cannabisnews.com: Students Thrive At a Supportive, Special School 





Students Thrive At a Supportive, Special School 
Posted by FoM on March 06, 2001 at 21:05:52 PT
By Courtland Milloy
Source: Washington Post
There was nothing unusual about the debate topic: Should marijuana be legalized? But in the hands of students at the Chelsea School, the debate itself proved to be a special event.The school, located in Silver Spring, is for students with learning disabilities. But youngsters who struggle with dyslexia and other problems involving comprehension are often very talented. All they need, as the Chelsea debate shows, is a supportive learning environment.
William Reynolds, 17, led off the case for legalization sounding almost professorial."Marijuana is the least toxic substance in all pharmacopeia," he declared before a room filled with classmates and teachers. "It's all-around good natural medicine that you can grow yourself."His classmates broke out in applause."You go, Will!" a classmate shouted. "You sound like a real lawyer."Richard Hughes, also 17, led the opposition."According to the Food and Drug Administration," he began authoritatively, "young people who use marijuana are quite likely to have disturbances resulting from their attempts to stop, similar to addiction, and if they happen to add other uncontrolled substances to enhance its effect, they may end up creating a real storm in their lives. A perfect storm, if you will."Another round of applause -- mostly from teachers.Had such a debate been held in many public schools, students such as Reynolds and Hughes would have almost certainly been left out. At best, they would have been invited out of their overcrowded and poorly equipped "special-ed" classes to watch others do what they had been led to believe was impossible for them.Not at Chelsea. Not in Susan Joseph's contemporary issues class."A morning debate is an exciting way to start a school day," she said. "It helps students learn to speak their minds, release their emotions and not internalize their feelings."Providing students with such an outlet seemed especially relevant in the aftermath of Monday's shooting at a California high school in which two students were killed and 13 wounded.The alleged assailant, a 15-year-old freshman, apparently had been stuffing feelings of anger at being ridiculed and teased by classmates.At Chelsea, a large part of the school's success comes from undoing the effects of such belittling. Students are embraced by one another and moved along at their own pace in a setting where the student-teacher ratio is 4-1.In most public school special-education classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, the student-teacher ratio is about 26-1, and about 35 percent of the students drop out.In a report released last week by the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, researchers found that black children are almost three times as likely as white children to be labeled -- often mistakenly -- as mentally retarded, forcing them into special-education classes where progress is slow and trained teachers are in short supply.Nearly half of Chelsea's student population is black -- including debate team captains Hughes and Reynolds. Count them among the lucky ones. About 90 percent of the school's graduates go on to college."In many public schools, students with learning disabilities are stereotyped and ostracized," said Margeau Gilbert, Chelsea's director of development. "Here, we try to provide an emotionally safe learning environment."Nevertheless, there is little emotional safety in being part of a debating society -- especially one that clashes over topics such as whether marijuana should be legalized. That takes a lot of courage. Other participants in yesterday's debate were Kerry Cavanaugh, Dan Sumner, John Reigle and Jonathan Durstine.Asked why Hughes and Reynolds had been selected as debate team captains, Gilbert replied, "Because they disagree on everything."Not quite."I think we can agree that Chelsea is a great school, with a lot of caring teachers," Richard said. William nodded, affirmative.Source: Washington Post (DC) Author: Courtland MilloyPublished: Wednesday, March 7, 2001; Page B01 Address: 1150 15th Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20071Copyright: 2001 The Washington Post Company Contact: letterstoed washpost.comWebsite: http://www.washingtonpost.com/Feedback: http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/edit/letters/letterform.htm CannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #4 posted by MikeEEEEE on March 07, 2001 at 16:13:42 PT
Count The Applause 
There's more applause from the majority. Marijuana will be legal.This section from the article says it all, the students out number the teachers:"Marijuana is the least toxic substance in all pharmacopeia," he declared before a room filled with classmates and teachers. "It's all-around good natural medicine that you can grow yourself."His classmates broke out in applause."You go, Will!" a classmate shouted. "You sound like a real lawyer."Richard Hughes, also 17, led the opposition."According to the Food and Drug Administration," he began authoritatively, "young people who use marijuana are quite likely to have disturbances resulting from their attempts to stop, similar to addiction, and if they happen to add other uncontrolled substances to enhance its effect, they may end up creating a real storm in their lives. A perfect storm, if you will."Another round of applause -- mostly from teachers.
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Comment #3 posted by dddd on March 07, 2001 at 05:42:49 PT
way off topic
...but I just gotta say,,It really makes me sneer,when I see the word "thrive",in such titles,,especially in the WP........I also dont like the word,"nurture"...there's just no way to gracefully use these words....none the less,,,,May your old ass thrive and your mind be heavily nurtured by the gentle and warm spirit of JAH.
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Comment #2 posted by NiftySplifty on March 06, 2001 at 22:51:52 PT
You go, Dan B!
You sound like a real lawyer!Seriously, I agree that it is encouraging to hear this kind of debate taking place in a school, let alone 17 year olds! More schools should be this open, but nay, they aren't.N...
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Comment #1 posted by Dan B on March 06, 2001 at 22:25:00 PT:
It Takes Courage
While I object to the inflammatory use of the word "legalize" in many cases, I applaud this particular statement:Nevertheless, there is little emotional safety in being part of a debating society -- especially one that clashes over topics such as whether marijuana should be legalized. That takes a lot of courage. Damn right it does; especially when virtually all the authority figures in the room so obviously disagree with the idea (or are forced to show compliance with the school's adopted stance regarding marijuana decriminalization). I applaud the kids who spoke out, and I applaud those who cheered them on. In more general terms, what a wonderful place: a school for students with learning disabilities that actually cranks out a higher percentage of college students than the average school--by a long shot. Maybe there is hope for America's future.Encouraging.Dan B
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