In its second year, the ICJS Genesis High School Project con-tinued to provide opportunities for high school juniors and seniors to discover new ways of learning together. Today's schools stress the importance of appreciating our differences and celebrating the diversity within the larger community. Yet educational experiences that enable students to explore con-trasting cultural and religious perspectives through face-to-face encounters are rare.

This program, funded by the Rouse Foundation, brought together fifty-four students from twenty Baltimore-area public, independent, and parochial schools for four evenings of inten-sive study. The project revolved around the complex challenges of interpreting sacred stories. In a "secular soci-ety," the religious meanings of the Bible are seldom acknowledged, and the enduring power of our scriptures to shape the literary, ethical, and cultural understandings of the world is, in large measure, ignored. The participants in this venture quickly realized that the Bible addresses issues of vital concern to them, both as individuals and as members of a larger community. While the Bible rarely delivers formulaic answers to the problems that we face, the scriptures consistently frame the core questions in ways that yield fresh insights into the human predicament.

The inquiry was enlivened by students who brought to the table a keen curiosity and a willingness to dive into spirited conversation. Since the students came from a wide variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds, they soon discovered that they held a wide variety of interpretations. This encounter with divergent readings initially proved unsettling, but students developed a greater ability to listen and learn from those whose views first seemed alien or even wrong. It turns out that some people regard Noah in heroic terms, while others see him as a guilty bystander who refused to look beyond the welfare of his own family. Perhaps the power of the story lies in its ability to evoke ethical debate about the proper horizons of our responsibilities to others.

In interviews at the closing session, participants indicated that these encounters provided them with invaluable learning expe-riences. They better understood the imperative to navigate a path through conflict and the discipline required to maintain respect in the midst of passionate disagreement. They were quick to note that the development of this aptitude is crucial for emerging leaders. The ICJS provided a safe space in which they could take risks and try on new ideas. The students, as well as our six adult facilitators, unanimously recommended that we continue this project in the years ahead, but they urged us to double the number of meetings. There are simply too many questions to investigate and not enough time.

Special Thanks to Our Wonderful Facilitators:
Geoff Basik, Shulamith Elster, Donna Lee Frisch, Judy Frumkin, Maggie Gaines, David Holland, and Alice Jellema