Dear Ms. Peterson,
Thank you for getting our school off to a great start! It is time for me to share with you and update you on some of the work and conversations I've had with other AMHS teachers, specifically Mr. Wright, students, and College of Charleston professor, Todd Grantham over the past year. For the past year, I have been supporting and advising a group of very enthused and inquisitive AMHS students (sophomores last year, now juniors) in possibly pursuing the option of creating an opportunity their senior year to participate in a new and advanced academic endeavor that includes reviving the philosophy club and possibly providing a philosophy class here at AMHS by their senior year.
There seems to be a strong interest that has not faded but sustained and has grown over time. And because I have a personal connection to the subject matter, I cannot help but admire the fact that our students are interested in pursuing the love of wisdom in a broader, all-encompassing sense. Philosophy is certainly cross-curricular and highly challenging, life-changing as its aim is to push thinkers to search for truth and meaning. The human endeavor to pursue knowledge, question reality, and challenge our ways of knowing makes us a unique species in the universe and the desire to engage in philosophical thought over the ages is prevalent and evident, thus philosophy as an academic discipline transcends space and time and is to many, of ultimate importance. What we think and believe translates to our actions, and can influence the ethical choices we face in an ever-changing world. It is of no surprise to me that we have gifted students who yearn to know beyond what is required of SC State curriculum standards. Many of them have the maturity, the academic mind, the gifts that plague them to be highly concerned with the major questions of human existence.
With that being said, I have had many discussions with these students on how to pursue this endeavor. The ideas that have been discussed and that are currently student-driven....
1) Philosophy Club: This is in the works to begin immediately...Haywood White and Henry Lesesne will be leading the club.
2) Facebook group has existed as a blog for student collaboration with teacher support.
3) Discussions with Mr. Wright who sees a need for a course like philosophy due to Epistemology being removed from Thesis curriculum and he also has other very significant insights.
4) Ideas to create a student-made curriculum and an AMHS teacher teach it...but it has been decided that could be time-consuming and flawed.
Where we are....
5) Intro to Philosophy course from the College of Charleston
and inviting a philosophy professor to speak with students about the subject itself perhaps in focus or after school sponsored by the philosophy club.
Mr. Wright and I have met with Dr. Todd Grantham, department head of the Philosophy department at CofC, who is also an AMHS parent of Ethan Grantham. He is very interested in supporting this endeavor from the CofC side. We are hoping that a similar process that provided the Chinese course could be adopted to offer a CofC Philosophy course here. The only issue we are concerned about is the financial aspect of providing the course.
I very informally told Cliff Woods from the foundation about the idea...and we both concluded the next step is to come to you Ms. Peterson!
This is where our work ends, before we discuss anything else, we need the advice, critique, opinion, and reaction to the idea from our leader, YOU, Ms. Judith Peterson. We hope that you are open to the idea and will meet with me and Mr. Wright to discuss all that we have brainstormed thus far so we can proceed in the right direction. Mr. Wright and I both have 1B planning and are hoping to meet with you during 1B before the end of the month if possible...as my maternity leave is approaching!
Important Attachments:
1) Public HS course in Philosophy in Ohio
We are researching other states educational opportunities in HS that would be similar. We are finding other high schools in the country have a philosophy class. We would like to lead the state of SC and be the first public school in SC to offer it, and join in on the national conversation!
2) Letter of support from College of Charleston Philosophy Department Head and Parent of AMHS student, Ethan Grantham. He himself would be willing to teach it here.
3) College of Charleston syllabus (would be modified to meet our needs)
4) Letter of student support from the leader of the student movement and revived philosophy club here at AMHS, Haywood White.
Hope to see you in 1B after you have thought about the idea. We are eager to hear your opinion and to understand your wisdom and perspective on the matter!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Renes