2017 Midyear Meeting Report
Over 100 Friends met at Bear Creek Meetinghouse on March 25-26, a rainy weekend. The theme was “Quakers and Quaker Schools.” Drew Smith, the Executive Director of the Friends Council on Education, started by giving a short history of education by various Quaker groups in the US. It began with the founding of a Philadelphia school which is now Penn Charter School Penn believed that Pennsylvania needed leaders of high moral character, and his vision for a school was not to make preachers of its students, but to helpthem visualize and create an ideal society. He wanted to offer a new kind ofeducation that would prepare young people – boys, girls, African-American, wealthy, and poor – to be teachers, merchants, builders and farmers, as well aspolitical and professional leaders.
In a later session, several Scattergood students had the opportunity to speak about their experiences at a boarding school. Each expressed the sentiment that the most important benefit was the community. In the last session Drew said that the future of Quaker schools would include more cooperation between various schools using the tools available from the internet.
For the children, several outdoor activities were planned but had to be cancelled because of cold, wet weather. However, the weather cooperated enough for the children to create a beautiful mandala using objects from nature.
Following the Saturday afternoon session, Scattergood students joined the children for snacks, then talked about life at a Quaker boarding school.Indoor activities included games of charades, still-life photography using afilm camera, creativity with paper and colored pencils, board games, playing with toys brought by participants and those provided by Bear Creek Meeting, as well as fun in the loft. Saturday night featured movies and cartoons with popcorn to share. On Sunday morning, the booklet “On Sitting Still” was read, followed by participation in the first part of Meeting for Worship. Atmeals, the children were eager to help in the dining room, picking up trays andgenerally being useful and cheerful. Their help was appreciated.
As usual the craft sale for the benefit of AFSC was a huge success.
We express hearty thanks to Bear Creek Meeting for once again hosting midyear meeting.