April 20, 2009 issue
School closed; vision for education lives on
By Celeste Kennel-Shank Mennonite Weekly ReviewCHICAGO — The halls and rooms are quiet now, missing the chatter, singing and footsteps of children.
Kirk Lashley of Living Water Community Church and Gloria Garza of Lombard (Ill.) Mennonite Church, a board member of Chicago Mennonite Learning Center, talk at a March 28 tag sale at the school. — Photo by Celeste Kennel-Shank/MWR
After closing this school year, the Chicago Mennonite Learning Center board has decided to sell its building near Midway Airport while looking at opportunities to continue its mission.
A sale of furniture and other items March 28 turned into a reunion of people involved in the former school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.
“I always felt I was part of a big thing happening in a small school,” said Erika Meyer, who taught at CMLC from 1994 to 2000 and is now a member of First Mennonite Church in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Meyer and Gloria Garza, a board member and parent of three alumni, reminisced at the sale about the stories of children using the conflict resolution skills they learned at CMLC at home and with neighbors.
Garza, a member of Lombard (Ill.) Mennonite Church, is concerned about drug and gang violence and hopes CMLC’s peace mission continues.
“In the Chicagoland area, there is a lot of strife for the youth,” she said. “There continues to be a strong need to help our youth on the right path.”
New directions
During the year it was closed, the board considered several proposals, some of which would have used the building that housed the school, but decided it wouldn’t work to keep the building, said Sueann VonGunten, board chair, from Bristol, Ind.
Comments
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As a past teacher in a Mennonite school, I find the closing of this school highly unusual and disturbing. The decision to close the school can only mean there was failure, low priorities or racism within MC USA. Should not this school be considered a ministry of MC USA? Does MC USA not support the bailout principle of Obama that can only result in success? It seems as if there is adequate money for MCC overseas projects, USA and International convention gatherings, money to travel and fund anti-war protests but not enough money for this school ministry among minorities in Chicago? Should not the Obama principle of spreading the wealth around apply to adequately fund this Chicago ministry school? A quote from the article stuns me: "The location of this (school) is not close enough to a Mennonite Church. Over the years it has been difficult to get the Chicago-area churches to collaborate." Does that mean close proximity to a Mennonite church guaranties success? Well, in 28 years, what happened and when did it happen? Which moved, the school or the churches? If that is a problem, then plant several churches near the school ensuring success. It all comes back to MC USA priorities, and in this case, the minority children in Chicago are near the bottom. It appears as if racism contributed to this closing.
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Amen, Dale! Thanks for having the guts to say what you said. I’d like to comment from another angle. I was a member of the original group which worked long and hard to get CMLC started and a board member for several years thereafter. I cried when I read that the school had been closed, but I was not surprised. Basically, this was a shining example of a bunch of Mennonites who didn’t have a clue about running a lemonade stand, let alone a school, in the City of Chicago. Some of the items in the article are mind-boggling in their naivete: (1) VonGunten said. “Over the years it has been difficult to get the Chicago-area churches to collaborate.” And then we read, “Members from Ohio, Indiana and across Illinois comprise the current board.” I can just imagine the reaction if a school in Goshen was run by black folks from Chicago, Milwaukee and Columbus. (2) “The location of this is not close enough to a Mennonite church.” As a matter of fact, there was a building owned by Illinois Conference, in the area of Grace Mennonite Church, which wasn’t used because certain board members had offended their alderman, the very person they needed to fix a minor zoning problem. When I offered to ask my boss, a Chicago attorney, to handle the change, certain members of the board reacted as if I’d told them I was about to commit the unpardonable sin. (3) “The school had trouble raising enough money for financial aid, which all the students needed.” Once again, here’s that tired old attitude that everyone who’s not white needs our help. If people want their children to have a good education, they will find the money to pay for it. (4) I don’t know who’s keeping the books, but I can’t figure out what’s going on. The school has a $110,000 debt, and several hundred thousand in assets, and it’s running around holding $3700 bake sales and asking for donations to ship books to Arizona and no money for financial aid which “all the students needed?” Have to disagree with you on the racism thing, Dale. Methinks it was just plain stupidity.
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