Who Am I?

The CrossRoads

Throughout life, we often observe or read about examples of individuals confronted with a difficult decision. More often than not, the right/correct decision is quite clear, and can be reached without a lot of consideration or debate - especially when you are looking at the situation from the outside in. However, there are times that what we wish would be a simple choice, becomes a considerable moral dilemma. In these difficult situations, the decisions we make escalate into something much larger because the consequences of our actions or inactions, will dramatically impact the well being of our life, or even the lives of others.

This is why I love the classics (literature). This is why I love the classics being used to foster leadership at John Adams Academy. The classics offer countless examples of individuals coming to a crossroad in life – a crossroad that tests the very foundation of who they are and what kind of character lies beneath what everyone else sees on the surface. To highlight this point, I will draw from two classics that present similar moral dilemma’s, and the outcome of each – ‘The Count of Monte Cristo’ and ‘Les Miserables’.

In the Count of Monte Cristo, we learn of a young lawyer… a rising star among the government elite, the Deputy Procureur – M. de Villefort. This young Procurer finds himself interviewing Edmond Dantes, a young sailor who is framed for something he did not do (being a conspirator and supporter of the ousted dictator Napoleon). As Edmond Dantes pleads his case, it is clear to Villefort that Dantes is not guilty of the crime in which is accused of. To Villefort’s horror however, upon further review of the evidence, he realizes who it is that is actually guilty of the crime – his own father. As such, Villefort comes to a crossroad and the decision is clear as to not only the correct legal path to take, but the morally correct path as well. Thus, in the effort to preserve his fathers safety, and more likely his own name and ability to maintain his promising career, Villefort conceals the evidence against his father and allows Edmond Dantes to spend the rest of his days in a gruesome prison for a crime he did not commit.

The second example is that of Jean Valjean from the novel and popular musical Les Miserables. Valjean spent many years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister and nephew. Miraculously, through the grace of Priest, Valjean finds a new life and becomes a prominent Mayor and owner of a company.  However, his past is brought before him as another man is being tried and accused under the name of none other than Jean Valjean. The dilemma is clear and like Villefort, there is much at stake. The people Valjean leads, the factory he runs and the workers he provides jobs to, and perhaps most obvious, his own name and ability to live life in comfort and peace stand in jeopardy. His agony is summed up with words from the song, “Who Am I”:

They think that man is me!

Without a second glance!

That stranger he has found

This man could be my chance

Why should I save his hide?

Why should I right this wrong?

When I have come so far

And struggled for so long?

I am the master of hundreds of workers,

They all look to me

Can I abandon them, how can they live if I am not free?

If I speak, they are condemned...

If I stay silent, I am damned!

For those of you who know both of the stories, Villefort chooses to avoid the virtuous path of protecting the innocent, and Jean Valjean stands forth and sacrifices everything to preserve the life of an innocent man – and lives the next years of his life full of trial and hardship.  In the end however, justice is served as Villefort loses everything he once thought to preserve by condemning an innocent man - including his sanity. Valjean however, knowing that he chose a virtuous path, sees happiness in his final days and lives knowing that he preserved his honor and kept his promise to God,.

We will all have a crossroad of some kind in our lives - perhaps not quite the same magnitude of Valjean and Villefort, but more likely a series of many small moral dilemmas. It will however, be how we respond to these more trivial events that will determine our character and define who we are.

Perhaps we will relive the words of John Valjean as trumpeted in the musical.

Who am I?

Can I condemn this man to slavery?

Pretend I do not feel his agony

This innocent who wears my face

Who goes to judgment in my place

Who am I?

Can I conceal myself for evermore?

Pretend I'm not the man I was before?

And must my name until I die

Be no more than an alibi?

Must I lie?

How can I ever face my fellow men?

How can I ever face myself again?

My soul belongs to God, I know

I made that bargain long ago

He gave me hope, when hope was gone

He gave me strength to journey on

Who am I?

I am Jean Valjean!

As we study the classics within John Adams Academy, individually (“You First”), and most importantly in our homes with our children - our understanding of what constitutes virtue will expand and a strong moral character will be solidified. It is my hope that we can draw from these valuable lessons/stories when we arrive at the difficult crossroads life will undoubtedly present us. At these critical moments we can ask ourselves, “Who Am I”? Ideally, the answer will be a virtuous person that leaves a legacy of greatness for others to follow.

Special Guest Blogger:

Bryan Favero

John Adams Academy Board Member

Emphasis on Mentors and Classics-Core Value #3

Dear JAA Families, Scholars, Teachers and Mentors,

Scholars in the Architecture mentor class this quarter have learned the functional, aesthetic, cultural and historical values of the columns in Greek and Roman architecture.  Likewise, the columns of the John Adams Academy classical education, classics and mentorship, provide academic functionality, aesthetics, cultural and historical value in the lives of our scholars, families and our communities.  

Ornate capitals are a crucial element completing the majestic Greek columns. The crowning capital of the John Adams Academy column, mentoring, is the service learning component. Service-learning connects curriculum with real world experiences in ways that help scholars find the value in their education thereby firing the love of learning. 

The objective of service-learning is to evaluate problems and then design service projects to address needs.  The scholars may generate ideas and plans for a service project while the teacher/mentor find ways to link the service projects with the curriculum. 

Some results of service-learning include higher test scores, confidence to confront challenges, engaging marginalized scholars and acquiring or sharpening skills for character development. When the service-learning component is properly applied the results can be as inspiring as the columns surrounding a Greek temple. Our scholars are the majestic societal columns as they become great thinkers, inspiring leaders and virtuous statesmen having been founded upon the John Adams Academy classical education of classics and mentorship.

To see how service-learning is applied successfully in an education setting I refer you to this article, below, of a school in Utah that implements service-learning in their curriculum.

For the full article please follow this link.

Kind Regards,

Gabriel Hydrick

Director of Mentoring

John Adams Academy

Sacrifice and the Liberating Influence of Education

I recently returned from 4 days at Valley Forge with 5 of our scholars from John Adams Academy. The last day there we visited a monument in the park that has this inscription by Henry Armitt Brown:

"And here in this place of sacrifice and in this vale of humiliation, in this valley of the shadow of that death out of which the life of America rose, regenerate and free, let us believe with an abiding faith that to them union will seem as dear and liberty as sweet and progress as glorious as they were to our fathers and are to you and me. And that the institutions that have made us happy, preserved by our children shall bless the remotest generation of the time to come."  

Valley Forge was a defining moment for the Continental Army in the winter of 1777. It was there that sacrifice produced the fighting force that would change the world forever.

I reflected at a recent board meeting on sacrifice and the liberating influence of education.  I spoke frankly with those in attendance and these are a few thoughts I conveyed. To a large extent we may be in a self-imposed prison academically, emotionally, economically, socially, spiritually or otherwise as a product of our own childhood and education. Learning is the key that will liberate us from the chains of a limited future for ourselves and our children. A classical leadership education such as what Thomas Jefferson received  requires a change of lifestyle (he studied 12-14 hours a day as a teen scholar), change of who you are and who your family wants to become. 

It took several years for me to begin understanding this and I am still learning. It is akin to “coming out of the cave” as related by Plato. Most people, including ourselves, live in a world of relative ignorance.  We are even comfortable with that ignorance (our cave), because it is all we know.  When we first start facing truth, the process may be frightening, and many people run back to their old lives. (As a few parents have felt after looking at JAA but enrolling their children in a traditional school because JAA looks scary.)  But, if you continue to seek learning, you will eventually be able to handle it better.  In fact, you want more!  Once you’ve tasted knowledge and truth, you won’t ever want to go back to being ignorant.

It is important to note that we have taken what is a classical individual education and have tailored it into a public institutional format to benefit all. We realized that families desire the private education as Jefferson had with George Wythe, yet few can afford such in a private school setting. It is a family change requiring engagement by everyone. Our days are a bit longer and half day Fridays require our scholars to be on task. 

When we say America is in decline it is because. generally speaking, Americans are inherently lazier and more distracted than previous generations. It is the repetition with our children and the things that we do and at dinner or when we gather around the table, and talk about great ideas that will bring us “out of the cave”. This type of education is a family lifestyle choice. It is a decision that elevates education above other choices or demands for our time. If we want greatness that is the price we must all pay. 

So, in the words of Dr. DeMille: “How does a generation that was never educated in the classics give the new generation an education in the classics?” We have to model the change and start with ourselves before we will have the capacity to draw from our wells to sustain and inspire and give to our children. If you want to help your children with their homework, get in the classics. 

As we come to the close of this academic year we should reflect and ask ourselves, “How have I changed, and how have my children or family changed as a result of our educational choices?”

Dean Forman, Ph.D., CFP, CEBS

Founder

John Adams Academy