Teaching Centers Start At Eighteen Months...Nurturing The Seed...
SS Satwant Singh Khalsa Ph.D., Principal
Khalsa School of Saint and Sage Consciousness of America
Phoenix, Arizona, USA
The seed grew from the Siri Singh Sahib Ji’s vision: "Spread the teachings, start a community, and focus on the children." The ashram in Phoenix began, grew, and flourished. Huge, two-story paintings of the Gurus on the ashram walls welcomed all who opened the gates of Guru Nanak Dwara Ashram to a vibrant spiritual community. The gates were always open and many came through.
Out of the heart of Guru Nanak Dwara Ashram came the school. In 1971, two of our young children, Baba Light and Daisy, were learning in a converted garage, and the seed began to sprout. In 1973, Guru Jagat Kaur walked through a vacant lot, past the Abbots' geese, and came upon a building called the ‘Lollypop Lane School.’ Soon, the white, brick schoolhouse was transformed into the Creative School for Spiritual Children and the seed found its roots for 15 ashram children. Many watered the fragile seed and the school grew. In 1975, as the Siri Singh Sahib sent children from around the country, a children’s ashram was born.
The search for a new name began and the Siri Singh Sahib was called. His reply? "Khalsa School of Saint and Sage Consciousness of America!" We breathed deeply. Could we live up to this name?
He came to visit. His body was huge against the child sized furniture. He mumbled something about a "mucky building." We started working on building improvements. Could we build this school to his standards? We asked his advice on our future. "Be totally legal, be totally successful, and grow slowly." We got to work on licensing. In 1976 the school was licensed by the State of Arizona.
The ashram children were growing up and the India program was beginning. Would the school shrink with the declining number of ashram children? Guru Liv Kaur opened the school's ‘gates of Guru Nanak’ to the general Phoenix community. In 1980 there were 40 children and three classrooms. In 1982 a fourth classroom was built. In 1984, the Khalsa Montessori Wilderness Camp was created. In 1985, a separate Toddler House was started, and there were 65 children at the school. Slowly the school grew in numbers, in facilities, in materials, and in quality. As the depth of every child's experience grew, so did a team of individuals dedicated to serving healthy, happy, and holy children.
Today the school is 25 years old and has 100 students. The 28 classrooms and extra curricular teachers include nine trained Montessori teachers and seven teachers with more than a decade of service. We are looking again towards growth.
Parents from communities of central Phoenix have asked that we expand our elementary school and apply to become a public charter school. So, together, SS Nirvair Kaur Khalsa’s school in Tucson and Khalsa School in Phoenix, are competing with schools statewide for a charter. City Council members, a State Senator, many educators, and parents have rallied with glowing letters of support. As we wait in the final round for word on our next step, the Guru continues to watch over and the Siri Singh Sahib continues to whisper -- "Totally legal, totally successful, and grow slowly."
Has 25 years of "keeping up" been 25 years of success? Have we reached every goal with every child? No. Have we pleased every parent? No! Have we learned from our challenges? Yes. Have we become better every year? Yes. Are we totally satisfied with the quality of our programs? Never!
The key to our ‘success’ is focusing on what we can do better today than we did yesterday. In education we can never be completely comfortable with the level we have reached. What can we add to their experience? How can we better lead them to understanding? What will spark today excitement for a lifetime? What challenges today will teach lessons for all tomorrows?
Success in education is an interaction or environment which inspires a child to take a first step. It is a discovery, a task completed, a goal achieved, a masterpiece created. Successes are the young adults who build today on the base of self-confidence they gained here during their early years, growing and succeeding throughout their lives. The Khalsa School of Saint and Sage Consciousness of America has a long history of successes. Twenty-five years later, the seed of the Siri Singh Sahib’s vision has sprouted and grown, and deeply touched the lives of many.
Excerpt from KHALSA NEWS December 1995
Khalsa School Newsletter, Phoenix Arizona, USA
It was nice to see some ‘old’ Khalsa School faces again at the Summer Solstice in New Mexico. As usual, there were many Khalsa School students who were here in the early seventies when the school was predominately a Sikh school. But as the non-Sikh children are reaching adulthood, they are choosing to join events like Summer Solstice. There was Alex Perdriel and Celeste Main who are both graduates of the elementary program. Alex has been involved in Sidha Yoga in San Diego; Celeste has been doing Kundalini Yoga with Ravi Singh in New York.