A parochial school for junior high and high school students on the outskirts of Lawrence grapples with the complexities of evolution and creationism on a daily basis.
Bishop Seabury Academy students Alex Sullivan and Anne Marie Bireta take it on faith they'll study both religion and science at school.
Messages of Darwin and Jesus echo in rooms of this Episcopal school on the eastern edge of Lawrence. Notions of religion and science necessarily cross paths. Mandatory chapel at 10:40 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays is sandwiched between science and humanities classes embracing the concept of evolution.
Sullivan and Bireta are comfortable with the mix.
Last year, Sullivan said, he discovered much about the intricate physical and cultural evolution of humankind in the academy's seventh-grade course on "Elements of Humanity."
"I learned about people -- how we began and evolved," he said. "I even learned more about my religion."
Bireta, a 10th-grader, is an avid evolutionist and dedicated church member.
She said it made sense for students to be well-versed in a body of knowledge that is an inevitable part of a college curriculum.
"I had biology last year," she said. "Probably everything in our biology book was based on evolution."
Setting its own standards
Sullivan, Bireta and 80 peers enrolled at Bishop Seabury weren't directly affected by the Kansas State Board of Education's decision in August to adopt new testing standards in science that downplay the teaching of evolution in public schools.
But this local private school offers a glimpse into how education and religion are openly and peacefully addressed at the same time that intense debate rages across the nation on the subject.
Headmaster Kris Pueschel said the school's framework of religious education reflects beliefs of St. Thomas Aquinas, a 13th century Christian theologian and philosopher who attempted to reconcile faith with reason.
Aquinas saw man as a rational social animal gaining knowledge from sensory experience. He viewed God as the prime reason for order in the universe. Aquinas' morality was based on the idea of a human's harmony with self, other people and God.
"It's complementary," Pueschel said.
Academy courses that delve into this area are delivered by Julie Schwarting and Emily Lungstrum. Schwarting is the new biology and chemistry teacher, while Lungstrum is a humanities instructor who handles a human evolution course that is more historical than scientific.
Both have strong feelings about the state board's action regarding science standards.
"My first question in the (job) interview was, 'May I teach evolution here?'" Schwarting said. "There is no way I wouldn't teach it. It's such an integral part of biology and life sciences in general."
Lungstrum said separation of church and state was essential to protect citizens from repression.
"It's dangerous when legislatures and courts start mingling with religious issues," she said. "It's ground where we have to be careful."
She added: "Evolution is not just a chapter you can take out."
Lungstrum said her obligation in the classroom was to help students comprehend the place of humans in the universe. She said that required touching on archaeology, language, agriculture, biology, art, religion, architecture and many other spheres.
"It's a question of humanity," she said. "It's not a Christian question. It's not a Buddhist question."
A full course
Pueschel said students and teachers at Bishop Seabury Academy wore religion on their sleeves.
"But it comes out in how we treat each other," he said. "It comes out in how we act -- not dogma."
Pueschel said the academy would be cheating its junior high and high school students if they weren't challenged by concepts foreign to their way of thinking.
"When that feast of ideas and opportunities is out there, we want them to partake."
-- Tim Carpenter's phone message number is 832-7155. His e-mail address is tcarpenter@ljworld.com.
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