An Interview with Marisol

Interview with Marisol Bien Teachworth:

Why is there a need for the Boggs Educational Center?

     According to Arne Duncan, the current US Secretary of Education, Detroit is the “ground zero” for pubic education in America.  Much of our city’s population is functionally illiterate and living well below the poverty lines.  The majority of youth in Detroit are dropping out of high schools.  Highland Park High School is in consideration to be shut down entirely.  There is an educational crisis!  Schools are closing.  Teachers and administrators are loosing their jobs.  An Emergency Financial Manager has been put in place having unilateral power.  

Why is there a need for the Boggs Educational Center?  

•Because our schooling and education model HAS to change!  

•Because learning should not be constricted to a boxy room with four walls!

•Because there are rich stories, ready to be heard, nestled in our   environment.

•Because there are passionate individuals and organizations who are asking for a 

community-based school, ready to help build it.

•Because Grace Lee and Jimmy Boggs have paved our way for a new sustainable community, which includes a school.

As a critic, I am always seeking to create a new world, to find an escape, to liberate those who see only a part of reality.  What new world or reality do you want to be created with the Boggs Educational Center?

     Children and families who attend The Boggs Educational Center are proud of where they live.  They have taken a read on the lay of the land and understand it’s unique history.  Children are playing on the giant sculptures they designed and built through math and science.  They are planting, growing, harvesting, preparing, cooking, and eating the food from the school garden. At the BEC, we develop relationships with families.  Learning through play and experiential activities makes school fun and engaging.  We welcome all of our talented community members and friends to share lessons, stories, and skills with us as we learn to network and build relationships.  Children who attend the Boggs Educational Center observe, question, and develop actions that lead to solutions on social, environmental, and digital justice issues from kindergarden.  We want students to feel safe, loved, challenged, and self-motivated.  The Boggs Educational Center will be one of the main hubs for re-spiriting our city.

Human beings tend to recognize three fundamental postures one can take with respect to the human condition: feeling, knowing and acting.  How will the school culture and curriculum help shape the development of students and the community around them?

     School culture is something well developed and forever changing.  We are rooted in love, missioned  to nurture creative, critical thinkers who are empowered to contribute to the well-being of their communities.  Our goals, values and traditions, and ways we celebrate successes all shape our school culture.  We are modeling a school-wide Place-Based Education curriculum which promotes learning that is grounded in what is local, including, Detroit’s unique history, environment, culture, and art.  Students learn in many, many ways including through participating in service projects around the local community.  The students, the staff, the parents and families, and the community members will feel proud and confident about what takes place at the BEC.  People see and experience positive results in multiple domains and know that children are learning and growing.  Education should not be stagnant or constricted, it should be an action.  Learning occurs every moment in a variety of ways.  Student who graduate from The Boggs Educational Center don’t feel like they need to leave Detroit to become successful.  They are able to think critically and are prepared to make that decision because they know it’s the right one, not because they feel as though Detroit has nothing to offer them.