June 3, 2011

Students Learn About the Navajo Long Walk

If you visited Gill St. Bernard’s School during the past two weeks, you were likely to see one group of students creating sports broadcasts with the help of  NBC News while another boarded a bus for a multi-day trip to explore the environment of the Great Swamp, or left for an emersion trip in Canadian history and culture in Montreal. – among other activities.

These two weeks are a unique feature of Gill St. Bernard’s School’s curriculum and are  called the Spring Unit. During this time, students study one topic in depth. (The school day is lengthened throughout the year to accommodate this two week period.) The experiences open the school classrooms to the world as field trips and field studies are integral parts of the courses.
One such Unit this spring was the Navajo Long Walk. Students from GSB traveled to the Southwest where they met with Navajo elders, leaders, artists and artisans, and had private tours of museums and landmarks. The purpose was to examine the interactions between the U.S. government and the Navajos that led to the Long Walk, and to explore the Navajo culture.

What follows are some entries from the students’ online diaries.

“Today we went to the New Mexico History Museum where we learned about the history of the Long Walk and the U.S. involvement in the Indian tribes of the nation. It’s so frustrating to think about how the people of the nation I am a part of could treat those people so horribly. Not-so-fun Fun Fact: Thousands of Indians died on the Long Walk and even more died at Bosque Redondo (the reservation where they were incarcerated).

Laura

“I really enjoyed learning about the great importance the Navajo people had during World War II. During the war, the United States government used the Navajo for their language which the Japanese could not decipher. Sadly, this contribution to the War gets lost in many history textbooks about American history, and I believe it should have a greater standing in history classes around the country.”

Natalie

“As I walked through the main exhibit (in the museum), I found myself reading every Navajo poem. These poems resonated with me to a great extent. One has remained in my head for the last six hours: I am here, I am here now, I have been here always.”

Jake

“I strolled over to a museum in back of the Palace of Governors along with the rest of our group. We were given a guided tour of an exhibit that focused on the Navajo Long Walk and the Indian schools all around the country. One of the most heart wrenching things about the exhibit was a photograph of young Native American boy before he was sent away to an Indian boarding school in Pennsylvania, paired with a photograph of the same boy after he left the boarding school. His long hair: cut. His traditional clothing: gone. His face: tired and saddened.”

Hayley D.

“What a spectacular day! After the scenic journey to the Taos Pueblo, the powerful imagery of both the civilizations past and present led even the quietest of us to express a vocal compassion for the native peoples, and drew out in me a great sense of guilt for the deeds committed by my ancestors. Having recently discovered that my great-great-grandfather fought in the Indian wars, the tales of American and Spanish conquest seared deeply into my heart, as I witnessed first-hand the damage done by the U.S. cavalry and the Spanish conquistadors.

Christian

“Today we had the amazing chance to speak one-on-one with one of the most

renowned Navajo weavers. As an outsider, it was a treat to have some of these processes revealed to me, and to learn about a craft that is so integral to the roots of Navajo culture. To be a successful weaver, one must have an everlasting reservoir of patience, an understanding of balance, and knowledge of all of the plants on the reservation.”

Sophie

“Staying in a Hogan was completely humbling. After sleeping on a dirt floor for two nights, every bed, whether it be stiff or too soft, feels like a heavenly mattress. Getting past the actual sleeping arrangements, her home and Navajo ways (the students stayed on the farm of a  Navajo woman) were so natural. The way in which she was attached to the Mother Earth and Father Sky touched each and everyone of our souls.”

Jake

Thoughts on College Admission and the “Race to Nowhere”

by Sid Rowell

Headmaster

Recently the documentary film “Race to Nowhere” has been screened in several local venues and is generating a good bit of discussion.  This movie chronicles the lives of several students who mainly attend affluent public schools on the West Coast. The film’s producer, Vicki Abeles, was compelled to produce the film as she witnessed all three of her children evincing stress-related symptoms in the face of overwhelming demands in the pursuit of “college resume building”. Some of the concerns highlighted in the film include too much homework, early specialization in one sport, too many scheduled activities, over emphasis on AP curriculum and the problems inherent in standardized testing.

Secondary schools are largely influenced by the colleges with respect to meeting admission requirements. Given the exploding number of students applying to college, the bar keeps rising for high school graduates. Duke and Princeton received 30,000+ applications this year for freshmen classes of less than 1700. These days, colleges look for students who have demonstrated success in a challenging academic program and students with high test scores. They then examine an applicant’s involvement in sports, music, clubs, community service, etc., to demonstrate a student’s high level of talent, competence and leadership. The latter clearly promotes “specialization” and the former directly endorses AP and SAT test preparation.

Schools, especially independent schools such as Gill St. Bernard’s, are also heavily influenced by parents who wittingly or unwittingly contribute to the anxiety driven ‘Race to Nowhere,” whether their child is an 11^th grader or a kindergartener. Expectations are high (and not always realistic) and schools’ college lists are constantly dissected by current and prospective parents. Although I do not find myself interacting with a lot of “Tiger Moms,” everyone wants the best for their children, and for their children to be exceptional. While we as educators understand this desire, it presents a number of challenges for schools.

Gill St. Bernard's School has resisted many of the excesses highlighted in the Abeles’ documentary. With parental support, we will continue to try to be reasonable in our expectations, to educate the whole student, to advise wisely in the college selection process, and to contribute to the overall well-being of our young people.  We strive to promote balance in the lives’ of our students, to support them in exploring their many interests, and to encourage them to take educational risks. However, more is required. Our students also need to breathe the fresh air as they walk outside between classes, to laugh and even to gaze at the clouds from time to time. These things, too, are an important part of a meaningful and reflective life and are ultimately, one of the things that makes GSB such a special and unique school community.

As parents and educators, we need to think deeply about what we truly value. This is the starting point of any thoughtful and honest dialogue about student stress levels. All of us need help with learning to manage our own anxiety if we are going to help our children with theirs. Perhaps clarifying our own values is a first step. For now, schools are caught between the two powerful forces of parent and college expectations.

GSB Athletes Focus on More Than Sports

by David Pasquale

Director of Athletics

The Athletic Program at Gill St. Bernard’s has been receiving quite a bit of attention lately. Over the last three years, we’ve won sixteen conference championships, five sectional crowns, two state titles, and five of our teams have been ranked in the “top-20” in the state. In 2009 we became the smallest school in the history of Somerset County to win a county championship in a team sport and two of our coaches were recently named New Jersey Coach-of-the-Year in their sport. 65 GSB student-athletes earned post-season recognition last year and roughly 20 of our recent graduates are currently competing at the college level.

These same student-athletes have also achieved at an incredibly high level in the classroom.  Several were identified as National Merit Scholars. In fact, recently graduated Gill athletes are currently enrolled at Princeton, Georgetown, Cornell, Williams, and several other top-flight colleges and universities.

While we’re all very proud of these fantastic athletic and academic accomplishments, perhaps it is “off the field” where our stars shine most brightly. Our girls soccer team dedicated an October game to Breast Cancer Awareness, raising nearly $1400 for this worthy cause, while the boys hold an annual clinic at the Midland School for children with developmental disabilities. As part of a “Team up 4 Kids” project, our boys basketball players welcomed a new teammate last season from the Goryeb Children’s Hospital in Morristown and our cross country teams took part in “Miles for Matheny” as well as the Steeplechase Distance Run to benefit the Steeplechase Cancer Center at the Somerset Medical Center. The “Knight Club,” a service organization of GSB student-athletes, collected and donated over 1300 pairs of shoes as part of the nationally acclaimed “Soles 4 Souls” campaign.

Our teams are doing well and our student-athletes are very talented. However, it’s important to recognize that there’s much more to being a Gill St. Bernard’s student-athlete than championships and school records.