Will Smith opens Scientology School

[Jazzy Julie]

Interesting video..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iy0HMrRcYs

That video is so funny, that guy is crazy. Anyway im gonna go and have a smoke, i dont fancy having lung cancer.

[JumpinJack AJ]

R u serious? R u saying that the web isn't always a legit and factual news source? :mygod:

[Ale]

R u serious? R u saying that the web isn't always a legit and factual news source? :mygod:

What I'm saying is that we don't know the reasons why he wants to use "study tech" in his school. I'm sure it has nothing to do with what people and media are saying, there must be a good explanation behind it. That's all.

[Sandy]

I've been thinkin about this and I believe I know why Will wants his kids to study tech lol. For example, someone can be not a crhistian(or any other religion) but thinks is good for his kids to learn the history and the good values of that religion. Knowledge is good.

who knows, maybe Will is a scientologist after all and we're here trying to give silly explanations!!lol But in this case I think that 'study tech' is a good thing, it helps to understand better what u learn. (i'm going to start college exams in june and like the 90% of students I'll memorize everyting and after the exams I'll forget most of what I studied and I really hate that).

Edited May 21, 2008 by Sandy

[VIsqo]

Tell me about it. Im in a new Hospital now rotating, and sometimes they ask me lots of things about endocrinology that I know I studied once, but I forgot about them facts because I only memorized them to pass the exam, not thinking that someday with those things I could save a life or two... Thats the problem with this sort of studing technique and thats why I dont inmediately condem study tech.

[Hero1]

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/

[VIsqo]

......and this source is glosslip.com.... and the last paragraph kills the whole article...

[Sandy]

Tell me about it. Im in a new Hospital now rotating, and sometimes they ask me lots of things about endocrinology that I know I studied once, but I forgot about them facts because I only memorized them to pass the exam, not thinking that someday with those things I could save a life or two... Thats the problem with this sort of studing technique and thats why I dont inmediately condem study tech.

That's what is happening to me. I've studied so many diagnostics just to pass the exams that right now I couldn't tell u what are all the points of a simple depression. Poor future patients of mine lol

[Jazzy Julie]

At first i was worried about this tech stuff but im starting to take a liking to it. If Will is studying all religions and he came across something that is good for learning then thats a great thing, it just happens to be scientology.

[Typhoon20]

What I don't understand and find a bit silly is that study tech is part of Scientology. It's like you re-invent something that already exists and slap it a new name. That's just called practical study and should've nothing to do with Scientology. And to be honest I really really like that idea and I think that's what's wrong with schools. Kids learn everything from the books but usually that's not really helpful and is a huge waste of time, but learning it from a real environment just makes you understand things so much better.

[JumpinJack AJ]

By the way, i waz being sarcastic here. I'm totally with u on this.

R u serious? R u saying that the web isn't always a legit and factual news source? :mygod:

What I'm saying is that we don't know the reasons why he wants to use "study tech" in his school. I'm sure it has nothing to do with what people and media are saying, there must be a good explanation behind it. That's all.

[VIsqo]

lol

[MissAshley]

now foxnews is jumping on the bandwagon, oh joy. this should be interesting.

seriously, who's bright idea was this? Is Will tired of being liked by people?

They have the right to educate their kids however they feel is best for them, but they had to know ANY scientology affiliation was gonna have a negative effect. I'm wondering how/if he's gonna respond to all this stuff. I can only cross my fingers and hope he's being blackmailed or something. This is like waiting and watching a trainwreck :sipread:

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Will Smith Funds Private Scientology School

Hollywood power couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith have won critical acclaim for pumping nearly $1 million of their own money into a new private school that will offer organic meals, laptops for every student and an environment of learning based on "equity" and "respect" to create "citizens of the world."

Here's what the parents of the school's pupils aren't being told:

The New Village Academy plans to use some teaching methods developed within the Church of Scientology and has hired a team of Scientologists to put them into action.

Pinkett-Smith, who currently home-schools the couple's two children, has long been talking about opening up a school where Jaden, 9, and Willow, 7, can continue to receive an education in line with their beliefs, friends told FOXNews.com.

So she and her actor husband are bankrolling the pre-kindergarten through sixth grade school in Calabasas, Calif., and they have selected a group of Scientologists, including the Director of Learning, Director of Qualifications and Artistic Director, to create that atmosphere.

But you won't find references to the Church of Scientology on NVA's Web site.

Ron Reynolds, executive director of the California Association of Private School Organizations, a consortium of the state's private and religious schools, said it's not the actual teaching of Scientology methods that raises a red flag for him. His concern is the school's non-disclosure about its apparent religious affiliation.

"School should be forthright about its purposes. And if it's a religious school, I don't see why it wouldn't wish to announce its religious affiliation loud and clear," Reynolds said.

While the Church of Scientology is never mentioned explicitly, some of its teaching methods and terms are not hard to find on the site.

Under the glossary of educational theories, it lists "study technology," an "educational model developed by L.R. Hubbard." That's L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology.

"tudy technology focuses on three principles," the curriculum reads. "First is the use of 'mass' to foster understanding — children need to see and feel what they are learning about," reads the posting.

Scientology supporters say study technology can be beneficial because it is individualized and helps students overcome things they don't understand by building one idea upon another. But critics say its concepts can be overly simplistic and brainwashes students with its covert religious instruction.

The site uses other Scientology terms, such as "spiraling" and "gradient," to describe how students master a level of learning before moving on to the next.

Scientology already runs its own semi-official network of schools called Delphi schools, which employ Scientologists and use teaching techniques like study tech — just like NVA.

While there has been much speculation about the couple's ties to Scientology, Smith has never publicly said he is a Scientologist.

Last month, Smith was quoted as saying, “I am a Christian. I am a student of all religions. And I respect all people and all paths.”

In December, interviewed on "Access Hollywood," Smith said of his Scientology connection: “I was introduced [to] it by Tom [Cruise], and I’m a student of world religion. I was raised in a Baptist household, I went to a Catholic school, but the ideas of the Bible are 98 percent the same ideas of Scientology, 98 percent the same ideas of Hinduism and Buddhism.”

In 2004 the couple donated $20,000 to the Hollywood Education and Literacy Program (HELP), the basis for Scientology’s home-schooling system.

Click here to read the FOX411 on Will Smith's contribution.

There was never any mention of faculty members’ Scientology backgrounds on the school’s Web site. As if underscoring its secretive nature, the school's faculty member page on its Web site was suddenly taken down last week — but FOXNews.com learned at least three staff members have ties to Scientology.

Tasia Jones, NVA’s director of learning, graduated from the Scientologist Delphi School in Milton, Mass., according to her MySpace profile.

She was previously the Boston director of HELP, the same Scientology group to which Smith donated $20,000 in 2004, according to media reports.

On her Scientology Online blog Jones wrote, “I am currently teaching in a small private school. I have inspirations in the arts, particularly movies/films.”

On a page entitled “My Success,” Jones said, “My success in Scientology has been I have hope for myself and others that life can change for the better, all is not lost. I have a much more optimistic look than many of my peers.”

According to TruthAboutScientology.com, an online monitoring database that tracks the religion and its practitioners, Jones completed six Scientology courses between 2000 and 2006, including one entitled Hubbard Professional Metering Course. The official Scientology Web site wrote this about what skills are learned: “It is not possible to successfully do anything in life if one cannot control objects, situations and communication. This course teaches that skill.”

Sigrid Burket, NVA’s Director of Qualifications, is described on the school Web site's faculty page as a “Youth Specialist” and sports coach. In 2004, Burket was listed as the director of a school that practiced Scientology beliefs — an official list compiled by the Church itself.

According to TruthAboutScientology, Burket has completed eight Scientology courses.

Sisu Raiken, the NVA's Artistic Director and performance teacher, is also a Scientologist.

From her Scientology Web site she writes: “Without exaggerating, I can honestly say that Scientology has made EVERYTHING about my life seem better. I am more productive, making more income, have a happier family and doing EXACTLY what I want to do in life. When I first found out about Scientology I was a failed artist and about to give up. Today I am well-known in my field (performer and teacher), very well-respected and VERY happy.”

According to TruthAboutScientology, Raiken has completed 16 Scientology courses, including a course that teaches the evils of psychiatry and how to “detect and handle suppressive persons,” according to the official Scientology Web site.

Numerous e-mails and phone calls for comment on the school's faculty by Smith's representatives and NVA were not returned.

Reynolds said people are certain to be curious about what Smith's new school has to offer, especially due to its name recognition. But he balks at why NVA wasn't more upfront about the school's Scientology connection.

"I fail to understand why you would hide what you are. How can parents make informed choices if they have to struggle to ascertain what the purpose and philosophy of the school is?" Reynolds said.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,360642,00.html

Edited May 30, 2008 by MissAshley

[VIsqo]

UH huh! thats just plain nasty...

[Hero1]

Good reporting! Good article..