The Outstanding Ohioans Show, Episode 41-Interview with Anastasia Congdon & Margaret Lewis, Founders of Kokosing Valley School

In Episode 41, I had the privilege of interviewing Anastasia Congdon & Margaret Lewis, Founders of Kokosing Valley School in Gambier, Ohio (Knox County).

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The Kokosing Valley School is based on the Sudbury School Model founded in 1968.  It is a model based on freedom, self-paced learning, mixed peer ages, play, interest exploration, and democratic processes.

It is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wreck and ruin without fail.

-Albert Einstein

Here are some of the highlights from our conversation:

Anastasia and Margaret's backgrounds prior to founding the school in 2015
How each person came across the Sudbury model
The tipping point for taking action for their children, and why they felt the Sudbury model was the best fit
The inspirational, massive action they took to create the school within 7 months
are they impacted by the school establishment of the state
how the beautiful property contributes to the experience of the students
the what a day looks like for the school children
the parental support needed to make it successful
the benefits the children receive from the Sudbury model, including the value of mixed ages all together
historical outcomes of students that have gone through this model
their vision for the future and legacy they hope to leave behind

Some resources to learn more about the Sudbury school model or mentioned in the interview:

Research articles and videos
Free At Last:  The Sudbury Valley School book by Daniel Greenberg
Starting A Sudbury School:  A Summary of the Experiences of Fifteen Start Ups by Daniel Greenberg
Free to Learn by Peter Gray
Creative Schools:  The Grassroots Revolution that is Transforming Education by Sir Ken Robinson

To contact the school, you may do the following:

website
Facebook page
Email at [email protected]
Phone at (740) 427-2037

Thank you for listening.