Day 3 East Coast Tour

This morning we participated in the chapel time at Philadelphia Mennonite High School. Principal Barbara Moses welcomed us and led us on a tour of the school. There are about 100 students...capacity is 120. The school opened 13 years ago. A remarkable thing about the school is that 100 % of the graduates of the school attend community college or university after graduation, and many of the grads return to the school to volunteer and mentor younger students. They are a zero tolerance school in terms of violence. They have not had a physical fight at the school since 2003. All of their students receive training throughout their three years at the school in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. Tuition at the school is just over $10,000/year US. The majority of the student's families cannot afford even half of the tuition, so the administrative staff are very busy raising funds for the school and finding sponsors for individual students.

Mrs. Mary Duff, 86 years old, holds 3 Masters degrees, is an ordained minister, a retired teacher of 42 years in the Philadelphia public school system, and a mentor to the staff and students at the school. She is in the process of writing two books. One of them has to do with what she has learned from her students over her 42 years in the classroom. She told me a story of a horrific car crash that she survived more than 30 years ago. Driving through West Virginia, her car went out of control, hit the ditch, and the next thing she knew she was in a hospital in Washington, DC. The doctor told her that there was good news and bad news. The good news was that she was alive. The bad news was that she would never speak above a whisper again, and she would never walk again. After a lengthy time in the hospital, she returned home to Philadelphia. Her students missed her terribly and demanded that she come back to the school. They told her that they promised that they would teach her how to speak again and how to walk again. She had a face cast on, and much of her body in a cast. The students met her at the car, carried her in, and over many months, through diligent work and love, taught her how to speak and walk. Her favourite hymn...Be Not Dismayed. Amazing. A blessing to meet her and listen to a bit of her story.