ok, here's a question for you
If you could teach inner city (mostly low income) kids about one concept or issue, what would it be and how would you go about it? I'll give you an example. We started an initiative about three months ago in the after school program that I oversee that combines teaching environmentalism with advocacy - basically teaching the kids about the environment, how to protect it, and how they can be active in getting others to protect it. We had the kids start a recycling program in our agency - they are responsible for putting out the bins, emptying them, reminding people to recycle, etc. We also started a garden project to teach them about growing your own food and how pesticides are bad for the earth, etc. So...what's your idea?
posted by lemonscarlet at
6:46 AM
3 Comments:
a couple of things come to mind--really just topic ideas, not "how to do them." one would be to develop the gardening thing with information about nutrition and cooking. i know you've got a wide range of ages, so i'm not sure how you would go about that. also don't know if you have the facilities. or, how about financial literacy? in my work, i hear ALL THE TIME from service providers about how kids leave h.s. with absolutely no knowledge of budgeting, much less anything beyond that. another thing i'm thinking of is writing and journaling. like in 'freedom writers.' did you see that? i don't care if people think it was corny. it made me cry.
i also wanted to say that i just now saw your thing about prisons. wow. i think that our prison system is absolutely perverse and the article you cited portrays my worst assumptions.
kelly c.
By
Anonymous, at 9:52 AM
I agree with the cooking and nutrition thing, seems like a great transition from the gardening. Another element of that can be sanitation in concerns to food prep. What about a book club? That is not so much a concept or issue though. Maybe leadership. You could do all sorts of research and practice with that. I am pretty internationally minded so my thoughts almost immediately go to human trafficking, genocide, and sweatshops, globalization which is not so much useful for what it seems like you are doing.
Remember when you posted about fair trade, maybe you could revisit it!? I am now working for a company that has it's own mark "Direct Trade." The concept is pretty amazing and is demanding way more than previous certifications. You can find out more about it at IntelligentsiaCoffee.com
Cool
Talya
By
Sweet T, at 3:13 PM
i guess i'll respond to the carpet thing here. yes, i feel quite certain that there were carpets before there were vacuums, but the carpets were actually rugs. and the rugs were taken outside and beaten to get the nasties out. now that carpets are stapled down to the floor, this isn't an option, which is why you are finding lots of nasties that the vacuum doesn't pick up. so, i think the only option is to shampoo the carpets. when we shampoo our rugs, the water gets disgusting. i'm not afraid to say it. same way with scarves. remember when i apprehended everyone's scarves in 1810 s. stevens and washed them all in the sink? that was nasty. listen up, everyone: your scarves are filthy. wash them!!! think of all the times they have fallen to the barroom floor. then you wear them right up to your face. gross!
kelly c.
By
Anonymous, at 9:53 AM
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