PHILADELPHIA — Every Thursday, Reece Whitley’s busy life screeches to a halt. The red light built into his 10-grade class schedule at William Penn Charter School, a private Quaker institution founded in 1689, is a 40-minute meditative period known as “Meeting for Worship.” The period of silence, sometimes broken by students or teachers sharing thoughts when the spirit moves them, was the topic of a lively conversation during a recent Quaker Principles class.
One student said the 40 minutes would be better spent studying. Another dismissed it as the adolescent version of nap time as sleep-deprived students sometimes nod off.