Freethought Goes to School
The following article is from the Secular
Humanist Bulletin, Volume 15, Number 1.
The Council for Secular Humanism is expanding its youth
program with the planned launch of a school freethought group, and the appointment of a
full-time staff member to coordinate campus and school activities.
A public launch of the Young
Freethinkers Alliance is planned for the Council's annual conference in Chicago, May
13-16, 1999. Student coordinators have already been in touch with atheist and humanist
groups at ten high schools, and are in touch with many other interested individuals,
including junior high students. The new Alliance will provide practical support,
educational resources, and a national community for teenage freethinkers. (For one
high-school student's experience of starting a school atheist club in the face of official
opposition, see this article.)
The new Alliance hopes to match the success of the Campus Freethought Alliance (CFA). Launched in
August 1995 with just two campus groups, the CFA grew rapidly to include nearly one
hundred campus groups by 1998. Its 1999 annual conference will also take place during the
Chicago conference.
New Campus Coordinator
To coordinate and develop its expanding youth and campus programs, the Council for
Secular Humanism has appointed Amanda Chesworth as full-time Campus Freethought Alliance
Coordinator. Amanda, age 28, has a background in science writing and education, especially
in promoting science to young people. A Canadian by birth, Amanda has recently lived in
Houston, Texas, where she helped found Houstonians for Secular Humanism. She started work
at the Center for Inquiry International in Amherst, New York, in January 1999.
Commenting on her new role, Amanda said, "I am thrilled to be working in what I
consider the most vibrant part of a very dynamic movement. Humanism has a lot to offer
students, and students, in turn, are making important and indispensable contributions to
humanism. So as well as promoting humanism and rationalism to university and school
students, I hope to see the enthusiasm, optimism, and lust for life young people emit
spread to all areas of the secular humanist movement. I believe this combination of energy
and wisdom can really make an impact on individual lives and on society as a whole."
Amanda will be supported in her work by Chris Mooney, a senior at Yale. Chris, 21, will
work part-time as CFA Field Director. Amanda can be contacted at: CFA, PO Box 664, Amherst, NY 14226-0664,
e-mail: FIAmanda@aol.com.
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