Silver Lining

Coronavirus is a terrible black cloud over the world. I feel as though I am inside the book A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, in which evil is portrayed as an ever-spreading darkness called The Black Thing. Thankfully, I and my family are well at the moment, but there are three cases of coronavirus here in Maine, two right here in Portland at present. Schools are closed, the library is closed, people are losing their livelihoods and many are full of fear. How often did Pope St. John Paul II say, "Be not afraid!" Jesus said, "Be not afraid!" In the Bible God, prophets, and angels all said "Be not afraid!" Because I have special needs family members, I spend a lot of time urging folks to calm down. Even in a crisis, we need peace.

Before this crisis hit, as you know, I have been trying to raise funds to finance the Our Lady and St. Nicholas Project, the purchase of a base for Mary's Ward here in Portland, Maine or environs. I continue to pray and work toward that end. However, in the last few weeks I have also been praying about a persistent idea of moving ahead with Mary's Ward apostolates here in Portland, even without property, while continuing to storm heaven for the project. This idea came to me in two forms: imagining Mary's School, Take The Bus Productions, SonLight Dance Company and Our Lady and St. Nicholas Chapel without walls, on location, from my shopping cart or "en plein air" ( French for outside); or online, at a distance, remotely. Guess which one requires immediate implementation due to the threat of coronavirus? Yes, this week I began serious planning of Mary's School Distance Education. Before describing the nuts and bolts, let me just say that I also cherish the idea of Mary's School without walls en plein air, perhaps because it calls to mind the years of struggle of St. John Bosco, who paraded his huge following of boys from one outdoor location to another until he finally acquired a property for his oratory. But this is not a time for parading children outside. This is a time for extending a lifeline to the thousands of students who are out of school. In this time of great darkness, Mary's School Distnce Education is a silver lining.

Mary's School, formerly known as SonLight Christian School, has been in existence since 1993. Many students have attended, some have graduated, including my three children. Mary's School is recognized as a private school "for purposes of attendance" or RAPPS, in Maine. As public school is closed for two weeks, I will be homeschooling my grandchildren as Mary's School and offering Mary's School Distance Education to any others who wish to attend.

Mary's School is completely individualized education, K-12, including special needs. Students progress through six core subjects ( Religion, Reading, Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies) as well as Farm& Garden, Physical Education, Chapel (prayer, readings, music), Art (performing and visual), and Languages (German, Braille, French, Vietnamese, Latin, Spanish, Italian, American Sign Language, Polish, English as a Second Language if necessary, and more) at their own pace, potentially even at different grade levels in different subjects. Students are carefully placed in each subject following extensive conversations, not testing, between student and teacher. Once placed, students advance in each subject through the continuum of curriculum from k-12 by accepting one task at a time in each subject, then working, with guidance from teacher if requested, until they can demonstrate competence in the task or topic. Different subjects are studied on different days, allowing students to focus on the task or topic being studied.

In the spirit of the Catholic Worker Movement, there is no tuition.

Divine Child Jesus, bless and protect us! Our Lady of Good Remedy, St. Joseph the Provider, St. Nicholas, St. Jude and all the holy angels, saints and martyrs, pray for us! The peace of the Lord be with your spirit!