Text Box: The early years Children ages 6-13 attend variations of the school system and wear tunic uniforms. Classes include about 10 children, and educators work to create an environment that promotes socialization, idea exchange, and creativity. Basic skills are taught to all, and by age 9 children are encouraged to follow their personal interests and aptitudes. Educators advise students individually and involve the parents in an effort to make learning as productive and enjoyable as possible. The middle years Students ages 14-18 study interests more rigorously, go out on field trips, research areas of interest, and enter the community as volunteers to gain practical knowledge and experience. By this point all areas students have little skill in and/or have no interest in are dropped. The high years Young adults 19-24 become moderately independent and may attend the Edenite equivalent of college or go into apprenticeship, or even go directly to their field of choice if deemed qualified. Several Edenites at this stage opt to go to Neoamerica or elsewhere in the world to gain knowledge, and they may take Edenite philosophies to other states or bring other philosophies into West of Eden. Arts/Literature Edenites study all of the great literary works known to the twenty-first century, especially works like Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring. The inhabitants themselves write romances, horror, science fiction, etc.-- things that people have always written about. One of their modern classics, by Eldean Drued, is a dystopian novel about the abuse of trees. Art remains volatile, with constantly shifting styles and style evaluations, though interest in sculpture, mosaics, Eastern henna and Arabic calligraphy has revived.
 

1