Over the years I have wondered about the marketability of the words “Community Education,” as in “Lexington Community Education,” or “Adult & Community Education,” or (fill in the blank of one of the many surrounding towns)______Community Education. When I started working in this field 24 years ago, I thought perhaps that the sound of “Community Education Program” was less exciting than it could or should be. Others were thinking along the same lines. For example, we saw other places change names from “The Boston Center for Adult Education” to simply “The Boston Center,” or in another nearby city, a program name shortened to become, “The Center.” I also thought that the word “Center” sounded a bit more holistic and sharp than the word “Program.” After all, Zen teachers don’t call their practice places “programs.” For example the “San Francisco Zen Program” would just sound wrong…right?
However, over time I have come to realize that the words “Community” and “Education” are perfectly fitting words to describe, and fully represent the essence of what happens here at Lexington Community Education. As a self-supporting program of the Lexington Public Schools, the word “Program” has become a point of pride as well, as it indicates that we are related to a larger and wonderful educational family. What is offered and takes place here at LCE is “Community” and “Education,” in near to equal measure. The two things rely so heavily on each other that I wonder if there could be one without the other. With our recent transition to online classes due to the pandemic, our learning community has expanded to include local, national, and international teachers and students taking part.
Physicists tell us that the universe is expanding and that the “center” of the universe is everywhere. That could be taken to mean that there is no center, or that the “center” is here at the Lexington Community Education program, or that the “center” is YOU! I think that last option sounds right. The center of the universe is you…and it is me, too.
The Lexington Community Education program is a “center” after all.
See you on Zoom!
Craig Hall, Director of Lexington Community Education
P.S.
Thanks for reading!
