From sidewalk to classroom
Palm Sunday Peace Parade to herald new school
By Joe Piasecki 04/02/2009
On Sunday members of the Pasadena Mennonite Church will hold their seventh annual Palm Sunday Peace Parade, taking the traditional pre-Easter commemoration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem out of the pews and into the streets of Pasadena to promote opposition to war and violence.
The first Peace Parade took place just three weeks after the invasion of Iraq. While this year’s occurrence keeps up the call to end that conflict, it also trumpets the opening this fall of the Peace and Justice Academy, a new private middle and high school that blends social activism with academic rigor and religious instruction.
“The people who are starting the school are also from the church. They want this annual event to be a major event for the school each year,” said Pasadena Mennonite Church Pastor and Peace Parade organizer Bert Newton.
The Mennonites are an evangelical Christian denomination formed during the Protestant Reformation that believes in nonviolence and adult baptism and is particularly active in social justice issues.
The campus will be located on the grounds of Pasadena Church of the Brethren, 1041 N. Altadena Drive, Pasadena. Its five-member board of directors includes past and present Pasadena Unified School District and LAUSD teachers, a former school psychologist and an adjunct professor at Fuller Theological Seminary.
The school’s Web site, thepeaceacademy.org, promises college preparatory coursework, including some classes at Pasadena City College. “Yes, we can help you get into college,” states a message to prospective students. “Other schools can do that too. But we invite you to something more. We invite you to learn how to make a difference in the world.”
One day of each school week will be a dedicated “peace and justice lab,” where students apply their learning to volunteer and organizing efforts. “We’re hoping to engage students and put feet on their faith,” explained Kimberly Medendorp, a member of the school’s board who teaches English at Marshall Fundamental School.
Class sizes will remain small, about 10 to 20 students, and begin with sixth and ninth grades only. English coursework will bring special focus to socio-political rhetoric and history classes “won’t just be taught from the perspective of the victors … and we’ll be applying it to current events,” said Medendorp.
Palm Sunday Peace Parade participants will begin their one-mile procession at 3 p.m., heading west on Orange Grove Boulevard from Messiah Lutheran Church (570 E. Orange Grove Blvd.), turning south on Los Robles Avenue and ending in front of Paseo Colorado.
For more information, call (626) 398-8224.
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Well, I'm the opposite of unbaised, but I wanted to say that my son will be starting at this new school in the fall. I hope he finds lots of others kids and families who are looking for a new and innovative way to engage a very crazy and complicated world. And may we work to help teenagers all over the globe experience justice and know peace.
As a psychologist working with children and families in the Pasadena area, I know that trying to choose a middle school or high school school is very stressful due to limited choices and options parents feel are available here. In addition, parents are generally worried about the lack of strong character or moral commitments in contemporary youth culture. This school sounds like something very needed in our community--an educational option which is infused with strong values. The new Peace and Justice Academy sounds like a school that will teach its students to be wise analysts of traditional curriculum and popular culture.
I'll be out of town for the Parade, but I'll be there in spirit. I'm glad that parents in Pasadena now have an interesting, challenging, academic alternative to the standard choices in schooling.
The new school sounds like something that's really needed - a place that breeds hope instead of cynicism in a difficult time when people are having to reassess the pursuit of more "stuff" as the way to happiness. I'd like to see more kids prepared to put their education to use in hopeful, positive action for a more peaceful world.