I received the following as a member of another semi-public email list. I have erased the writers as I do not have their explicit consent to post these public. I think there is enough anonymity in the accounts.

Enclosed are two eyewitness accounts...long but interesting, about the protest at Senn HS against the proposed military HS.
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I went to the Community Forum at Senn High School last night, at which the prposed Naval Academy was to be discussed. The school, for those who haven't visited it, is massive and architecturally unique--one of those lovely old Chicago schools surrounded by lawns and trees, in the middle of an Edgewater neighborhood. Parked out front I noticed a Channel 2 TV van. Inside, the halls were lined with artwork and "science-fair" style displays highlighting aspects of the school and its students--awards won, special programs, great achievements. It was impressive. Even more impressive, though, was the turn- out. The halls were flowing with people moving to the auditorium, where the Forum was to be held. I arrived at about 6:45, just in time to sign in and pick up literature, including a copy of the Senn-Times, that featured a story with this headline--"I was in boot camp prison: Misunderstanding sends Senn grad to Army"--and a sheet listing the "Birthplaces of Our Students (over 70 countries). A preponderance of sectarian groups hung around the entrance to the room (and to the school outside), passing out leaflets and trying to sell papers, and were everywhere in the auditorium as well (for example, Spartacists, and the International Socialist Organization). But the real action was already underway in the auditorium, where students and families nearly filled the seats; there were hundreds in attendance. On a large screen a video flickered, while a cacophony of sounds crackled through the room. Kids were marching with hand-made signs--Save Senn! Keep the military out of our school! Don't suffocate us! At the front of the room a group was talking through a loudspeaker, rotating languages--Spanish, Arabic, English, and more. They were translating the speakers in seven languages for the audience of parents, students, and community members. All of a sudden, the CPS and military folks trying to show the video, which was supposed to highlight the many features of the planned Navy Academy, turned off the tape and marched out of the room as the audience hissed and booed. What I had missed, I found out later, was the audience standing and turning their backs on the video.

A line-up of speakers were called to the mic. The sound-system was awful; it was hard to make out words amidst the static. But spirits were high, and I caught some of what people said. A theme that was expressed several times was the wrongness of foisting a military school on a community of low income "minority" kids, and that CPS shouldn't be in the business of recruiting for the military. Students continued to march; some teachers spoke. Sitting near me was a woman who grew exasperated. She grabbed her child and started to leave, saying, "This was supposed to be for the community, but they aren't taking questions or listening to anyone." But overall the room felt energized, like there was momentum and excitement and the will to stick with the task of opposing the planned Navy Academy. A friend sitting near the front of the room told me that all of those who had fled earlier later slowly trickled back into the room and sat near the speakers taking notes, including who she called "the military arm of the CPS."

I left at 8:00 and things were still going strong. I'd love to hear from anyone who stayed later, about what happened at the end.


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Last night B____ and I attended the community meeting at Senn High School regarding the possibility of a naval academy being set up in the south wing of the school. I share with you a few thoughts which I was prepared to share at the meeting and our experience of the meeting.
Our Edgewater neighborhood and Senn High School are incredibly ethnically and culturally diverse. Presently 746 students were born outside the USA, 57 different languages are spoken in the school, and 1111, students, or 64.6% of the student body, speak a language other than English as their home language. (A previous email by a parishioner highlighted a few of Senn's recent accomplishments.) Many of Senn's students and their families have fled from countries where the military represents oppression and violence. Those who favor military academies say that they provide structure, discipline and higher expectations which some teens need in order to do well in school? Do some kids need more structure and discipline in their education? Yes. Do they need to focus, do well, learn and graduate? Of course. Does that mean then that we call in the military to solve these problems? What does that teach our children and say to our neighbors from around the world about how we solve problems? Why can we not impose the needed structure, discipline and expectations without bringing in the military? Why not set a precedent for out city, our nation and our present federal administration and establish a serious peace academy where children, parents and neighbors together can learn and practice the great discipline of non-violence? Where people are trained to be peace ambassadors, mediators and negotiators of every kind of conflict? Where the best in conflict resolution of all that has been offered in various school throughout the city is brought together in one center, one academy of peace? This idea is not novel. What may be lacking is the communal will and resolve.

The following is our experience of the meeting. On entering the auditorium, we felt the energy of the large crowd of both students and neighbors who were present. Many students holding signs indicating their opposition to the CPS plan were scattered about the auditorium. Alderwoman Mary Ann Smith said something about the nature of the meeting and then introduced David Pickens, Deputy to the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, who eventually introduced Colonel Rick Mills, the CEO-type of the Chicago military schools (presently three), who attempted to show a promotional video of the Naval JROTC program. Any time any of the speakers tried to speak either of their intent to give information about the program or of the plan to set up the school much verbal resistance was expressed by people in the crowd. The volume of the crowd combined with the poor sound system made hearing the message quite difficult. Initially, both Brenda and I as well as one of the principals felt a little uncomfortable by the crowd not allowing the speakers to speak. We felt the audience should at least give them a chance to speak in order for us to then respond. One of the principals, the only one who had any success at quieting the crowd, requested that the students be respectful and give the speakers the chance to explain the proposal. After the Deputy to the CEO gave up and handed the microphone to the Colonel who introduced the promotional video, the vocal disapproval grew louder and the crowd little by little all turned their backs to the Colonel. Finally the crowd cheered as the Colonel, his assistant and the Deputy left the auditorium.

After being there a short while, we too joined in the resistance, especially as I began to see the crowd's response in another light. As someone near us said, "What a great education these kids are getting in democracy!" and a great lesson in civil disobedience, I later thought. After the speakers left, a teacher expressed from the microphone what many were feeling from the start of the meeting, that the community had been left out of the discussion and needed to be heard. Then, one-by-one, students, parents, teachers and neighbors approached the microphone and shared their reflections. Though it was still hard to hear, the opposition to the proposal was quite clear.

It would be great to think that because of this one event the Chicago Board of Education will scrap the plan and look elsewhere but I doubt they will give up that easily. The resistance will need to continue and even grow and more people in the community who are opposed will need to let Mary Ann Smith (784-5277), Arne Duncan, CEO of CPS (553-1550) and Mayor Daley (312-744-3300) know of their opposition. If you want to know more about the status of the CPS proposal, go to Senn High School's website against the plan at www.savesenn.org. They are having regular meetings too.