A Zen approach to education

 

As students load up their backpacks and prepare for another busy school year, a handful of teens are looking forward to a stress-free semester.

At Tinicum Art & Science, high school students are learning to focus their minds, erase life’s anxieties and tap into their creativity before classroom instruction can begin.

 

All classes and activities at the private, religious school are centered around the dojo, a room for meditation and martial arts that contains a shrine to Buddha.

Students begin each school day in silence as they sit in quiet reflection in the dojo, preparing themselves for a day of rigorous academics.

“The main purpose of the school is academics. But so much gets in the way of studying: sour relationships, fear, bad habits, confusing home life, weak skill set, and so on. We try to create the conditions that allow students to take risks and move beyond all that,” said principal Peter Ryan.

Throughout their weekly schedule, students are called to spend time in meditation, group therapy, art, chores and exercise, such as yoga and Shim Gum Do martial arts.

Meditation is an essential key; teachers and staff aim to improve the mind, body and soul of each student, said Ryan.

 

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