SKOLE (SKOLE ),

the Journal of Alternative Education

by long-time subscriber John Potter, poetic founder

and director of the New School of Northern Virginia

 

 

SKOLE feels like a friend to me.

It arrives in the mail

I pick it up

and always hold it in my hand

and look at it.

I usually don't open it,

but

just as the magpie stores those things

of great value

in a special place

I will put it in that place... but later.

First, it must just hang around the dining room table

so I can see that it has arrived

this product of devotion

to freedom and to kids everywhere.

I walk through the kitchen

and glance at it.

It is very good that this is in my house

it affects the way I feel.

You see, I know that it has distilled

authenticity,

heartfelt opinions from well meaning people,

generosity of spirit

and a purity I can't quite describe

between the covers.

It is bound with optimism, hope and love.

These qualities just radiate from it

as it sits on the table.

 

Such is SKOLE for me.

I have opened it

and read it from cover to cover

Otherwise I would not be able to say the things I have.

But never have I found a journal

filled with writing, as all journals are,

which says more to me through its mere presence in my house

than it does through the words it contains.

 

Things come and go

and I am very, very sad that

there will not be new editions to grace my house

But,

the old ones feel like new.

 

SKOLE started its quarterly publication in the fall of 1985 as a vehicle for the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools, and when it proved too individualistic to be accepted any longer as their own publication, it became a general resource for alternative educational writers both adult and child. It finally has come to a full stop with a double issue for Fall, '97-Winter, '98, which you may order (or any of the back issues) by clicking here. There is also a complete index of articles, reviews, interviews, school profiles et al, which you may scan by clicking here.