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"Remember
always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you
have an obligation to be one.”
-- Eleanor
Roosevelt
"The
only way to predict the future is to have the power to shape the
future."
-- Eric
Hoffer
The Passionate State of Mind
"Education's
purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open
one."
--
Malcolm Forbes,
US
publisher, 1919-1990
"The
applause of a single human being is of great
consequence."
-- Samuel
Johnson
Quoted in Boswell's
Life of Samuel Johnson,
1781
"Without
civic morality communities perish; without personal morality their
survival has no value. "
--
Bertrand Russell, British mathematician and
philosopher,
1872-1970
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I have
just driven back from the Character Education Partnership Conference
in D.C. area. The drive home along the east coast was full of late
autumn light and colorful displays of leaves from a diverse range of
trees. It reminded me of how much beauty is around us in all the
diverse species. It is this diversity that makes me think of our
value for this month... RESPECT.
We tend to
think of this value as one about our relationships with other people
but I expand the meaning to include having respect for our
environment as well.
At the
conference, we spent a lot of time sharing our stories of how we are
changing our school and community cultures to be more respectful and
safe while also demonstrating to each other and the critical world
how doing so can improve the overall lives of our
students.
The focus
of this newsletter–and all that we do at LVEP is to help kids
respect and celebrate all cultures, choices and "abilities". We
believe that when we do that, our kids get on the bus, go to school
and out into the world where they are accepted for the people they
are–not for how they look, how they learn, how their family was
formed or anything else that makes them "different".
We believe
that we can change the world–one child, one family, one school and
one community at a time.
Enjoy our
new format and don’t be shy. We want to know what you think,
too.
Anne
Rarich, LVEP President
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Tillman
is a founding member and chief author of the Living Values
Education resources, a series of activity books for use with
children ages 3 to young adults, a manual for children
affected by war, and other publications, the proceeds of which
she donates to ALIVE, Living Values Education International, a
nonprofit linked with UNESCO and
UNICEF.
The
mission of the organization is to recognize women and girls
involved in grassroots projects who are working to bring peace
to the everyday lives of women and their families. The
majority of their awards are for activities that fall into two
broad categories: violence against women and waging
peace.
The
Women of Peace Awards have been given to scores of
ordinary/extraordinary women around the world who work without
funding or recognition for the universal goal of peace,
fairness and true justice within the lives of women and their
families. We congratulate
Diane on this most deserving
award.
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This
month we are focusing on the most talked about value at the
CEP conference. It is amazing how often it was voiced. We have
had the good fortune to be familiar not only with our own
resources but those of some other great thinkers and
educators. Here are some additional resources for you to
consider using when focusing on RESPECT.
Sponsored
by the Jane Goodall Institute, this site inspires children to
respect and care for diverse environments, animals and human
cultures through community service learning. You’ll find a
teaching model, lesson plans, project ideas and opportunities
to network with PreK-12 students and teachers
worldwide.
www.rootsandshoots.org
Operation
Respect developed the Don't Laugh at Me (DLAM) programs, one
for grades 2-5, another for grades 6-8 and a third for summer
camps and after- school programs. All of the programs utilize
inspiring music and video along with curriculum guides based
on the well-tested, highly regarded conflict resolution
curricula developed by the Resolving Conflict Creatively
Program (RCCP) of Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR).
The McGraw-Hill Companies, and other supporters, Operation
Respect disseminates the DLAM programs free of charge. More
than 120,000 copies of the curriculum have been distributed to
educators since Operation Respect's inception. Please go to
the Programs section of our website to register, order and/or
download a complimentary copy of the school and camp
curriculum materials.
www.operationrespect.org www.operationrespect.org
An
interactive EXHIBIT and program that has as its philosophy to
“ inspire and enable real and lasting personal-pride-in and
mutual-respect-among people. Our procedure is to recognize
barriers to that pride and respect, and then devise materials,
events, and processes that use science and artful-interactions
as tools to bring people together in a positive and
comfortable atmosphere conducive to sharing-with and
caring-for each others.
www.kindredCOLORS.org
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Today
schools struggle with fundamental questions: What values
should they teach? And how should they teach them? This book
cuts through this controversy to report on dozens of practical
strategies designed to create a working coalition of parents,
teachers, and communities-anyone who cares about the character
of young people today. This book is considered a classic. Dr.
Thomas Lickona from the State University of NY, Cortland, is one of the leading
lecturers/presenters in the United
States on this
topic.
eMail Us...
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The
Expect Respect Project, a violence prevention program, was
developed to reduce the incidence of bullying and sexual
harassment by creating a positive school climate in which
inappropriate behaviors are not tolerated and staff members
respond consistently to incidents. The project implemented an
educational intervention for students, parents, and staff
members on expecting respect in student relationships and
strategies for responding to inappropriate student behaviors.
This article describes the educational intervention and
evaluation of the project. Findings from the project showed a
significant increase in awareness of bullying following the
educational intervention. Bullying was reported to have
occurred in areas with less adult super-vision such as the
playground, cafeteria, hallway, and buses. Students thought
staff would respond to inappropriate behaviors by telling
students to ignore verbal bullying or sexual harassment. In
contrast, staff at the elementary schools thought adults would
respond to inappropriate behaviors by telling the bully to
stop, calling his or her parents, or giving a specific
punishment.
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Readers
may be interested to know that these wreaths -- some 5,000 --
are donated by the Worcester Wreath Co. of Harrington,
Maine. The owner, Merrill
Worcester, not only provides the wreaths, but covers the
trucking expense as well. He's done this since 1992. Also,
most years, groups of Maine school kids combine an
educational trip to DC with this event to help out. Making
this even more remarkable is the fact that Harrington is in
one the poorest parts of the
state.
ARLINGTON
NATIONAL CEMETARY
Rest
easy, sleep well my brothers. Know the line has held, your job
is done.
Rest
easy, sleep well.
Others
have taken up where you fell, the line has held. Peace, peace,
and farewell...
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If
you have an application incorporating LVEP and you want to
apply for funds, LVEP would like to partner with
you.
Teammates
for Kids Foundation
CLOSING
DATE:Applications will only be accepted between December 1,
2006 and February 1, 2007.
AMOUNT:$10,000
- $50,000
SUMMARY:
The Teammates for Kids foundation accepts proposals for grants
from nonprofit organizations that specialize in working with
children. Grants from the Foundation support the on-going work
of operating organizations that help needy children in the
areas of health, education and inner-city services.
Info:
www.teammates4kids.com/apply_for_grant/format_gr
ant.htm
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CLOSING
DATE: November 30, 2006 AMOUNT: $5,000-$10,000 SUMMARY: The
foundation has a commitment to improving basic literacy skills
nationwide and internationally. The grants offer the
recipients access to a variety of literacy programs with a
focus on e- learning. Through a partnership of technology and
communication, Verizon has created e-learning programs that
provide K-12 teachers with free online resources and
connections through the Internet, literacy organizations,
volunteers and those interested in literacy
programs.
Info:
http://foundation.verizon.com/04008.shtml |
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