WOW! What A Great Night With Some Great Heroes

Marzuq Muhammad (young man from Boston who works with urban youth to stress the importance of education), Mary Flannery and Kit Jenkins (from an incredible organization called RAW) joined us to be a part of our WOW! presentation to family, friends and classmates at the Orchard Gardens School on 12/15/2010. Our WOW! featured the kids talking about what they learned during the Heroes and Journalism apprenticeship as well as a video presentation with summary clips from our classes, interviews along with statements from the kids on what they learned about being a good journalist, what it means to be a hero, and how they could see themselves as heroes one day. They all did a great job and the video thanks to Patrick Morse (from Citizen Schools) editing and videography skills was terrific.

Our Last Hero Interviews and Preparation for Our WOW!

On 11/10, the kids visited Mary Flannery and Kit Jenkins, the founders of RAW ART, a remarkable program which teaches art to kids and teens in Lynn, MA, as a way to help them stay on track and in school given the challenges they face in Lynn, MA such as high rates of drug use, violence and gangs. As expected Mary, Kit and RawArt was amazing and the kids absolutely loved all of it. They were so excited to see the incredible art that Mary and Kit's students have done. In addition, the kids shared their own drawings that they did the previous week which showed the challenges they face in and out of school as teenagers and middle school students at the Orchard Gardens school; they really did a great job with the drawings as well as sharing their feelings with Mary and Kit. We then got a tour of the studio and then did a really fun drawing exercise where the kids drew a sketch of another students face without looking down at their paper (try it with a friend...it's a blast and I am a horrible artist).

On 11/17 and today, the kids have been preparing for our WOW! on 12/15. They are working hard to pull everything they have learned together including importantly from our live interviews with our Heroes (Marzuq, Michelle, Annemarie, Scottie, Mary and Kit). They have done a terrific job throughout the class and Patrick and I have been so impressed overall with their seriousness and preparation most notably during our interviews. For the WOW!, we will have 10-12 minutes to demonstrate what we have learned and the kids will do most of it. They will kick it off with some short introductions / overviews of our classes, and then we will watch a video which will include statements about what they have learned about heroes, good journalists and what they would like to do to help others one day.

Next week we will have a dress rehearsal for the WOW!

Clips and Feedback from our 10/27/10 Hero Interviews

In this class, the Hero Journalists interview 2 women, Annemarie Elmore and Scottie Wait, who have dedicated their careers to making the lives' of those in need including homeless adults and children better.

Who Needs The Lottery

A couple in Canada decided that life before winning the lottery was just fine the way it was so they gave away almost all of the $11mm they won to organizations that needed it. Way to go....that's kindness.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20101104/od_yblog_upshot/nicest-canadian-couple-in-world-doles-out-lottery-winnings

Class 6 - Preparing for Next Week's Field Trip to RAW

Today we started off by reviewing some of the highlights of last weeks interviews with Annemarie and Scottie, 2 women who work with the needy and homeless. We talked about some things that stood out such as their willingness to dedicate so much of their time including long hours (work on x-mas eve in Scottie's case) as well as how passionate they are about improving the lives of others. We were also struck about how they told us kids could help out the needy and homeless by organizing clothing or food drives but also by doing simple things such as smiling, saying hello and being compassionate to those in need.

We then took a look at some of the videoclips from the interviews with Annemarie and Scottie and saw that overall we did great. Overall we asked good questions and practiced good listening skills. Moving forward, we all agreed we can continue to speak more loudly and clearly as well as be even better listeners so we don't repeat others' questions and that the interviewees see that we are interested in their answers by giving them our full attention.

We then prepared for our trip to RAW (http://www.rawart.org/) next week; a really inspirational non profit that offers programs in art therapy to children in Lynn, MA where kids face a lot of challenges including dozens of gangs that actively recruit children and teens. In preparation for the art we will see, the kids drew pictures that depicted challenges they face as middle school students; they did a great job and their drawings included such challenges of fitting in and getting along with friends and family, getting up early, doing well in school and violence.

Random Ideas To Help Others

1) Better Nutrition / More Fruit - in talking to some young men and women who grew up in Roxbury, Dorchester, etc...as well as parents in these cities from my own recent observations, it seems to me there are significant challenges that kids in these environments face with regards to having access to (challenges of money, time, availability) to more healthy and nutritional food choices. And that these challenges can affect not only their physical growth but also pose mental challenges such as reduced attention spans, learning skills, etc. I will be thinking of some ways that myself and others can play a role in helping to improve this situation.....isn't there a way to get more fruit to these kids ("free deliveries from a fruit truck", fruit on the bus on the way home, etc."). I have been amazed at how excited the kids in my class get when I bring in fruit salad for them.

10/27/10 - Hero Interviews #2

The hero journalists did great today. They conducted a 1/2 hour interview of Scottie Wait (Pine Street Inn Shelter for the Homeless) and Annemarie Elmore (Catholic Charities and the Bowdoin Street Health Clinic in Dorchester). They politely and enthusiastic asked some great questions of our heroes for the homeless and needy such as: 1) if you were given $1mm for the homeless, what would you do, 2) do the people you are helping always want your help, 3) does it sometimes get sad helping these people, 4) who else do you consider your heroes, 5) why did you want to do this for a living, and more.


Next week we will prepare for our final interview before our WOW! We will be going on a field trip to visit an incredible organization called Raw Art, which teaches art to kids in Lynn, MA (where there are more than 40 active gangs). Mary Flannery and Kit Jenkins use art as therapy to help kids deal with a variety of problems stemming from the difficult conditions in school, on the streets, etc. such as drugs and violence. It is a wonderful program and organization they have founded and we will roll up our sleeves and take a look at it.

Class 4 - Preparing for Hero Interviews #2

This week we looked at the tape of our first interviews with Marzuq Muhammad and Michelle Albert (see earlier blogs for their backgrounds). All in all, for our first interviews the kids did a great job, but we also learned through the tapes that we can speak louder and more clearly. And we can also be more specific when asking questions to improve our chances of getting our questions answered.

Last week Michelle and Marzuq talked a lot about education and how critically important staying in school, working hard and graduating high school and college was for them to improve their lives. Next week we are going to meet 2 "heroes" who are helping make others lives' better. Annemarie Elmore (worked at Catholic Charities and now the Bowdoin Street Clinic in Dorchester, and Scottie Wait from the Pine Street Inn Shelter for the Homeless in Boston) both have spent a long portion of their careers working with needy and/or homeless men, women and children. Next week the kids will interview them to find out what they have done, what motivates them to give so much to the needy, and how they think the problems of homelessness and poverty can be dealt with.

Way To Go Citizen Schools And Orchard Gardens

NBC News highlighted the work Citizen Schools is doing on the behalf of kids in a recent story.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032619/vp/39693601#39693601

Class 3 - Our First Hero Interviews - 10/13/10

The kids and heroes were terrific (clips to follow). We interviewed 2 wonderfully inspiration young people who grew up close to Orchard Gardens and attended Boston Public Schools for part of their childhood. Marzuq Muhammad (I learned about him through this article)
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/07/10/a_lesson_they_learned/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
and Michelle Albert (learned about her through Marzuq, she is the principal of an all girls middle school)
http://www.mcaec.org/videos/MCAEC2008Video_player.swf
Both are young and successful men and women who grew up facing some of the similar opportunities and challenges that the kids from Orchard Gardens faced, worked extremely hard, realized how important education was, attended great colleges, and now have great jobs.......and both today realize the importance of helping kids learn the value of a great education and helping them to succeed in school.
I learned a ton last week both watching and listening to the kids in our class as well as the heroes.
Last week the kids prepared for their hero guests and it showed as each of them asked excellent questions such as:
1) why was school important to you?
2) what do you think about the violence in Roxbury and surrounding cities and what would you do about it?
3) what would you do if you were the President or Secretary of Education for a day to help kids in school?
4) Do you like your job as principal (to Michelle) or would you rather be a teacher?
5) Did things always go well for you in school (did you ever have a detention, suspended from school)?
6) Do you regret anything?

These were just some of the great questions. We videotaped the kids and the interview and next week we will study the tape to reinforce our learnings about heroism and our performances as "heroe journalists."

Trading Day For Kids - Way To Go Piper Jaffrey - A Great Idea

Kudos to Piper Jaffrey since on 10/14/10 they are trying to raise $1.5mm for New York City Kids by donating trading commissions to Youth, INC. Haven't heard or seen of anything like this before but think it is a great idea. Youth, I.N.C. uses a unique venture philanthropy model that empowers, develops, and educates nonprofit organizations serving young people, Youth, I.N.C. guides grassroots organizations toward long-term sustainability.
www.youthinc-usa.org

Getting To Know The Kids and The Camera

During our first class, the kids tell us a little bit about themselves while getting used to talking in front of the camera.

Class 2 - Preparing for Hero Interview #1

The kids did a great job today. We reviewed last week's lessons including going over "surface" and "deeper" questions and then began to prepare for next week's interviews. We will be meeting two "heroes" including Marzuq Muhammad, a very impressive young man, who I met as a result of the following article in The Boston Globe.
http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2010/07/10/a_lesson_they_learned/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Latest+news
As well as Michelle Albert, who Marzuq introduced me and the class to because of her wonderful work and passion for educating young men and women, most currently where she is the principal at the Mother Caroline Academy for middle school.
http://www.mcaec.org/videos/MCAEC2008Video_player.swf
We spent some time going over both Marzuq's and Michelle's backgrounds and then developing some questions for next week. The kids are all very excited and ready for their firs official interview as journalists.

9/29/10, Class 1 - Heroes and Journalism

I met the kids today and am very excited to work with all of them. Luis, Deonis, Cesar, Alsacia, Dagoberto, William, Eric, Kamaya, Jose, Yissel, Yveliana, Manuel, Estefany, Branton, Deysi and Devonte. They represent a combination of 6th and 7th graders.

Today we introduced the kids to the basics of the "Heroes and Journalism" apprenticeship for Citizen Schools at the Orchard Gardens. We laid out the goals of the apprenticeship: to learn about and explore a career in journalism by researching, meeting and interviewing everyday heroes. To begin to think and act like a journalist we introduced some of the necessary skills including asking different types of questions including "surface" and "deeper" ones. We told the kids surface questions are ones like "what is your name" and "how old are you". "Deeper" or "inferential" questions often require more than 1 word answers such as "how did you feel about that" or "why did you do that." Understanding the differences and getting comfortable and confident asking questions will be one critical skill the kids will develop through the curriculum. To help speed the process along, we watched an interview with Captain Sullenberger, the pilot who saved over 100 lives by landing his planed safely in the Hudson River after birds hit the planes' engines. The kids wrote down the questions that Katie Couric from CBS news asked and classified them as "surface" or "deeper" questions. Importantly, this interview also introduced the concept of a "hero" to the kids since another goal of the apprenticeship is to plant the seed in the kids of the great actions we are all capable of. After this, we watched some video clips from CNN Heroes including a young woman who started a organization to donate books for kids in the hospital as well as a army veteran who is helping homeless veterans. After watching the videos the kids answered questions such as: "what was the problem the hero was trying to solve?", "how did they solve it?", "what qualities did the hero demonstrate?" and finally "what issues or problems exist in your neighborhood or school that need fixing?"......here the kids identified violence and drugs as problems in the school that need to be dealt with.

We finished the class with 2 more things. First, we allowed the kids to get comfortable with the videocamera by asking them questions in front of the camera such as what is your favorite subject, tell me about your family, etc....the goal here was for the kids to speak clearly, confidently, loudly, look into the camera, and importantly SMILE AND HAVE FUN.

We finished the class by going over our class ritual which we will do at the beginning of each class. During the week, each student will keep their eyes and ears out for one thing that makes them say to themselves or another person, "wow, that was a very nice thing something did for someone else." And will share it in front of the class and videorecorder.

Good Sports - Help A Kid Play Sports

Just passing along another great organization I just learned about.....A friend of mine recently told me about a wonderful organization called Good Sports that gives youth the opportunity to participate in a variety of sports and fitness programs by donating necessary sports equipment that would otherwise be inaccessible to these children.
www.goodsports.org

Light One Little Candle - Help Someone Through The "Simple" Act Of Donating A Book

A woman, doctor and former breast cancer patient started an organization with a wish that other parents and grandparents with cancer would find the same comfort and joy she experienced with her daughter through the simple act of reading together.

A Little Cooking Can Go A Long Way - Try It

There are so many ways to help out the needy. I don't cook that much but this large lasagna (1 box of lasagna, 3 lbs of ricotta, 4 lbs of ground beef, and some mozzarella can last several nights for some needy families and give them a nice home cooked meal that helps to let them know others care. There are many many families who are struggling to get by with next to nothing. You can try something simple like lasagna or try your favorite recipe and the home cooked meal will be incredibly appreciated. You can contact local soup kitchens or organizations for the needy for where to bring your food to.

Going The Extra Miles For Those In Need - A Hero

One of the great joys and honors for me is to be able to meet people that selflessly do great and wonderful things for others. Annemarie Elmore is such a person. I have had the privilege of getting to know her over the last several months and in a short time I see the powerful and "heroic" things she does for the needy families she serves every day. Annemarie is a social worker, working closelessy with families in need. Families that sometimes have little more than the clothes on their backs including their children. Dedicating yourself to this population is often admirable enough, but that's not where it stops with Annemarie. It's pretty hard to find and free or extra time in her life since she and her husband have 6 adopted children. Nonetheless, Annemarie knows that too many times what can be provided by the city, state, or federal government isn't nearly enough for the needy and homeless families that she serves; and that many times the families (and children including infants) don't have the time to wait for applications to be processed before money or food stamps are given to help these people. And thus she does whatever is necessary to get them additional help including sometimes money and supplies out of her pocket; as well as delivering supplies and items she has located for them well outside of the normal business hours of her job. Here she is literally while the state of Massachussetts was on "hurricane alert" for Earl, after driving 35miles from her house to mine to pick up items to deliver later that evening to the families she serves.

Thank you Annemarie for helping improve the lives of those you serve.

Fill A Backpack For A Kid In Need

This weekend, my son and I shopped and packed backpacks for families in need of a little assistance. It's such a relatively easy and wonderful way to help make a difference in a kid and family's life. For roughly $10 you can purchase a backpack like one of these and then another $5-10 at Walmart or Staples you could fill it with necessary supplies with some/all of the items (listed below). If you are able to do this, there are lots of organizations that would accept and help find families in need such as Cradles to Crayons. You can also feel free to email me if you are in Mass as I have several organizations and contacts that are in touch with families with kids who need help.

Suggestions for items to fill a backpack with:

Subject note books, binders, filler paper, pencils, erasers, pens, glue sticks, rulers, protractor, pocket dictionary, scissors, highlighters, colored markers, colored pencils, etc.

Do You Know A "Hero"

One of the goals and most enjoyable parts of the class and the site is to try and point out the amazingly inspiring things that other people of all ages are doing to help others. Early on in the class we met Talia Leman, a teenager, who founded her own organization called RandomKid to help other kids help others. Talia is a great example of a hero. People like Talia or the creators of organizations like Cradles to Crayons that give out donated items to families in need or the founders of Citizen Schools are examples of everyday "heroes" that are doing wonderful things to help others in need. A "hero" could be a teacher or principal that you know that over and over again has done extraordinary things for you and other kids while perhaps facing large challenges or obstacles.

This section is dedicated to identifying these everyday heroes (just like CNN now does each year). There are hundreds, tens of thousands of these people all over the world and it's incredibly heart warming and inspiring to here what they are doing.
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/

1) Just read an article in the Boston Globe (July 2010) about a 90 year old woman named Grace, who has taken care of (and still does) more than 90 foster children in her life, many of whom have serious disabilities like Cerebral Palsy or Down Syndrome. Thank you Grace.
2) Just met 2 women, Mary Flannery (founder) and Kit Jenkins (partner), who run RAW Art Works, an incredibly wonderful and imaginative non profit organization in Lynn, MA. RAW Art Works is an afterschool program in Lynn, MA for urban youth who are interested and aspiring artists. They have a wonderful headquarters in Lynn which also is their art studio where kids as young as 7 and 8 can go to develop their artistic talents while also getting much needed guidance, mentoring and attention since Lynn is a community where more than 30 gangs exist today to try and recruit young kids into potentially a world of drugs and violence.
http://www.rawart.org/
3) Anne Mahlum, Founder and President, who started Back on My Feet, a non-profit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of the homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem. After passing by a homeless shelter every morning on her daily run, Anne started Back on My Feet, which is now in several states including Boston and received national and global recognition as one of the 10 CNN Heroes nominees in 2009.
http://www.backonmyfeet.org/
4) Leigh Anne Touhy. As some of you may have seen in the movie The Blind Side, Ms. Touhy took in and eventually adopted a teenager named Michael Oher because his homelife was extremely challenging as his father was murdered and his mother was a drug addict. Ms. Touhy and her family helped provide Michael with a loving family as well as guidance and assistance in school and on the football field which helped lead him to go to college as well as get drafted to play in the NFL where he currently plays today.
http://www.theblindsidemovie.com/dvd/index.html#/Videos
5) Mackenzie Bearup. A 16year old shows us how "simple" becoming a hero by founding "Sheltering Books" an organization that donates books to abused and homeless kids in 6 states.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2010/04/08/cnnheroes.bearup.profile.cnn

Paying It Forward - the "Ripple" effects

I am forwarding a message I received from Stacey Gilbert who works in media at Citizen Schools....the message speaks for itself in that nearly 5 months after the South Station Kindness Bag handout, a woman was positively moved by the kids' kindness during our South Station Kindness bag giveway.

Hello Jeff......I just heard through the grapevine that Citizen Schools received a call recently that I thought you'd like to hear about. A woman left a message on our voicemail as a random act of kindness shouting out the Rogers Middle School students who handed out goodie bags at South Station last October as part of your Random Acts of Kindness apprenticeship. She went on to say what a blessing it was for students to learn about giving back and was so thankful for the Citizen Schools program and our volunteers like you! What a wonderful message, and it was all due to you and your fantastic work with the kids. Your work is having a ripple effect!

Cheers,
Stacey

On Line Class In Kindness (In Seattle Washington)

A friend of mine recently sent me an article (see below) about an on line class on kindness in Seattle.

Way to go Andy Smallman! Andy is the co-founder of Puget Sound Community School in Seattle, and he teaches an on-line class on kindness. As their website and articles about his class show, similar to our class on "paying it forward", Andy and his students (over 250), complete assignments based on "random acts of kindness" such as writing anonymous compliments to co-workers (sound familar students of the Rogers Middle School apprenticeship on kindness....you did something similar for your fellow students), left homegrown pears out for passers-by, cleaned street storm drains, picked up trash and slipped a $20 bill inside the next empty cup that a barista would pick up.

What a terrific class....Keep up the great work Andy and your students!
http://onlinekindnessclass.wordpress.com/
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010604939_kindnessclass27m.html

Kids Helping Others..Keeping An Eye Out

This class is over but with the help of the kids and Citizen Schools, we have created a curriculum around kindness that hopefully other teachers and kids can take advantage of. My goal will be to make the curriculum and any future classes more rewarding and impactful for the kids. And in the meantime, the need for more kindness and good deeds is of course not. One of the goals of the site will be to continue to point out acts of kindness and good deeds by kids (young and old). To create an ever growing list so that other kids can see what others are up to and join in. Please join me....

1) Each year my wife and I sponsor a x-mas eve dinner at the Pine Street Inn in downtown Boston which houses over 700 homeless men and women. We look for volunteers to help us serve the meal each year. This year amongst the 10 volunteers who joined us, there was 1 college freshman and 1 high school sophomore, both from Weston MA, who helped us serve the meal. Another young man who is the son of an employee of the shelter was providing entertainment for the men during the meal by playing the saxophone (this is the 2nd year he has done this and the men seem to absolutely love it). Do you play an instrument? Can you volunteer to play for a group of people who would really appreciate your music and company?
2) doesn't matter how old/young you are...kids of all ages can find ways (and parents, teachers can find ways to involve them). my son's preschool teacher for her 3 and 4 year olds) has helped the kids make a "giving box" into which they were told to collect mittens, hats and shoes for needy families.