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First Graders Lead Charge in Celebrating Colonel Parker
Every year on Colonel Francis W. Parker’s birthday, students celebrate our school’s namesake in various ways. Bev “Greenie” Greenberg and students in her 1st grade class decided they wanted to do something special for this year.
When explaining the impetus behind the project, Greenie said, “Knowing that October 9 will mark Colonel Parker’s 187th birthday, I thought of creating a ‘community’ bulletin board that would honor him through LS students.” To that end, she developed a template featuring Colonel Parker’s trademark mustache and the phrase, “This is what I like about Parker,” which she shared with her fellow faculty members.
Students from across the Lower and Intermediate Schools submitted their own likes and together created a board honoring Colonel Parker!
Click here for photos of this board and a special Happy Birthday rendition from the Adult Community Choir.
When pondering about the legacy of Colonel Parker, Greenie had this to share:
Click here for photos of this board and a special Happy Birthday rendition from the Adult Community Choir.
When pondering about the legacy of Colonel Parker, Greenie had this to share:
Every October, the 9th to be exact, attention gets paid to the man who created our school, Francis Wayland Parker. Having served as a member of the Union Army and rising to the position of Lieutenant Colonel, during the American Civil War, he kept his title, but his heart belonged to education. He established a private school called the Chicago Institute, now known as the University of Chicago. He worked to create curriculum that focused on the whole child. Being against standardization, isolated drills, and rote learning, Col. Parker fostered teaching students to think for themselves and become independent people.
In 1901 he opened Francis W. Parker School and had an initial enrollment of 168 students. He founded a second school in San Diego in 1912 and he was honored for his contributions to the field of progressive education when the Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School was founded in Massachusetts in 1995.
While Parker didn’t have a chance to watch FWP grow and blossom (passing away in 1902 at the age of 64), he must know that for 123 years, Chicago’s Francis W. Parker School has flourished. It is filled with generations of people who believe in progressive education. Creative arts gained importance in the curriculum and children were encouraged toward experimentation and independent thinking.
His legacy lives on. He believed that integrating curriculum ignites a lifelong passion for learning which makes school more interesting and meaningful. He gave all of us, something that will last beyond our lifetime and we are better because of him.
His legacy lives on. He believed that integrating curriculum ignites a lifelong passion for learning which makes school more interesting and meaningful. He gave all of us, something that will last beyond our lifetime and we are better because of him.
Happy Birthday Colonel Parker
Francis W. Parker School educates students to think and act with empathy, courage and clarity as responsible citizens and leaders in a diverse democratic society and global community.