Ex-Mayor of Macclesfield 'moved to tears' at The King's School
Article by Simon Carter
The Former Mayor of Macclesfield, Alift Harewood, was moved to tears of joy when she witnessed what sixth form pupils are now studying at The King''s School.
Alift Harewood MBE was astonished when she looked over Cordy Kight's Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) presentation which asks "Is God a woman and is she black?"
Alift, 88, who was part of the Windrush generation, moving to Macclesfield from Guyana in 1966, said: "We were the first black family to settle in Macclesfield and frankly it wasn't easy for us, especially at the start."
The former registered nurse, long serving councillor and school governor, added: "To see this fine piece of work is just wonderful. I simply never thought it could possibly happen. God has always been an old white man, but now students are questioning that assumption and asking why?"
Cordy, 18, was among 37 King's students presenting their EPQs to the public and outside assessors. Cordy, who wants to go up to Durham University next year to study Religion, Society and Culture, said: "It was amazing to hear Mrs Harewood talk so movingly about my presentation. It made the months of hard work on this project all the more worthwhile."
Cordy explained she had been inspired to choose the topic after working as a volunteer in a school in Ghana last year. "I asked the children about their perception of God and they all thought he was an old white man. It proved to me how established western views have coloniseddifferent cultures and taken root.
"Now the West is becoming more liberal and many artists and filmmakers are questioning that view. Just look at Evan Almighty or the film The Shack, but, of course, many Christian fundamentalists will simply rubbish that notion and say it can't possibly be true. But why; women give birth and are the natural creators of life and the first homo-sapiens are believed to have originated in Africa. Why can't God be a black woman."
King's School English and Drama teacher Olivia Soutter, who heads the school's Extended Learning Programme, said: "It's fantastic that so many conscientious citizens such as Mrs Harewood MBE come to look at the our students' work and give their feedback. I know Cordy was thrilled to be able discuss her work with this wise and experienced women."
Olivia added: "The EPQ aims to prepare our students for university life and independent work. They have to manage their own time, learn to write academic reports and research deeply into subjectsthat fascinate them."
Among a vast array of different topics, students looked at the possibility of a pill to cure drunkenness, the likelihood of an impending global economic catastrophe and the exponential growth of nanotechnology in medicine.
Thomas Sheridan, 18, who wants to study Medicine at Leeds, spent months reviewing the growing research on a possible pill to alleviate short-term inebriation. "It is known that dehydrogenases can break down alcohol in the bloodstream, but there are problems in that it can't change the reaction of dopamine or glutamate.
"Obviously alleviating the effects of drunkenness would be good for preventing so many accidents; it is estimated one million lives worldwide might be saved each year, but would it mean that people got even more drunk if they knew a pill would cure all in just 10 minutes."
Amelia Phillpotts, 17, who wants to study English Literature at Warwick, examined Vladimir Nabokov's classic novel 'Lolita' that concerns a 58-year-old man's obsession with a 14-year-old girl.
Amelia said: "Even though it examines a relationship that we all think is disgusting and reprehensible, it remains popular todaybecause of the older man's astonishing and seemingly genuine poetry and he manages to silence the young woman, in the same way as many women have their own stories silenced today. It is far from a celebration of this man's behaviour, it is a castigation.
Lewis Johnstone, 18, who wants to read Chemistry at Bristol looked at the development and hurdles to nanotechnology in Medicine. "The study of nanotechnology and its potential in medicine is growing exponentially. Nanotechnology can be used not only in cures but in the diagnosis and location of illness.
"There are barriers to the very smallest technologies because the laws of quantum mechanics mean that nuclear forceswill break down the smallest structures, but we have only just begun to discover all its potential."
Thomas Whitney, 17, who wants to study Business Economics at Leeds examined whether a single global currency would be a good idea.
The answer according to Thomas was simple, "No, it would be awful. No one is ever going to agree. Can you imagine the USA and China giving way to each other and, quite simply, one size does not fit all. The concept is far too rigid. One country might need low interest rates to stimulate growth another might need high interest rates to curb inflation.
"It's a non-starter; just look at the problems for the Eurozone when Greece defaulted in 2011.
He added: "Brexit is now looking like a bad idea for Britain. I mean why move away from your major trading partners, but joining the Euro would never have been a good idea and I'm glad we never did it."
Oliver Lewer-Sotiriou, 18, who ideally wants to gain an apprenticeship with a leading investment bank such as Goldman Sachs, examined whether the world was heading for a global economic catastrophe as in 2008.
"I'm afraid the answer is yes," said Oliver.
"There are very many comparable trends between now and then with the behaviour of mortgage rates and house prices and the financial products which were being offered then which caused so many problems have now simply been rebranded and will leave the markets vulnerable."
Oliver added: "If I had any money to invest I'd stay diversified and stick to the major long term indices the pension funds use such as the SNP 500."
The King's School is located at Alderley Rd, Prestbury, Macclesfield SK10 4SP.
Article by Simon Carter
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