To reserve a space at the 2010 Reunion, download this form. Please fill it out and mail it with payment to:
Friends of the Modern School, 200 Sumac Ridge Lane, Altamont, NY 12009
Dear Friends: This is the second and final announcement for the 38th annual reunion of the Friends of the Modern School. The meeting will start at 11:00 A.M on Saturday September 11th 2010 in the Faculty Dining Room of Brower Commons at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. We will begin with an informal gathering of old friends and comrades that will be followed by a luncheon at Noon and a formal program after lunch.THE FORMAL PROGRAM
11:00 A.M. Gather and greet old friends and comrades 12:00 Noon Luncheon 12:45 P.M. Coffee and Announcements 1:00 P.M. Remembering Dave Freedman, Peter Goodman and Jack Shapiro - (Speakers TBA) 1:45 P.M Harry Kelly - Barry Pateman 2:30 P.M. Panel: The Centenary of the execution of Francisco Ferrer i Gaurdia and his concept of freedom through education (Styra Avins, Rina Winokour Garst, Jon Scott, Steve Shapiro and Bob Vinik) 4:00 P.M. More discussion and adjourn As many of you know Harry Kelly was a dedicated anarchist and was probably the most important person in the founding of the Modern Schools in Stelton and Mohegan. Kelly was one of the many anarchists associated with Modern Schools who believed that freedom in the education process could change a country and the world. No one is more qualified to talk about Harry than Barry Pateman who has spoken to us twice in the past. The second part of our program will be a panel discussion on the Centenary of the execution of Francisco Ferrer i Gaurdia that was held in Barcelona Spain on Oct 13, 2009 and was attended by five former pupils of the Stelton Modern School. The panel will discuss their experiences about the events in Barcelona using a PowerPoint picture show. They will discuss the changes in Barcelona, Catalonia and Spain that may have been influenced by the schools Ferrer helped to found in Spain. If time permits Jon would like to turn the discussion, with the help of the panel, to the concept of freedom through education that Ferrer believed could lead to a more democratic society in Spain (a Republican form of government instead of a Monarchy). What is the relationship of those who control schools of a country to how the schools are organized? Can "free" or "democratic" schools, like the Modern Schools, based upon a "child-centered" approach, lead to a more democratic society? Ferrer's ideas on freedom through education were based upon those of a significant number of political philosophers such as Locke, Rousseau, Godwin, Tolstoy, Kropotkin and many others including those in France who started free schools. Most of these predecessors of Ferrer firmly believed that those who control education also control the government of a nation and that the governing of a nation can be changed by changing the schools. Please come with your own ideas on these topics.