Category: Uncategorized
-
PARENTHOOD
In 1984, after many years working with other people’s children, Jo and I decided to change our lives so we could start our own family. In 1985 when our first son was born, this new reality forced us to change the way we defined ourselves. We had been operating as if we were the leading…
-
FINDING AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
Examples of Experiential and Collaborative Learning (Part 6 of 7) I think that some people imagine that experiential education is what happens if you don’t wash the dirt off your hands before eating. To Jo and me it meant leasing our home for a year, packing our belongings in backpacks, buying airline tickets and Eurail…
-
FINDING AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
Educational Practices Limit the Effectiveness of Our Schools (PART 5 OF 7) When Jo and I left Crow Canyon, we decided that parenthood would be the most important focus of our lives. As the boys neared school-age we studied the educational systems driving the schools our children might attend. We did not find any educational…
-
FINDING AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
Fighting Loneliness, Isolation and Lack of Purpose Part 4 of 7 Nations full of good people understand that they can enhance the value of their own lives by working together and building collaborative communities. As this happens, fewer people are isolated and alone. These ways of organizing to solve structural and/or social challenges are multi-age…
-
FINDING AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
Changing Direction (Part 3 of 7) The life, death, and rebirth of communities. Communities are created and eventually dissolve, just like all human endeavors. In the 1980s, Jo and I knew that our lives had to go in another direction; we chose parenthood. It was time for the education and archaeological research center to have…
-
FINDING AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
Conflicting Communities (Part 2 of 7) In the early 1960s, I taught school and worked late into the nights converting the giant hayloft in the stable into an old western bar. I wrote the corporation for the Cherry Hills Saddle And Surrey Club. A fellow teacher and I started the Timberliners Ski Club and on…
-
FINDING AND BUILDING COMMUNITY
My Journey To Fill A Void (Part 1 of 7) When I was born, my folks lived on a rural property east of Denver. A community formed there because people worked together to provide electrical service, water service, road maintenance and all the things they needed to improve the quality of their lives. It was…
-
Did You Miss The Celebration?
Those who are celebrating do not intend to represent our communities. In the primary elections, big money from outside – called Dark Money – succeeded in blocking community interests. Take the future of our public schools for example. By positioning themselves for a win in the general election, they can put in place a plan…
-
Too Many Politicians Reject The Concept Of Representing Those Who Elected Them
Sometimes you just need to get away and sit beside a beautiful stream and sort your thoughts. My thoughts were running into each other and processing the same information over and over again. I had chased questions around and around in my head until I had to assume that very little of what I was…
-
We Can Recover From The School Choice Movement
We have over 20 years of data about charter schools (partial schools) and how they have benefited or damaged public education and children. Originally, the purpose of charter schools was to free educators with new insights and give them the support they needed to create education programs that would improve our public schools. Many effective…