Dr. John Alston speaks about the Chester Charter School for the Arts

I was invited to bring the Chester Blog to the Chester Charter School for the Arts for a tour and interview with Dr. John Alston. 

The tour was incredibly quiet with overwhelming silence in the halls and the classrooms. There was order and learning going on everywhere I walked throughout the K-7 school building.

Dr. John Alston - Founder/President of the Chester Children's Chorus and The Chester Fund

Dr. John Alston, Founder/President of the Chester Children's Chorus and The Chester Fund and calls himself the head cheerleader for the Chester Charter School for the Arts (CCSA).

            

Twenty years ago, John Alston had a fantasy to start a boys chorus in Chester. He started with 7 boys and now has up to 150 children (boys and girls) singing with the Chester Children’s Chorus. 

The children often surprise their audience with their repertoire of classical, spiritual, and pop songs. Alston realizes that one of the burdens of every minority child is that they’ve got to become fluent at their own culture and that of the majority if we want them to be successful. It’s not fair, but it’s not going to change for a thousand years.  

Alston says, “As choir members, they get to stand up before people and be applauded and recognized for their excellence and be told they are wonderful hundreds of thousands of times. 

Singing gives that momentary endorphin rush like you get while running. It provides a gorgeous sense of community and a feeling of safety. It’s the same feeling you get from going to the same church for so many years seeing the same people. You just feel like everything is going to be ok. When we’re together and we’re laughing, we are repairing a little bit of their souls. It takes our minds off of the trauma surrounding deep poverty we see all around us. 

If the kids can learn Mozart, why can’t we build schools, institutions that embrace what our children love, and do it compassionately with rigorous reading, learning, thinking and computing just like the kids in the more affluent school districts receive? 

"I know it is possible for our children to learn, be loved and to feel safe. They are all wired for excellence. With the right circumstances, they will flourish. They will grow up to be wonderful extraordinary human beings. 

Is singing and practicing music going to make our kids smarter? Probably not. Not unless it’s integrated with something else. We are not going to sing, play, and dance our way out of what it took generations to create in Chester. This is not a Disney movie and it doesn’t have a happy ending in an hour and 45 mins."

"Art creates resiliency and gives children the opportunity to experience powerful moments of creation. It feeds our soul. It brings us closer to God. Art is a way that God and humanity have talked to each other throughout history. Our children are touched by art like the masters. It gives them the courage and resiliency to dig into the stuff that frustrates them."

"I don’t wake up wanting to destroy public schools. There are many many children in this district that if under the right circumstances could be learning a whole lot more. The goal is only to provide an excellent education for children. Ultimately, what does it matter where a child goes to school as long as they are learning to read, do math, and study well? 

Parents of 373 children choose CCSA. There are 7000 children going to school in the district. My job is the raise money to educate as many of them as I can. Right now, I’m good for 373. That actually makes me sad. I’m proud of my accomplishments for 10 minutes a day but the rest of the time I’m banging my head trying to replicate this education process in a compassionate manner. 

If anyone has a better solution than this one, we can sit down in a heartbeat."

"One day we will educate enough children that they will return to their community and repair it. They’ll be able to defend themselves in their community. People will no longer take advantage of them. If we have enough powerful young adults in this community, highly educated, who can negotiate the political and economic system, then Chester becomes a beautiful place."

"This school cost less to operate than a public school. It’s not perfect, but it’s very good right now. In the next 2 to 4 years it will be excellent, and the next 10 years folks from other communities will want to send their children to Chester. 

Through the example we set at this school, people will know that Chester does more than process garbage, hold the state’s inmates, allow people to lose a few dollars at the casino. We are more than the murders; more than our great basketball team; more than a place to clean waste water."

"I wish more people from outside the community with resources would come and take a look at what we’re doing here at Chester Charter School for the Arts. These children are such an obvious and easy investment. We can easily replicate this with the right support.”

Akosua Watts - Principal/CEO

To request a presentation from Dr. Alston, learn more, or to partner with them, contact:

Carol A. Hill, Senior VP of Development

chill@thechesterfund.org

610.859.2988

www.thechesterfund.org