Chapter News
Literature Live Speaker: Greg Mortenson
The Brookstone School's Carson McCullers Chapter of NEHS in Columbus, GA, helped host this year's Literature Live speaker, Greg Mortenson, on March 22. Brookstone's Literature Live is an annual undertaking that commits all four campuses, (lower, intermediate, middle, and upper), along with an entire network of schoolwide service organizations (including the Servant Leadership Program, Parents Association, NEHS and others) to a common reader in preparation for the key-note speaker of that season.
In recent years Brookstone's Literature Alive has hosted prize-winning authors such as David McCullough and T.A. Barron. But this year's speaker was a perfect fit for the service aspect of NEHS as well as for current world events. Students across the campus read
Three Cups of Tea, Mortenson's account of his long struggle to raise money and build schools in rural Afghanistan and Pakistan. In addition to helping to organize the various aspects of Mr. Mortenson's visit on campus, NEHS members organized a fundraiser called Pennies for Peace that extended through all campuses. By donating just pocket change and small bills, the Brookstone students and faculty were able to raise enough money to fund a teacher's salary for an entire year at the Central Asian Institute.
Mr. Mortenson spoke to all Brookstone students during several assemblies, where he held the students' rapt attention, while describing the reasons for and process of building the schools. In his presentation he covered many of the details behind his efforts to build over one hundred schools in Central Asia.
His great message to the students was what power they had as individuals to change the world around them. He spoke of why literacy, especially literacy in women, is the secret to peace. Mortenson recited the African proverb: "Educate a boy, and you educate an individual. Educate a girl, and you educate a community." He explained that women tend to stay in their own community after adulthood, whereas men tend to leave the community in order to find adventure or a better life.
Having Greg Mortenson at Brookstone was truly an honor; in the course of a single day, we welcomed him into the Brookstone family. As he says, "three cups of tea: one cup for a stranger, the second cup for a guest, the third cup for family."
Caroline Adams Carson McCullers Chapter, PresidentBrookstone SchoolColumbus, Georgia
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