Teaching kids to connect in a multicultural world
Throughout the United States Baha’is are inviting spiritual seekers to enrich their spiritual and community life through such activities as prayer gatherings, weekly study of the Baha'i scriptures and classes for the spiritual education and training of children.
When the city council of Monrovia, Calif., recently sought to combat racially charged gang violence in this bedroom community of Los Angeles, it turned to the Monrovia Baha'i Family School as a role model for how people of different cultures can get along in our cross-cultural world.
Whites, Latinos and African-Americans don’t always connect in a friendly way on the streets of Monrovia, but they do on Cypress Street -- home of the Baha'i school, whose students range from kindergarten to high school.
Some students are Baha’is; others come from different faiths. On Wednesday afternoons, they’re all one, says director Joanie Yuille, a lifelong Baha'i and lifelong Monrovian.
The purpose of the many Baha'i schools located throughout the country, is to teach children about the oneness of humankind. This core principle of the Baha'i Faith forms the foundation of the Faith’s other principles, which include equality of the sexes, elimination of prejudice, abolition of extremes of poverty and wealth.
Baha’i schools are populated by children of families who want their children to receive a spiritual education that stresses the importance of diversity and unity. Students also learn the Baha'i concept of progressive revelation -- that the world's major religions are part of a single, progressive process through which God reveals His will to humanity.
“I love that my children are learning about the major religions of the people of the world,” says Elizabeth Marquardt, mother of Marianna, 5, and Thomas, 3, who attend the Flowers of One Garden Baha'i School in Wilmette, Ill. “My hope is that what they are learning will help them be the kind of compassionate and educated global citizens that our world needs.”
To teach the youngest students Baha'i principles, Baha'i schools start by teaching virtues -- “how to be good people,” says Layli Miller-Muro, who founded a Baha'i school in Falls Church, Va. Ms. Miller-Muro also is the founder and director of the celebrated Tahirih Justice Center in Falls Church.
The school’s participants represent a cornucopia of cultures and religions: American, Ethiopian, Pakistani, Afghani, Christian and Jewish as well as Baha’i.
“We live in a multiracial, multicultural world, so these classes fit in perfectly,” says Angie Fox, a new Baha'i whose 4-year-old son, Patton Oliver, attends the Baha'i school in Falls Church, Va., which was recently featured on NPR’s Morning Edition.
The Lions and Whales Baha'i School, held on the campus of the Louhelen Baha'i School in Davison, Mich., isn’t as eclectic, at least by Baha'i standards -- participants are white, African-American and Latino -- but its aim is the same as the other Baha'i schools: to celebrate diversity and grow spiritually.
The school takes its name from a quote by Abdu’l-Baha that says God bestows us with the ability to be like “lions roaring in the forest of knowledge and wisdom, and whales swimming in the oceans of life.”
Lions and Whales has upward of 30 students, who meet after school on Wednesdays. Most of its participants are not Baha’is and come from nearby Flint, a town known nationally for being hard-hit by the downsizing of General Motors.
The class serves several purposes: It educates students on Baha'i principles, and after class, provides tutors to help students with homework assigned by their public school. The school also provides a pizza break, where students and teachers mingle.
At 5:30 p.m., everyone takes a pizza break with Barbara and Rick Johnson, co-administrators of Louhelen.
Lions and Whales has been a big success, says Barbara Johnson, who, with her husband, Rick, runs Louhelen. Rather than brag, she points to the comments of students and their families:
“I don’t act bad like I used to, and my report card is better.”
“Lions and Whales is a place you can go without being judged.”
“At first I thought it was just another program that would put me to sleep. Now I know it’s a program that brings people together.”
“It shows them how to behave in society and how to treat people along the way. They care more.” (Grandparent)
“I see (more) love in their eyes. I see some respect that they didn’t have before and a love of saying prayers.” (Grandparent)
And, from one child, “I’m grateful.”


Source URL: http://www.bahai.us/teaching-kids