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It has been difficult to listen to the distress and sense of betrayal expressed by parents during the well-attended and well-intended USD 259 school boundary listening sessions. I have been particularly impressed with the “keep our school open” passion and resolve demonstrated by parents and students of Emerson Open Magnet Elementary School.
Intrigued with the Emerson parents’ and students’ belief in the virtues of their school, I contacted graduates of Emerson who have experienced adult life challenges for 15 to 35 years. I wanted to know whether they thought Emerson provided them “a jump-start on life.” The following are testimonies from four Emerson alumni, including my daughter Janna Bogle:
• “A friend asked me, ‘What does Emerson mean to me?’ The answer is easy, because everything I have learned, from how to relate to people to how to handle challenges and how to believe in myself even when others don’t, came from that school.… I would not have had the strength to get through some of the things in my life if it were not for the teachers and experiences from my time at Emerson.” – Shawn Hunter, owner of Open Road Motorcycle
• “Today, 22 years after being an Emerson student, I attribute who I am to the ‘life-learning experiences’ I faced while a student at Emerson. I learned that I was a unique person with the right to think openly, alternatively and creatively. The Emerson family taught me the virtues of responsible living, self-discipline, honesty, self-control and determination.” – Janna Bogle, human services specialist
• “At age 42, I still find Emerson to be the most influential schooling experience of my life. I am so thankful for the solid foundation of cooperation rather than competition, valuing of diversity, individualized instruction rather than assembly-line academics, and the overall caring atmosphere that Emerson provided to my early education.” – Shari Swender Thiessen, student teacher
• “In the early 1970s my mother chose to send me to Emerson Open Alternative School because a new concept in education was going to be tried. Today, many years later, I often realize how Emerson impacted my life and the person I have become. Emerson was the ‘home’ in which I learned that not everyone had to look like me or even speak the same language as me. Emerson was the place where I learned that differences were something to be celebrated, and that I could achieve as much as I wanted.” – Meredith Beckham Kowalsky, small-business owner
Testimonies of alumni have convinced me that Emerson is not just any school. Emerson is a keeper.
