With speeches, music and bright yellow scarves, more than 200 representatives of Gillingham Charter School, Pottsville, celebrated National School Choice Week 2016 on Thursday.
At the gym in the parish building of the former St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, 321 Howard Ave., Pottsville, students displayed their talents.
For example, Sieara Gilbert, an eighth-grade student at the first charter school in Schuylkill County, sang “At Last,” a track made popular by Etta James in 1960. And Rebeccah Shock, a 10th-grader, a flutist, performed a solo.
School teachers and administrators reminded them of the freedoms they enjoy by studying at an alternative school.
Nicolle M. Hutchinson, the school’s CEO and director of education, addressed every worker and student at Gillingham: “You are people who decided to learn and teach and serve at a new school to try a new philosophy. And I think about that often and wonder how I would describe you. You are risk-takers. You are decisive. You are determined. You stand up for yourself and say that you want something different. And each one of you have done that by coming here.”
Around Hutchinson’s neck was a bright yellow scarf, one of the symbols of National School Choice Week. Gillingham acquired some official ones from the organization which promotes the annual event that started in 2011.
“Choice gives us ownership over our lives. We all have a right to choose our education and our schools. And that, to me, is what school choice is about. It’s about taking ownership over your life and over your own education, whether you go to a traditional public school or you’re part of the charter school,” Rachel Bensinger, the school’s director of organizational development, said.
“Why is Gillingham important to me? Because every decision made by teachers, administrators and staff revolve around what is best for you, the student and the person. I’m so happy you choose Gillingham! And you all know your reasons why you chose this school and why you love it and why you love being here. And with that knowledge, we will stand strong, even in the face of adversity. Because we know what our school is about. We know who we are and why we are here. And no one can take that pride away from us,” Bensinger said.
John Hindermyer, an 11th-grade student, got up to the microphone to talk about why he chose Gillingham.
“The main reason why I came to this school is because of the learning curve they have here and what the school really represents. This school isn’t like any other school that I’ve been to. I’ve been to a lot of schools in my time and none of them were like Gillingham. They weren’t as welcoming and accepting, especially at times when I was really down,” Hindermyer said.
Katelyn Alverado, who is also an 11th-grade student, also shared some of her experiences with Gillingham.
“School choice is very important to me. When I was younger, I didn’t think I had a choice. And I hated school. I would miss school most days. My freshman grades were way down. School didn’t look too good for me. A friend told me about this school and how people were so accepting here. She thought it would help me,” Alverado said.
“By the time I got here, I was kind of shy and scared because I thought ‘maybe what my friend told me was all a lie.’ I thought maybe the people here are going to judge me like the people I met in public school. They didn’t. And slowly I started to become more outgoing. And that’s why school choice is important to me,” Alverado said.
Mark T. Major, one of the school’s teachers, said when he was growing up there weren’t many alternatives to education. “We had the traditional public school system, the same system that had been around for more than a hundred years. If my family would have had more money, maybe I would have attended a private school. But we didn’t have that kind of money. We had one choice. And that was the local school district,” he said.
“In Schuylkill County today you have at least two public education choices that are free. And since 2011, hundreds of students from across Schuylkill County have chosen to attend Gillingham Charter School. And today, in communities across the country, students and teachers in schools are celebrating school choice just like all of us,” Major said.
“Education is defined as a process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or a university. And that’s primarily what happens in a traditional school. Children receive information, usually based on a certain standardized system. And most schools will only focus on academics. But I believe in what Charlotte Mason said,” Karen Shanoskie, another teacher at the school, said.
Mason was a British educator and Gillingham based its teachings on her methods.
“People are born persons. And what better way to educate a person than by Mason’s philosophy? That’s to educate the whole person, the mind as well as the spirit. What we offer here at Gillingham is unique. We are different because we offer a relational education. Your parents may have chose this school for you. Maybe you chose it for yourself. But we need to remember that America is founded on the principles of freedom, people being free to have a choice,” Shanoskie said.
“I’m here to tell you a little bit about how I ended up at Gillingham. When I applied to work at Gillingham two years ago, it was emphasized that the students were about more than a test score or a grade. It was kind of intriguing to me and kind of a novel idea. After going through the public school system myself, where I received a good education, I ended up feeling I was part of a herd. I went from point A to point B and I got good grades and I performed well on tests, but I didn’t really get anything exciting out of it. It wasn’t until I went to college that I realized that teachers could, in fact, genuinely care about their students’ educations and invest time in actually helping them to learn and remember, rather than just retain information for a short amount of time,” Staci Luck, who also teaches at Gillingham, said.
“Being at Gillingham, I have learned so many things from so many people, from co-workers and students alike,” Luck said.
This week, Gillingham joined more than 8,000 schools across the country in raising awareness for school choice.
“Pennsylvania is celebrating National School Choice Week — Jan. 24 to 30 — with an unprecedented 742 events across the Keystone State,” according to schoolchoiceweek.com.
Nationwide, 16,140 events were scheduled to be held, according to the site.