Will Smith’s Stepping Stone To Becoming Scientologist, Opens New Scientology Elementary School
Will Smith is a philanthropist at heart. As one of the most successful actors in Hollywood, he and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, often donate sums of their wealth to what they consider worthy causes, including political campaigns and charities which help underprivileged youth. So news of Smith donating and helping found a new school dedicated to teaching children the fundamental building blocks of learning is hardly something shocking.
What is shocking is what we find at the New Village Academy. Scientology. And A LOT of it. Here’s a description of the school from NVA’s website:
New Village Academy is a Pre-kindergarten through Grade 6 (in 2008) independent school scheduled to open in Fall, 2008. Currently a home school, we are thrilled to announce that we have just secured a new site for our school! The site will be in Calabasas, California. NVA will be fully operational in the fall (September 3 is the first day of school) after we spend the summer moving in and making campus improvements. We are now accepting applications. Please contact the Head of School at NVA with questions about the school, our philosophy, mission and goals.
Not only will New Village Academy be employing “study tech” straight out of the teachings of science fiction writer and Church of Scientology found L. Ron Hubbard, but the Academy is also employing Scientologists to teach the children these unique forms of “study tech.” From NVA’s site on their curriculum terminology:
Study Technology - An educational model developed by L.R. Hubbard, study technology focuses on three principles. First is the use of “mass” (manipulatives and hands-on experiences) to foster understanding – children need to see and feel what they are learning about. Second is the attention to the “gradient,” which ensures sure students master one level before moving on to the next. Third is the “misunderstood word,” in which students master word definitions and are taught not to read past words they don’t know the meanings of in order to understand completely what they are reading and learning. NVA uses study technology as an umbrella methodology woven through the subjects.
Before I get into the specifics of the New Village Academy and their links to Will Smith, I want to point something out. Unlike much of Scientology and its otherwise cult-like activities, I’ve heard some relatively positive things about LRH’s “study tech” and “Applied Scholastics” programs. I recently spoke with two ex-Scientologists who used the tech and were taught in Scientology schools and while they had very little positive to say about the abuses of the Church and especially those who are stuck in the Sea Org (the most devout sect within Scientology) they did state the “tech” can help struggling students learn.
Essentially, the same technique used to brainwash members of the cult into turning their lives over Scientology, works wonders for helping children who have barriers to learning. Through the use of repetition and breaking down difficult subjects or words even, into their smaller parts, this allows children to understand concepts little by little, when it might be otherwise overwhelming to those with either learning disabilities, like say dyslexia (like Tom Cruise claimed to have before being cured by LRH tech) or specific mental block to a certain subject.
On the surface, this sounds innocuous enough. Much of tutoring and teaching is built around breaking down broader concepts into smaller parts, and certainly much of how we learn is through repetition. My issue isn’t with the “tech” but rather how it is applied and by whom.
Celebitchy, who did much of the legwork into this story, outlines the number of Scientology-ties linked to the school, and how Will Smith’s involvement is being somewhat hidden. The original story broke in the National Enquirer and now we have new information.
I was contacted by a member of the “Old Guard” in the anti-Scientology movement to look into this school more thoroughly and ask some specific questions. So, I did. I called the New Village Academy at their listed number on their website and identified who I was. A nice young woman named Keisha called me back and asked me to get in touch with their publicist, which just so happens to be Pat Kingsley.
Pat Kingsley should ring a bell as she was Tom Cruise’s publicist and is now Will Smith’s publicist. A small world indeed. Not sure why children’s school needs with a publicist, especially the most powerful publicist in the Hollywood, but if any doubts remained about Will Smith’s involvement in the NVA, this should remove them for you.
While I await word back from Ms. Kingsley’s office regarding some of the tech used at the Academy, my concern remains heightened as to why Will Smith, who consistently denies being a Scientologist, would then found a new “independent” school which has curriculum designed specifically around the “study tech” set forth by L. Ron Hubbard? And why the need to employ Scientology teachers (from Celebitchy article)?
Five out of seventeen teachers are easily identified as Scientologists:
Director of Learning: Tasia Jones
Education Enrichment Program Supervisor: Andrea Beckham
Director of Qualifications: Sigrid Burgett
Artistic director: Sisu Raiken
Teacher: Marcia Perkins
Teacher: James Oliver
Do these Scientology teachers have teaching accreditations? Is the school itself accredited to teach children? Will the tech be perverted into a subversive effort to direct its children and their parents to convert to Scientology? Will an e-meter be used as a learning accelerator? Will NVA be using word clearing methods 3, 7, and 9? Will students be taught how to assign a condition and apply appropriate ethics? Will they use clay table demos?
These are all questions I have for the NVA, I mean Keisha, I mean Pat Kingsley. I mean Will Smith.
Will, are you and Jada going to come forward and admit your are closet Scientologists who already are using LRH’s study tech at home? How long until you start “Sec Checking” your own kids to find out if they are a PTSP, or “out ethics”? Hmm…Will, because inquiring minds want to know before we spend another dime on one of your movies which you will then turn around and donate to some Scientology-run “school” which brainwashes kids into disconnecting from their families.
http://glosslip.com/2008/05/21/will-smiths...mentary-school/
It is kinda sad hes been reduced to that dance..because he really is a great actor