Posted by admin on January 5, 2011 under Active Organizations, Teaching With Heroes, Web links | 
Can you imagine being a hero?
The Heroic Imagination Project will help you explore that idea. They combine research in the areas of heroism with programs for students, adults, and organizations – all to help us realize that “everyone has the potential to transform the private virtue of compassion into the civic virtue of heroic action.”
In their Leadership Workshop, participants are invited to explore real world situations, reflect on heroic examples, and internalize strategies and plans in our lives.
In their TechHeroes program, students and senior work together with technology, collaboratively, in service to each other.
And with their HIP Schools Toolkit, teachers have a structure and a variety of resources to help them integrate the “lessons” of heroes.
Visit http://heroicimagination.org/ for more information.
Posted by admin on January 1, 2011 under Active Organizations, Resources, Teaching With Heroes |
We’ve recently found the Role Models program and materials for teaching character education in high (and middle) school.
http://www.characterandleadership.com/
Borrowed from their web site:
“… this character education curriculum provides students with the necessary skills to be successful in all facets of their lives. Students and teachers alike come to rely on the consistent weekly lesson plans of ethical dilemmas, lectures, character movie segments, current events, core readings from The Role Models textbook, basic skills and expository writing assignments.”
Posted by admin on December 30, 2010 under Active Organizations, Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan, Web links |
At a plain, black well-pump in the small southern town of Tuscumbia, Alabama, one of the world’s great miracles took place. It began one bright, spring day in 1887. Puffy white clouds floated overhead on a background of blue, while birds fluttered through oaks and maples and flowers burst forth from the fertile soil in an array of colors—all unheard and unseen by a pretty girl of seven.
Standing at the totally blind and deaf Helen Keller’s side was a young woman, Anne Sullivan. Miss Sullivan was steadily pumping cool water into one of the girl’s hands while repeatedly tapping out an alphabet code of five letters in the other—first slowly, then rapidly. The scene was repeated again and again as young Helen painstakingly struggled to break her world of silence.
Suddenly the signals crossed Helen’s consciousness with a meaning. She knew that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the cool something flowing over her hand. Darkness began to melt from her mind like so much ice left out on the sunny March day. By nightfall, Helen had learned 30 words.
Since 1954 Helen Keller’s birthplace has been a permanent shrine to the “miracle” that occurred in a blind and deaf seven-year old girl’s life. At that time Ivy Green was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
http://www.helenkellerbirthplace.org/
Posted by admin on under Active Organizations, Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller & Anne Sullivan Resources, Web links |
Here is a fun web page for kids to explore more about Helen Keller – from the American Foundation for the Blind.
http://www.afb.org/braillebug/hkmuseum.asp
Posted by admin on December 29, 2010 under Active Organizations, Susan B. Anthony, Web links |
(from http://www.nownyc.org/women/index.php/awards.php)
As one of the first awards of its kind, NOW-NYC’s Susan B. Anthony Awards honor grassroots activists who have advanced the cause of women’s rights and improved the lives of women in our city. Held in February of each year, those the award has honored include activists serving immigrant women, lesbian women, crime survivors, opinion and policy makers and public servants. More info
Posted by admin on under Active Organizations, Resources, Teaching With Heroes |
The contest winners of the 2010 National Heroes Day have been announced. The contest theme was teaching heroes in the classroom. You can see the winners and view videos at: http://nationalheroesday.com/winners.html.
Posted by admin on March 12, 2010 under Active Organizations, Heroes, Resources |
(from the National Heroes Day web site: http://www.NationalHeroesDay.com)
It has become fashionable to overstate the idea of heroes in our culture today. But where are the REAL heroes for today’s children and young adults? Historically, there are countless heroes who have become lost or forgotten. The major goal of National Heroes Day is to bring them back into the spotlight they deserve. By reading and talking about the great men and women who have made our world a better place, our youth will be inspired to follow in their footsteps. As they learn about REAL heroes in every field of human endeavor, they will begin to see that perseverance and determination can indeed change the world. National Heroes Day can plant the seeds for the growth of REAL heroes for the future. It is our goal to inspire students of all ages to rediscover the forgotten heroes from the past and recognize their significant contributions to the advancement of mankind.
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Today we celebrate the heroes in our lives, unique for each person and, as a real hero, a positive force for many, many others.
National Heroes Day is a program of AIHE - American Institute for History Education
Posted by admin on March 4, 2010 under Active Organizations, General, Resources |
I’ve recently learned about Mr. Geoffrey Canada and his work with the Harlem Children’s Zone. The initial connection with Mr. Canada came to me in his words:
“Children need heroes because heroes give hope; without hope they have no future.”
We each have experiences growing up with some sort of fictitious character, possibly a superhero and possibly a symbol of someone who could “save the day.” If you were like me, and as Mr. Canada shares, that symbol became empty. The fiction became real. But my hero didn’t.
I have enjoyed reading about the Harlem Children’s Zone because they have a commitment to being real heroes for the kids, not in a superhuman way but by being the parents and teachers the kids need, today, in their lives. The real impact they are having is evident.
The Harlem Children’s Zone website is: www.hcz.org.
Today I received an announcement I’d like to share:
“During Sunday’s Academy Awards broadcast, the Harlem Children’s Zone is being featured in an ad campaign for the American Express Members Project. The ad features Geoffrey Canada describing the genesis of the HCZ Project – how it grew slowly to 97 blocks as well as talking about the agency’s culture where “failure is not an option.” The 60-second ad was created by Oscar-winning director Scott Hicks and cinematographer Robert Richardson. After the premiere, it will then be part of the Members Project’s on-going ad campaign.
The Academy Awards are set to air at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC. In case you miss it, we will post the ad on our website on Monday.
The Members Project is an innovative online initiative that provides those with an interest in giving back an opportunity to take small steps to make a big difference.”
UPDATE: You can view the ad (for a while I guess) at: http://www.hcz.org/press/news/292-hcz-at-the-oscars
Posted by admin on January 11, 2010 under Active Organizations, Jane Addams Resources |
“Jane Addams Hull House Association is the direct descendent of the settlement house founded by Jane Addams in 1889. In the words of our founder, our purpose is to “Aid in the solutions of life in a great city, to help our neighbors build responsible, self-sufficient lives for themselves and their families.” We carry on this mission today as one of Chicago’s oldest and largest social and human service agencies.”
Read more at: http://www.hullhouse.org/aboutus/history.html
Posted by admin on under Active Organizations |
We fundamentally believe that knowledge yields potential but action is where real power is.
“Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” - Anton Chekov
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To kick off the process of acting with what you learn here, I’ll share this web site with you:
The Changemakers initiative aims to identify the leading activists, elected officials, authors, bloggers, actors and thought leaders who have the greatest capacity to spark change on issues of importance.
Selected Changemakers will be invited to tap into Change.org’s network of more than a million readers and activists and thousands of nonprofit and blog partners to drive further social action.
from: http://www.change.org/changemakers
On the Change.org web site, you can explore the work of an organization that seeks to inform us about real people today who are having positive impacts on the lives of others. One way you can get involved is to learn about their Changemakers and provide feedback with your votes. Then we invite you to explore each person’s work – to find how you can get contribute further or act in a similar way within your community.
