6 | DECEMBER 5 • 2024 J
N

1942 - 2024

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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essay

Can a School Teach Tolerance? 
M

ine sure tried. 
“I choose not to 
discuss politics on 
Facebook,
” a non-Jewish former 
elementary school classmate 
posted shortly after 
Oct. 7, “but I want 
all my Jewish friends 
to know that I 
support Israel.
”
The Paul Best 
spirit lives on, I 
thought.
Long closed, the 
Paul Best Elementary School in 
Oak Park was a shining example 
of tolerance that, as my classmate’s 
response suggests, has carried 
through to our grown-up lives. 
Today, as antisemitism plays 
out with new heat, maybe my 
old school can offer lessons in 
combating bigotry early on. 
During my years, on either side 
of 1960, about 40% of Paul Best 
students were Jewish; the rest 

were Protestants. Catholics and 
a handful of Greek Orthodox, 
including the children of Lebanese 
immigrants. 
Religion was little discussed 
among us kids. It was accepted 
that some went to Catechism after 
school; others to Hebrew School. 
At the December holiday party in 
Mrs. Hu’s basement, my Bluebird 
troop of Best girls screamed 
“Merry Chanukah!” and “Happy 
Christmas!” collapsing into giggles 
at our cleverness. 
“There were too many of 
us Jewish kids,
” says a fellow 
Best grad, explaining our easy 
acceptance.
But I’ve heard of similarly 
populated schools where relations 
between Jews and non-Jews were 
frostier. What made our school 
different? 
Scott Street, our enlightened 
principal, set the tone. A white 
Southerner who, as a basketball 

coach had integrated a high 
school’s basketball team, he was 
both idealistic and determined. 
Early on, he calmed a dispute over 
displaying a Christmas tree by 
suggesting school artwork hang 
from the evergreen. Under Street, 
the school issued “We Believe,
” a 
mission statement that emphasized 
tolerance and independent 
thinking. “We Believe” was 
reprinted in national education 
journals, with several schools 
adopting it. The school encouraged 
closeness through efforts like 
overnight school camp, one of the 
first such programs in the country.
 Street hired a lot of idealistic 
teachers, though no one held a 
candle to my first and second 
grade teacher, Mrs. Irene Lancaster. 
Near retirement, she combined 
extraordinary energy with a 
passion for justice. “Hate is a bad 
word” was her mantra, and she 
put on annual school productions 

Eve 
Silberman

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