The concise and passionate story of how a teenager formed his own school that is “intellectually demanding of all its...
The story behind one young man’s alternative school within a school.
By the time Levin reached his junior year, like many kids his age, he had resigned himself to having a couple of great classes, a few he hated, and the rest that were boring. He had interests outside of school that helped him get through his days, but what made him angry was how those with nothing beyond the regimented school day were missing out on life. They weren’t being stimulated in school and had no projects or part-time jobs to engage them. So Levin took matters into his own hands and started his own school. With the support of his mother, Engel (Developmental Psychology/Williams Coll.; The Hungry Mind: The Origins of Curiosity in Childhood, 2015, etc.), and other adults in his high school—and after months of planning—Levin created the Independent Project, a student-run school. The school focused on the students’ interests and passions rather than required curriculum. Though the plan incorporated some traditional subjects, Levin and his team switched things up by aligning science with the humanities and English with math. In alternating voices, Levin and Engel tell the story of how the IP evolved, giving readers an inside look at the entire journey, including the first irritated moments that sparked the original idea, getting approval from the school board, recruiting students, and initiating a trial semester. The authors address their triumphs, setbacks, fears, and concerns, analyzing the step-by-step process so that others may follow and create their own independently run schools. For those who have investigated home schooling, Levin’s methods are reminiscent of unschooling, the process by which learning occurs on a more personal, interest-driven level, without the need to use conventional grading systems. The authors clearly show that learning can be an invigorating, exciting experience for almost everyone—if approached in the right manner.
The concise and passionate story of how a teenager formed his own school that is “intellectually demanding of all its students, no matter what their academic history.”Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62097-152-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: The New Press
Review Posted Online: June 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2016
Intermittently revealing but inundated with hyperbole. Rowing enthusiasts are better served by David Halberstam’s now...
Hagiographic account of the 2008 Harvard rowing season and a general paean to all things Harvard.
“The first collegiate sports competition,” writes former U.S. World Rowing Team member Saint Sing (The Wonder Crew: The Untold Story of a Coach, Navy Rowing, and Olympic Immortality, 2008), “was a rowing race between Harvard and Yale” in 1852. Since then, Harvard crews have dominated the sport of rowing as no other college team has done in any other sport. The author follows the trials and tribulations of the elite of the elite—V8, the men’s heavyweight varsity eight of 2008—as they attempt to continue this tradition of excellence. Saint Sing ably captures the grueling nature of the sport, in which the athlete must exert maximum physical effort and mental concentration over the full course of a race, and at the same time remain perfectly synched with the seven other crew members. She follows the scholar-athletes of the V8 as they train endlessly while fulfilling the demands of a Harvard education, and offers a loving portrait of Harvard’s legendary coach, Harry Parker. The 2008 season started slowly for the V8 as they struggled in the early Dual Cup races, lost in the Eastern Sprints and experienced, for Harvard, a lackluster season—until the Harvard-Yale race, the most venerated of rowing competitions. With lightning-quick prose, Saint Sing describes the dramatic tension of the contest. Unfortunately, there is too little of this type of detail and too much overblown metaphor. Parker’s coaching words “echo a call into the hollows of the soul where slumbering dreams nestle on a dark rock.” The athletes become almost props: “regal, elegant, and a bit mysterious in their sleek, taut profiles…breathing promise in the morning mist.” Harvard is not a university but a holy abstraction: “Alexandria on the banks of the Nile, Rome on the banks of the Tiber, Harvard on the banks of the Charles, each has its own link to the sacred, through temples, pyramids, and fountains that link the earth to the world above.”
Intermittently revealing but inundated with hyperbole. Rowing enthusiasts are better served by David Halberstam’s now classic The Amateurs (1985).Pub Date: March 16, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-312-53923-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
An important manual for those brave enough to face their shortcomings.
A middle-school guidance counselor offers passionate words of wisdom regarding the profound American need for responsibility, trust and character.
In a collection of short essays, some no longer than a paragraph, Baggett makes the case that in today’s society, the importance of virtuous behavior has diminished in favor of a desire for immediate satisfaction and a tendency to shrug off accountability. A tolerance for all ideologies and a willingness to explain away questionable conduct has become the norm in our current politically correct culture, leading to a dangerous lack of common ethical values. The author argues that respect and self-discipline are the hallmarks of American democracy, and without these principles, the country will experience a moral disintegration. Character education in public schools is imperative to the development of a new generation that knows true freedom does not mean freedom from responsibility. According to Baggett, character depends not only on the nurturing of trust, but also one’s willingness and courage to look deep within to discover faults and weaknesses. Perhaps one of the more intriguing ideas in the book involves culpability; without the feeling of guilt, personal growth and the development of positive character traits may be seriously impaired. Baggett, who tends toward redundancy in his efforts to convince, fortunately makes his work accessible by including memorable stories from his work with young teenagers and presenting exercises that promote self-examination. By quoting famous figures from Albert Einstein to Pogo, the author provides inspiration to readers who wish to tackle the challenge of becoming well-rounded, respectful and powerful citizens. Despite a pledge in the introduction that his Christian beliefs will not seep through the pages, a cranky sort of conservatism–and a generous sampling of scripture–may push more liberal readers away from the book. But the author’s passion for his subject makes for a spirited call for change.
An important manual for those brave enough to face their shortcomings.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-4196-9781-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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