High Points of the 10th Annual New Salem Educational Initiative Banquet

Celebration of the 10th Annual New Salem Educational Initiative Banquet held this past Monday, June 8, 2015 (starting at 6:30 PM and lasting until about 9:00 PM) was very special.


Although we have only had a banquet for the last 10 years, we actually celebrated over 20 years in the New Salem Tuesday Tutoring Program, and over 10 years in the seven-day-a-week small-group program--- both of which I superintend. And I spotlighted the achievements of the most remarkable student that I have ever seen--- Monique Taylor-Myer (data privacy surname), now in Grade 12 and a graduating senior headed for a full ride at St. Cloud State University--- who has studied with me for 10 years, sits with me weekly in a three and a half-hour seminar, and is functioning at a junior collegiate level in academic accomplishment.


Monique and I put on a demonstration of her knowledge across the liberal arts curriculum and read aloud very diverse set of readings from works that included Fences (August Wilson), Antigone (Sophocles), Alice in Wonderland/  Alice Through the Looking Glass (Lewis Carroll), Harlem Renaissance poetry from Georgia Douglass Johnson and Langston Hughes, and Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning," the poem that Angelou wrote for and delivered at the First Presidential Inaugural of Bill Clinton.


After this powerful display, I explained fully why that and other amazing feats on the part of this remarkable young woman impelled me to present her with the Best Student in the State of Minnesota Award.


The students also performed my compressed (all original Shakespearean language, compiled for 30-minute presentation) script for Macbeth --- and the students gave powerful demonstrations of their skills and talents.


Our banquet was graced by the presence of St. Cloud Admissions Office professional Hannah Meyer, who drove all the way from St. Cloud for our celebration, and by Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Board of Education Member Rebecca Gagnon. School board members Tracine Asberry and Don Samuels sent particularly kind regrets for being unable to attend, as did MPS Chief Academic Officer Susanne Griffin.


Asberry sent a letter to students and parents of the New Salem Educational Initiative in attendance at the banquet that included a quotation from Nelson Mandela; that great leader in the struggle for human dignity urged us all not be afraid to show ourselves as the brilliant and creative people that we are, noting that we do not fear our inadequacy (as is more conventionally assumed) so much as we fear to assert our right to walk in the light and reveal all of the marvelous talents that all people possess.


Most of my students in the New Salem Educational Initiative who performed and gave demonstrations at the banquet are currently enrolled in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), and all of them were enrolled in MPS when they entered my academic universe. I teach all of these students personally, encouraging them to maintain enrollment in the Minneapolis Public Schools while getting much of their genuine education with me after school and on weekends.


All of the principles that undergird my teaching and superintending of all aspects of the New Salem Educational Initiative were on display at the banquet. All of these principles could be extrapolated by school board members and officials of the Minneapolis Public Schools for application to the guiding philosophy and programs of that school district--- about which I will write more in future articles.