I’m going to Bishop Maginn High School two days in a row, tomorrow and Thursday. Tomorrow, I’m meeting with a young Karen refugee boy (Myanmar) who transferred into Bishop Maginn this week because of bullying and harassment in the high school he was attending.
He and his family were driven out of their homes and now must contend with another country that has become increasingly cruel to refugees.
His friends told he needed to learn how to fight to survive, but he is said to be a gentle soul, he didn’t want to learn how to fight, he wanted to learn how to learn.
So his parents brought him to Bishop Maginn, whose reputation as a safe and supportive place to learn is spreading throughout a frightened and sometimes desperate refugee community.
The refugee parents came her mostly to give their children better and safer lives. Bishop Maginn is becoming that place. That is the mission of the school.
Bishop Maginn took this young man in; he had nowhere else to go. He is already taking classes. His family has little or no money for tuition; I hope to talk with this young man, take his picture, share his story.
Perhaps we can help.
On Thursday, I’m returning to Bishop Maginn to see Judi Merriam begin organizing and rehearsing the new choir, which she will be conducting. Judi, who has worked with choirs all her life, has volunteered to lead the Bishop Maginn choir for free. I hope to hear some singing.
I’m also meeting with school officials to talk about the details of my Writing Workshop, scheduled to begin in October. That is exciting for me, a way to put my writing to good use. I’m thinking of giving the class essays by Joan Didion, reporting by Hunter Thompson, a novel by John Green, and my own collection of short stories.
Mostly, we’ll just write and share.
Bishop Maginn is not a wealthy private school; there is no large endowment, no wealthy and connected parents group to raise money, no scores of course offerings. The tuition at Bishop Maginn ranges from $4,000 to $6,000 (not many pay students pay that), and they had been cutting back for some years until recently.
The average private school tuition in the Albany area ranges from $35,000 to $40,000 a year.
The school is in perpetual danger as the Catholic Church closes schools all over the country in the face of the many lawsuits against them for abuse and sexual harassment. But this school has a special mission – to help the needy and the vulnerable. That matters.
None of these charges involve Bishop Maginn. Everyone is hoping for the best, especially as the school is experiencing an exciting renaissance.
For the first time in some years, the school is gaining enrollment rapidly.
Almost every graduating student at Bishop Maginn goes to college, many on scholarship, and nearly all graduate college. A principal at a public school told me the Bishop Maginn teaching staff was heroic: “they’ve done more with less than any school I know of. They’ve created a safe place, a refuge for the kids who need them the most. And they send everybody who wants to go to college.”
If you talk to the students, past, and present, those are the words you hear again and again: safe, supportive, kind. Sounds like a great school to me. The students tell me in safety; there is learning.
It feels to me as if the Army Of Good has adopted this high school; we have already transformed it. This is a beautiful thing we have done, a miracle, one teacher called it. We funded a computer lab, a science lab, supported a new choir, helped a teacher/father bury his son, bought security and safety kits, bought Ipads for each teacher.
ng we can help eight more to stay over the next year.
The photo above is Melak, a gifted 16-year-old refugee from both Iraq and Syria. She has seen and known a lifetime of horror and bombs and killings and bloodshed.
We are raising money to help with her tuition – her family has no money – and the contributions are tax-deductible: Mike Tolan, Principal, Bishop Maginn High School, 75 Park Avenue, Albany, N.Y., 12202. Please mark any checks “Tuition.” Any amount will help. The school does not throw out students who can’t pay the full amount.
What makes a great school, I wonder? I am no academic, but a safe and loving place to learn and make friends and move forward to college sounds pretty great to me. And somewhat rare.
All contributions go directly into the school’s tuition fund; I have no idea how much money is coming into the school, or if any is. I hope to hear something about that this week. Melak deserves to stay in this school; she is entitled to two years of safety and learning. Thanks for helping.