Brooklyn Free School

Finding other parents who have a similar lifestyle to ourselves is a blessing – and in this we’ve found Henry. I actually met him in jail, when we were both busted for trying to provide legal support to high school students protesting against the Organization of American States in Windsor Ontario in 2000. He’s an amazing, high energy radical goofball, father to a seven year old known girl Lou. He works as a caretaker at the Brooklyn Free School in exchange for rent. I knew we were in luck when after running into him he simply said – ‘hey, I can look after Sidney and let you go out and you can look after my kid.’ Golden deal. But sometimes instead of going out separately, he hires babysitters and we all go out together. Last week he hired a sitter and I joined his crew to go and see an amazing cabaret show in Red Hook, with an ensemble featuring a classically trained Armenian singer squeezing our emotions out, followed by folk guitarist and then a brass band that I wasn’t paying that much attention to. I returned to relieve the babysitter about midnight and stayed over with the kids – awaking to the chaos of a free school. FYI a freeschool is a place where there are no classes as such, only teachers available for the students who want to take advantage of them. The idea is that when students are ready to learn, they will. Philosophically I agree. But I don’t think it “works” for everyone.  It can be loud. It can involve rollerblading indoors. It’s fun and challenging (but inspiring) to me. Still, I don’t see myself sending Sidney to one.