Please post to Google Classroom by 11:59 PM Sunday October 25.
Please read Thich Naht Hahn’s reflection on washing dishes and the New York Times story about mindful eating. Each will give you an idea of the experiment that I will ask of you. Continue reading
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Learning how to draw elephants
…perfecto
Well done guys. Very well done. Your presence was certainly felt at the Refugee ONE program on Friday in Chicago. The time that you spent with the young people of the program will be remembered. Your mindfulness, your energy and creativity, as well as the personal attention you provided the kids was notable. I was proud this weekend to have been an Oakridge Eagle.
If we go no further than Friday, we’ve made a difference. This is a good thing.
orange is a nice color
The question now before us; do we want to extend this involvement? And if we do, what direction would it take. Finally, how much of a commitment are we willing to make. No mission succeeds without vision, devotion, and organization. For it to work, that commitment must come from the grassroots level; that’s you all. And if it is sincere, anything is possible. So, we need to take our collective class temperature and see where we want to go. On Thursday we will talk and either seek a further commitment. Or we will not, and move on. Either is fine by me.
elctrons, protons, neutrons
First though, Photos. I need your photos; all of them please. Bring them in on a thumb drive or send them to me in a large enough size that I can use to create a poster for the classroom and one for the Refugee ONE Program. Please do so in the next couple of days. Secondly, please post your photos to the Facebook sight of Unity Lutheran Church in Chicago. The Church was kind enough to allow us a $10 stay. Not bad for Chicago. They will use your photos to promote the Refugee ONE program.
Two – Your Assignment. I think that a Google Classroom Reflection assignment is in order. Please check the Google Classroom link for the specifics. The assignment is two part and will vary for those of you who took the trip to Chicago and those of you who did not. For both groups, this assignment counts fifty points and is due posted to Google Classroom by 11:59 PM on Wednesday, October 21. Be ready to thoroughly discuss your thoughts during class on Thursday.
From Syria with love
A little indoor soccer
Three – Refugees across the World. The Refugee issue is certainly a permanent Current Issue – one that affects all of us in this classroom. America is immersed in an ongoing refugee crisis at our Southern border that is pressing our nation politically, culturally and economically. In addition we have six European students in this classroom. And Europe is specifically dealing with a crisis involving Syrian refugees. On a larger scale considering the allure of first world economies, the USA and Europe, actually all of the developed world, has become an ever increasing target for developing world migration.
So…I intend to begin a unit of study on Refugees, and in particular the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Stay tuned for this ongoing unit of study.
Again, thank you for a mindful effort on Friday. I look forward to your further input. Thanks….
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Go here for our itinerary.
So as to better appreciate our Chicago trip on Friday and Saturday, October 16 and 17, you have an assignment due prior to your leaving. If the assignment is not submitted to Google Classroom by 11:00 AM on Friday, you do not go. I also need to speak with any traveler not in SCI, as they will also have an assignment if they want to join us. Those not going on the trip are to do the assignment as well. Knowing about Chicago is a good thing for all; however your deadline for the assignment is Sunday.
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Born Into Brothels is a documentary about the inspiring non-profit foundation Kids With Cameras, which teaches photography skills to children in marginalized communities. In 1998, New York-based photographer Zana Briski started photographing prostitutes in the red-light district of Calcutta. She eventually developed a relationship with their children, who were fascinated by her equipment. After several years of learning in workshops with Briski and san antonio video production , the kids created their own photographs with point-and-shoot 35 mm cameras . Their images capture the intimacy and color of everyday life in the overpopulated sections of Calcutta. Proceeds from the sale of the children’s photographs go to fund their future education.
YOUR ASSIGNMENT – is simple. Think about the movie. Think about your life. Think about their lives. 350 word minimum. Free write. Your prompt – I was not born in a brothel. Due posted to google classroom by 11:59 PM Monday, September 27.
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Michelle Sweeney – Facebook post / shared by Kaysie Stark (OHS c/o 2016)
We arrived in Chicago yesterday afternoon after pretty horrible Lufthansa flight. The flight was full and there were about 30 refugees on board – families with lots of small kids, who were tired, frightened and clearly overwhelmed, most spoke hardly a word of english. Some of them had never been on a flight before. Many didn’t know where they were (a women asked me when we were sitting on the tarmac at Frankfurt if “this was America?”). One family in particular appeared to be quite poor – the children were dressed in rags. Literally. Rags. And yes, they did smell a bit too. The kids had no nappies and they had very obviously been travelling for a long time. They looked utterly dishevelled.
This is not what made the flight horrible. It was actually heartwarming to see that an organisation (IOM I think) was arranging for these people to find safety and security in a new country. They were hopeful. Relieved to be going somewhere else. Tearful at the thought of starting a new life. But I imagine for them it was also terrifying – such a huge amount of uncertainty ahead of them.
What made the flight awful was the behaviour of the other passengers around them. We hadn’t been on the plan five minutes when the passengers around the ‘poorest’ family starting bitching and whining about these children that were crying. The passengers asked to be moved. The passengers started talking to each other about the ‘free tickets these families were being given’. And about how they ‘just knew that the kids weren’t going to stop crying all throughout the flight’. Frankly, they were vile. They spoke about these human people like they weren’t sitting right there next to them. Like they were trash. Like they didn’t matter. It was disgusting. We were mortified. Angry and upset by it. I felt so ashamed.
So, I say to you that it’s wonderful to see so many people supporting the plight of refugees by donating, campaigning and pleading with governments to do more. But none of that matters a sod, if when someone in dire need is sitting next to you and you can’t find a civil word to or a smile for them. Just be kind. Be kind to the person next to you, to the family in rags that smells a bit. To the person who doesn’t have a nice white smile and clean clothes. Because that smile or kind word might be the only one they get that day.
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