the program of the New Salem Educational Initiative at Grade 11 or 12, the task becomes much more difficult, but the challenge is still embraced. Great emphasis is placed on an aggressive program of skill remediation and intense training to pass the required high school Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments in writing, reading, and math. It is typically realistically too late to train that student for an acceptable performance on the ACT or SAT for four-year college matriculation; but, with continued support from the New Salem Educational Initiative, attendance for such a student at a community college is possible, and with two years of continued academic training achieved, enrollment in a good four-year college becomes a viable endeavor.

So each student's academic situation is different upon entrance into the New Slaedm Educational Initiative. This is true for the student's life circumstances, as well as her or his academic skills. The opportunity presents itself in each case to treat this precious young life as unique, worthy, something to be cherished. For indeed each life is a treasure that during childhood and adolescence is polished to a bright shine--- or effectively cast aside, forever looking dull and unappreciated. So any educator worthy of the name embraces the peculiar circumstances prevailing in the life of this young person, brimming with potential if the full array of talents are properly tapped. Each life matters. Each person deserves her or his chance for success in life. Education is critical to life success. In a democracy, therefore, full commitment to each K-12 student must be made.

And, consistent with the second feature of the New Salem Educational Initiative given emphasis today, the commitment must be forever. Eight years of the program's existence have now yielded several students who have graduated from the weekly two-hour small group program and are or will soon be matriculating at colleges and universities. I am in touch with them all, as I always told them that I would be. I have worked with each of these students in the summer to bring their skills to ever higher levels, as I always told them that I would do. These particular students all enrolled at relatively late stages in their K-12 experience, so getting them ready for success in college has required intense effort. But they are all on course to move forward successfully in their college programs, and all have much more magnified opportunities in life because of a commitment that 1) treated each life as unique and precious; and 2) was made in the context of permanence.

As a rule, children who enroll in the New Salem Educational Initiative as elementary (K-5) students have embarked on a program whereby attendance at an Ivy League or equivalent university is possible. Students who enroll at the middle school (6-8) level or the Grade 9 and 10 levels of high school have viable chances of attending good colleges and universities. Students who enroll at the Grade 11 or 12 level, assuming the typical academic deficits of Minneapolis Public Schools students from impoverished or familial dysfunctional backgrounds, have viable chances through intense skill remediation to attend two-year colleges with a vision of going on to earn a bachelor's degree at a four-year college or university.

In each case, the life prospects of the student has been enhanced because we
1)treated the young person as a precious being worth of great care and love; and
2) because the caring and love have been given throughout the relationship, enduring to the present and committed permanently into the future. As teachers fulfilling our mission in a democracy this is our obligation and our great privilege.