Zena Democratic School, Kingston, NY Videos
Videos by Zena Democratic School in Kingston. Zena Democratic School is a self-directed democratic school for students age 5-19.
to enable soundOther Zena Democratic School videos
Shoe Tying Lesson - ZDS Style
This incredible moment of patience, support, and camaraderie - one student helping another learn to tie their shoes - came in the middle of a pickup soccer game we have each Wednesday.
A student’s shoe came untied and he asked for help saying, “I’m never going to learn how to tie my shoes.” An older student stepped in and said, “that’s not true, how about right now?” The entire game stopped for an impromptu shoe tying lesson. No one complained, no one rushed, no one was teased, and then when ready, he hopped back up and the game restarted.
These moments of kindness are not rare or unique at school. This time, we were lucky and caught it on film.
Without the free messiness of life at ZDS, these moments wouldn’t happen. This time, it was a teenager taking time to teach a younger student how to tie their shoe, in the middle of a soccer game made up of individuals ages 5-43.
It is the rawness of growing up together, each of us seen as an individual moving through life at our own pace, that allows us to be seen and to in turn, support each other. Throughout every day at ZDS, mixed into the messiness of life as a democratic community, there are moments of pure beauty, connection, and joy. Heartwarming scenes that remind us of why we work so hard to carve out a space for our students to learn and grow - ZDS style.
The rest of the week was jam packed with woods walks, variety show rehearsals, twister games, magic cards, self-portraits, the creation of a new card game, lots of art, the organizing of new library books, a lollipop gang, the drawing of the attendance lottery winner, a new business established to sell Pokemon and Magic Cards, and a visit from Innate Movement Parkour.
The Fire Circle was surrounded by snuggled hammockers and lots of sea shanti songs and we were excited to hear little bits of life from Taiwan and Ibiza where we currently have two students doing exchanges at other self-directed schools!
Today, and every day, we need com
Hudson Valley Sudbury School is now Zena Democratic School! This change comes directly out of a rigorous and robust process of participatory democracy amongst our students and staff, with the support of our additional democratic bodies, including parents and trustees. We are evolving to meet the imperatives of our times and environment, and to meet the shifting needs of our community. Zena Democratic School will be a more dynamic, rich, and nourishing place than Hudson Valley Sudbury School was, as much as we loved it! To whit: 1. We are shifting from the Sudbury emphasis on "negative freedom" (this is not "bad" freedom, but rather the freedom *from* constraints) towards an equal emphasis on "positive freedom" (this is the freedom *to* experience things). ZDS is offering more structures of support, such as its Advisor and Cohort programs, and will also be offering more opportunities to access content and activity (instruction, workshops, trips, etc.) 2. We are shifting from the Sudbury emphasis on the question "who am I?" towards an equal emphasis on a second question: "what am I a part of?" To this end, ZDS is asking more of its students in terms of communal participation and responsibility. To begin with, this school year there will be mandatory school-wide discussions, and everyone will be required to participate with their cohort to create an event for the school community. 3. We are shifting from the Sudbury emphasis on the rights and path of the individual towards an equal emphasis on the rights and path of the community. At Hudson Valley Sudbury School, the guiding principle for the School Meeting when considering any question was that individual autonomy was valued above all. At ZDS, individual autonomy remains a core value, but the School Meeting will also play a more active role in creating the kind of environment and community that it wishes for. Please visit our new website: www.zenademocraticschool.org follow our posts the rest of this summer
Hudson Valley Sudbury School is now Zena Democratic School! This change comes directly out of a rigorous and robust process of participatory democracy amongst our students and staff, with the support of our additional democratic bodies, including parents and trustees. We are evolving to meet the imperatives of our times and environment, and to meet the shifting needs of our community. Zena Democratic School will be a more dynamic, rich, and nourishing place than Hudson Valley Sudbury School was, as much as we loved it! To whit: 1. We are shifting from the Sudbury emphasis on "negative freedom" (this is not "bad" freedom, but rather the freedom *from* constraints) towards an equal emphasis on "positive freedom" (this is the freedom *to* experience things). ZDS is offering more structures of support, such as its Advisor and Cohort programs, and will also be offering more opportunities to access content and activity (instruction, workshops, trips, etc.) 2. We are shifting from the Sudbury emphasis on the question "who am I?" towards an equal emphasis on a second question: "what am I a part of?" To this end, ZDS is asking more of its students in terms of communal participation and responsibility. To begin with, this school year there will be mandatory school-wide discussions, and everyone will be required to participate with their cohort to create an event for the school community. 3. We are shifting from the Sudbury emphasis on the rights and path of the individual towards an equal emphasis on the rights and path of the community. At Hudson Valley Sudbury School, the guiding principle for the School Meeting when considering any question was that individual autonomy was valued above all. At ZDS, individual autonomy remains a core value, but the School Meeting will also play a more active role in creating the kind of environment and community that it wishes for. Please check out our new website (link in bio) and follow our posts the rest of this summer and into the
Voices of the Future
A Hudson Valley Sudbury School Alumni Panel. 4 of our recent graduates are here for a Q&A about life at HVSS and their experience after graduating. Put your questions in the comments of the Live Stream and we will do the best to get to all of them.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, but we’re all so immersed in it, they’re hard to capture. And they’re all part of the simple life we share as free humans here, so we don’t even take notice of most of them. Luckily, today our resident pro photographer was ready to film this scene of an older student teaching a younger one the ASL alphabet, while another younger student looks on. This is the kind of free and consensual exchange that life at our school is made of. Our students integrate “learning” back into life, and it disappears as a distinct category of activity. Everyone benefits, everyone grows, everyone gets to work on the things that are important for them. Life provides the curriculum, we provide the support 🙌🏼