SWIMMING

NEW WORK

2008-09-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

destroyer

2008-09-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

ive been thinking a lot about destruction...

kali

the destroyer

i want to begin by saying that kali has a bad name...
all things must be destroyed and contain destruction in their cycle
but there is something you know that is in me a prevelent part that has emerged that is destruction... destruction of myself... as though i think i can take on the ills of those around me... deny myself things the i am... for the benefit of those around me... or of someone... and somehow i think this is okay...

its an addiction

self destruction is an addiction

but i do feel paralyzed... a paralysis against it... i can't stop

i am not looking to e loved... i am not looking to be like some one...
i just dont understand ... i guess i dont feel like there is much reason or purpose to me without certain things... what is the point of the rest... maybe...

i dont feel sad really... i dont feel much... i am just looking... at a destroyer... a destructive force and asking why...

interesting... what do you think?

2008-09-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

So... interesting thing... my last post is not here!!

oh well...

so today I looked at my chinese horoscope again... how depressing...

well it seems that my best years are behind me... if i am to have any relationship, it is over... and for the next 7 years, I will be within the worst years of my life...

what do you think?

as i am not so sure that it is so off, i am a little depressed...

heeheehee

last night i had an interesting dream... a card arrived... filled with little notes and adoration... she sent a lot of gooey love stuff... an anniversary... weird

the little love

2008-08-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

i cant seem to sleep... my thoughts
turning to the little love...

i see the little love
in many different scenes

i see the little love
wrapped up in a lovers
embrace

remember that night outside of town
when he wished he was
with the little love
she might be lonely?

i do
i remember

the little love

the land of enchantment

2008-08-22T06:04:00.000-07:00

so i am roughly 6ish weeks from moving 1059 miles... in a way many aspects of my life are resolving themselves... and in a way others are just as complicated... today i woke up and resolved myself to concentrating on the building and working here today... but i guess i feel a little done with working and i just want to travel... or make my jewelry or sew some stuff...

i do think it is funny to see the things i feel like doing and looking honestly at what i would like my life to look like.

i do think this move is a step in that direction... in the direction of motion... in the direction of a good future...

chi

2008-08-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

sobriety

2008-08-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

today is a dream day...

different from other dreams...

today is a sober dream...

a dreamy person am I ...

but they are not ususally so sober...

interesting element...

that is sobriety... in dreams

i wonder these days between real and

make-believe... knowing the elements of reality fall into

those made up scenarios

but that they are in fact

products of my insecurities

products of my mind

and now

sober

interesting these nuances

effect the dreams, not

not in the slighest

or perhaps they do

but there is no sadness

no

only love

a rich love

an infinite love

no need for understanding

acceptance

love

no fear

or fakery

today

2008-07-28T15:37:00.001-07:00

Pisces (February 19 - March 20)
12

Making love work isn't always easy, yet the results can be very convincing when it all comes together. When problems surface, pushing for what you want isn't necessarily your best option. Now, more than ever, you must recognize that there are many types of love. Letting go of your individual needs can open your heart to a more spiritual kind of relationship that can be quite fulfilling for you at this time.

July 28, 2008

tarot.com

peace

2008-07-19T10:31:00.000-07:00

Where you find love.... there is freedom...

love is not outside the self...

sri sri

2008-07-16T05:12:00.000-07:00

Q:Is there no God?

Sri Sri: Now tell me what is the definition for God. Then I'll tell you if there is God or not, if I can tell you. Is God a person who created the universe and went into hiding because He made lot of mistakes, so that nobody catches Him? Up in the heaven trying to give you one little finger and dangling carrots in front of you or punish you when you do things or get angry at you all the time. Is He a person? What is God? Has anybody seen? Is God a person? Big confusion in the world. GOD (Generator, Operator, Destroyer). If GOD is love and love is all that is, He is everywhere. Lets looks at the qualifications of God, God is omnipresent, every where in every atom. No place where God is not. He is omnipotent, omniscient. Consciousness has this quality. In Upanishads there is a story. A boy asks his father tell me, How is God like, Father tells him, God is like the sky, space, everything exists in space, everything dissolves in space and everything is created in space. But space is dead, GOD is alive. Another example like fish in the water. Where is the life of the fish in the body or in the water? If life is in the body, if you take it out then also there should be life. There is life only as long as there is water in the fish. But where is the life? Like that where are we, we are in the space in the air. Where is the life, in the air. In the same way the space which is the basis of all existence is what God is. So God has no escape. If He is not in one place, He loses his qualification of being a God. God is that energy, that substratum of the universe in which everything is born, exists and dissolves, and that is what we all are. If love is God certainly that is what you are and I'm God. The Sufi saint said 'An al haq'. The Vendantin said 'Aham Brahmasmi'. We are made up of Love, that Divinity. When do we don't realize it, when we are veiled by stress, ignorance, small
mindedness. When the lake is disturbed you can't see the reflection.The disturbance on the lake is the mind.In the Bible also it is
said 'Be still and know I'm God' so being that stillness then you know hat I'm God. So if God is love, I'm definitely love, so are you. Don't
excommunicate from your category. That is what the world does and then starts suffering. A saint in India Kabir said "what a stupid thing man is doing, it's like the musk deer, has musk in itself but searches for it all over the forest. Just bend yourself down, meditate, be still and that is where God is.

Q: How does one explain the role of Divine in evolution of species?

Sri Sri: What do you call Divine? All that is harmonious you call Divine. All that is natural you call Divine. That which is not natural like
stress, tension, negative emotions are not Divine. Isn't that so? Reverence is the nature of evolved consciousness. The more happier you
are, the more reverence you have for everything. More grateful you are more reverence you have to everyone. When you recognize everything is God, the more reverence you have for everything. You know what sacredness does to you? Suppose you consider, that this is just a cake, you just eat it, throw it. But if it is sacred you take it in both hands. 100% attention is there. Your consciousness (sleeping consciousness) is woken up. With sacredness, 100% attention you receive it, your heart is there, mind is there. In India, children are told, mother is Divine, father is Divine. Because child cant see Divine in space. so "Matru Devo Bhava" (mother is all love), 2nd expression of Divinity see father, 3rd is teacher, all that he wants is for you to blossom, be strong and successful and happy in love,
4th place is Guest, Guest is God, Guest comes honor them. And honor everything in the world, honor the trees, honor the river, mountains, animals. A sense of honoring elevates you.When something belongs to someone you treat it with care. When you know
planet belongs to God, you treat it with care. Otherwise we destroy the planet. We exploit the planet. Isn't it. Vanashree, wealth of forest
has to be honored as gift to humanity. We have been asked to take care of it, our world. Our whole life is a wealth. So a sense of honoring is attached so that you feel a sense of responsibility to the society, planet. Hmmm.....

copied from: http://gurujiskripa.blogspot.com/2008/07/amazing-q-as-session-with-guruji.html

visit
art of living.org

me...

2008-07-08T07:46:00.001-07:00

THIS IS IT!

2008-07-08T07:01:00.000-07:00

I am thinking that today is the final day of sitting all day on the day bed.

I am addicted to a computer game now...

the foot is healing and i am ready to walk about the apartment and continue my little projects. I am ready to go to work. I am ready just to know that I can do whatever I want to do...

my foot!

2008-07-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

IMPACT

this surge of fire and shock raced up by body.

suddenly, i was so hot... but all of my faculties were still with me. i moved the heavy piece from my foot and hobbled backward...

sweating... my eyes cannot see clearly... my eyes cannot stay open...

i lower myself to the floor

i am panting... so hot... can't see... sweating

my sister is here... she is trying to help

i dictate to her what to do

ice

aloe

i need to get off of the floor

cool towels

i settle down

we eat...

i had invited my mom over and planned to make a gingerbread pancake brunch... i didnt have a table for us to sit... so i decided to bring a really heavy one up from the basement...

i did

and i put it together. i asked my sister to help me turn it over... and then as we did, the leg set on my side fell onto my foot... so, now i am bed ridden...

ice

epsom

ice

ice

ice

carmen marie gallo

2008-07-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

my new neice

.........................................

2008-07-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

a dream... city

2008-07-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

there is an imaginary city like a cross between chicago and new york and there is a family two parents and two children the mom is relatively absent because her work takes her from the house frequently the dad is the stay at home
the daughter is about 5th grade the son is about 10 and he is the son of the dad's sister and this family adopted them they go through their stuff
the daughter feels forgotten by her mom and one night seaks out to meet a boy and that goes very wrong... welcome to the real world...
and at some point they are in a church catholic and the son is on a lower level and he celebrates the mass more like a baptist and waves up to the dad...
btw
the camera is a character ... it doesnt have any of that irritating camera movement but it would go in for some conspiratorial shots and the dad explains that the son celebrates differently and that is okay i guess the son seems the happiest and then a... two more things when the mom gets home from work or a business trip, the daughter finds relief in her being there and another thing is that at some point, there is a lot of graffiti on a wall and the son decides that he is going to paint over it and does so with a really bright color... eventually the neighborhood has been repainted with bright and muted colors... like whole sides of buildings... not like rainbows then at the end the son is running with his roller down the street
and he is calling out a sonnet that is memorized and the sonnet is probably made up and is about colors and what they are as he runs he is painting leaving a trail of color from the roller on buildings and the street and he passes an area where there are two people sitting on a bench... he turns the corner and sees a fountain that is frozen and runs toward it the women on the bench knows the sonnet and begins to call it out with him he gets to the fountain which is dripping a little and is crying and saying the sonnet the paint roller keeps going on its own... like a broom in fantasia
and the woman is holding the boy

"where did you learn that where did you learn that?"
she says
and he tells her its from his mother

the color and style look like a julie taymore production
and that was the dream or most of it

june 30

2008-06-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

today tonight it is late you see

today i spent sitting in a cafe knitting... i think its a blanket...

once i received the call... i went to care for claire... my neice while all of the expectant grandparents raced to the hospital for the birth of what is now know as her sister, carmen maria. shortly after feeding young claire, and cleaning her... she and i climbed into the vehicle and off we were to meet her sister...

she was wonderful and talkative... i am sure that she really had no idea of what was really happening... but i do think she understands now... and is quite happy...

i got us lost in the hospital... of course i went into the wrong doors to begin with and so i was unable to find my way back... claire couldnt really remember and my dad, who was with us, was not there the first time.... so there we are... i found a doctor and he led the three of us out. claire talked about wanting apples the entire way out...

and then she pointed to sky and counted the stars... and it was beautiful

i read to her and put her to sleep and now i write... and soon i'll sleep

so today many things really did occur... too many things to relay... but the thing i will remember is a little girl noticing the stars... amidst all of the excitement... taking notice.

and now i think of a little strip of paper my gma wrote on... "and sometimes i dream"

New Blogs... New Visions...

2007-03-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Hello!!!

I am venturing forward hoping that many of us will communicate... I have two new blogs up and I invite you to participate in them...

phat fish phrenzee: www.phatfishphrenzee.blogspot.com is a blog regarding my teaching in the Juvenile Detention facility in St. Louis with Prison Performing Arts: prisonartsstl.org . I would like to open the doors to discuss and share ideas for increasing awareness of environment, community, choices and citizenry for all participants. Our vehicle is theatre and is greatly inspired by the theatre of the oppressed: www.ptoweb.org www.theatreoftheoppressed.org

wardice: www.wardice.blogspot.com is a forum engaging the public in a production to be done in st. louis in the month of MAY... wardice is an inter-provisation that requires interpersonal relationships and communication, the inter-play of current news and personal objects upon the inter-dependent dynamic of actors and audience.

JOIN AND PARTICIPATE

zigzag cowgirl

2007-02-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

ZIG ZAG COWGIRL

dominique gallo
domigallo@gmail.com
copywrite: Fall, 2006

ANNA: a woman

MICKEY: a man

LESLIE: Anna’s closest friend

BEN: Leslie’s husband

PRODUCTION NOTES:
Sounds should come from the stage: the record player, a real band. Except for the baby’s cries: this should be from the house speakers in a fashion that is overwhelming and clearly not from a baby on the stage.

Leslie is going to need to make an unseen exit. (Scene 5) This needs to be figured out in the set design.

SCENE I

ANNA’s home… It is a one room cement house. It is sparse and disheveled but not filthy dirty.

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed. Her head half hangs off. MICKEY sits on the edge of the bed. His head is placed in his hands as he looks at his feet. He looks up and looks around. MICKEY stands. Walks to dresser. Pick up wallet, keys. Walks to mirror. Checks beard. Looks at ANNA. Walks out of the room. Locks door.

BLACKOUT

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. MICKEY enters “a little older.” Places keys and wallet on the dresser. Lies down next to ANNA.

BLACKOUT

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. MICKEY sits on the edge of the bed. His head is placed in his hands as he looks at his feet. He looks up and looks around. MICKEY stands. Walks to dresser. Pick up wallet, keys. Walks to mirror. Checks new growth on his beard. Looks at ANNA. Pause. Takes a blood-stained piece of cloth from his pocket. Looks at it. Places it on the dresser. Walks out of the room. Locks door.

BLACKOUT

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. MICKEY enters “a little older” than before. Places keys and wallet on the dresser. Pause. Sees then picks up blood-stained cloth. Crosses to ANNA. Stands over ANNA. Picks up pillow. Smothers his own head in the pillow- crying. Looks at blood-stained cloth. Drops pillow. Sits on corner of bed.

BLACKOUT

Bob Dylan tune plays.

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies on her belly. Smoking a cigarette. MICKEY sits on the edge of the bed. His head is placed in his hands as he looks at his feet. MICKEY looks up and around.

MICKEY
Wow… (ANNA giggles)… I have some thing I want to show you. See you tonight?

ANNA
Alright. (bashful smile)

He exits. ANNA releases a big laugh. Lights out. BACH’s “partita for violin solo number 2 in D minor” plays.

SCENE II

LIGHTS UP. ANNA’s home. It is a sunny summer. The room is clean and bright. There is a table where ANNA and LESLIE are seated drinking coffee and eating coffee cake. LESLIE is looking at the newspaper.

LESLIE
Oh, my god, they found those kids.

ANNA
Oh, really? What does it say?

LESLIE
This is the one where the mom was stabbed and the baby was…

ANNA
Yeah… (pause)… yeah… how can you…

LESLIE
The baby was torn out…

ANNA
I know… how do you… how can you…

LESLIE
It’s worse. There were three children were home when it happened.

ANNA
Oh my god…

LESLIE
It looks like, they were stuffed in the washer and dryer.
(ANNA looks over LESLIE’s shoulder and tilts the paper toward herself)

ANNA
What is wrong with people… this is, what, the third one this month.

LESLIE
I think it always happens. One made the paper; so they all make the paper.

ANNA
How do you… so violent… I just… (They continue through the paper)

LESLIE
Honey, you can’t know… anyway, it’s awful… them poor kids.

ANNA
It’s awful… that poor family…

LESLIE
Yeah.
(ANNA walks to look out a “window”. She just stares, clutching herself. LESLIE watches her then places her head into hands)
Well, enough of that.

ANNA
Yeah… (makes herself busy arranging table and refilling coffee)

LESLIE
Life is really lookin’ up, huh?

ANNA
Yeah, I think they are.

LESLIE
Anna… do you want kids, someday?

ANNA
Oh… I guess…. Can you image? This place… (she goes far away imagining. Laughs to herself.)

LESLIE starts to talk but we can’t hear her. Then, ANNA kneels down to give an imaginary child a real piece of coffee cake. LESLIE continues to talk. We cannot hear her until…

LESLIE
It would be good for her to have all the facts of what brand of bastard ‘e is. I mean, He beat you until you couldn’t walk no more.

ANNA
Yeah… the facts.

LESLIE
Although, you know I am a little surprised that I told ‘er, ya know… I mean, who would of thought I’d be telling that woman to stay away from your former bastard. They nearly deserve each other.

ANNA
Protected you are… I’ll watch over ya.

LESLIE
I guess no one deserves what he’ll dish out. Watchin’ you in that hospital room, I never thought your eyes would open…

ANNA
A little person you are… learnin’, drawin’ seein’ this for the first time…

LESLIE
I don’t think you’re listening to a word I am saying.

ANNA
Oh, What… I am…. I am. I just saw…

LESLIE
You’re my best friend, Anna. You know I’m here for you… You okay?

ANNA
Yeah, I’m sorry… Actually, I’ve never been so good. (PAUSE) I think I want kids. (Laughs… They acknowledge happiness.)

(Knock at the door. ANNA staring at door almost sick.)

LESLIE
Good… I invited someone to our breakfast.

ANNA
What? No…

LESLIE
Yes.
ANNA
Why… I’m sorry… I don’t think I want to do this today… Um… I’m sick…

(Knock at the door.)

LESLIE
What? Well… you have little choice now…

ANNA
But… it’s too soon… Jerry… Jerry… he just got paroled… Did you know? He out!

(Knock at the door)

LESLIE
All the more reason… I know you’re scared. I would be after—well—
Look, he’s a really nice guy. You don’t have to let him in… You—
You’re finally walking around again. I’m sorry, honey, I just thought…

Pause

I’ll tell him to go. I’m sorry… (makes for the door.)

ANNA
No. (goes to the door. Takes a deep breath.) He can’t beat me forever. ( Opens it. MICKEY and BEN are standing there) Um… hello… Welcome… (invites them… they enter)

BEN
Hi Anna. Hey babe. (half hugs LESLIE who kisses his check).

ANNA
Hi… (to MICKEY) I’m … um…

LESLIE
Mickey this is Anna. Come and sit everybody. (Everybody sits.)

BLACKOUT

SCENE III

LIGHTS UP several hours later. Frank Sinatra or Tito Puente or Big Band plays on the record player. There are a couple of empty Kailua bottles amongst the coffee and cakes. LESLIE and BEN are slow dancing. ANNA and MICKEY are sitting on the floor amid ink drawings of a boot in water. The audience should be able to make out the water level and the boot and the number. The drawings are numbered and contain their own detail (a particular tree or something). These drawings, if put in order, would arrange a sort of topography map. In Chronological order, they reveal the depth of the water as well as landmarks.

MICKEY
There must be a hundred of these.

ANNA
One hundred and seventeen, to be exact. (filled with pride)

MICKEY
Why?

ANNA
What?

MICKEY
Why do you have them?

ANNA
I painted them… they are mine.

MICKEY
Oh…

(ANNA begins to clean them up)

I’m sorry. I— don’t put ‘em away. I just wanted to… (gently grabs her arm. She stops and looks at him.) I like ‘em. (ANNA kneels in front of him)

ANNA
They make a map… The creek near my house…. my house when I was a kid… I use them to find my way home if I got lost… (MICKEY goes to kiss her. The record has come to the end. She turns her head away.)
I… I…

MICKEY
I just thought— I’m… I have to go… I’m sorry…

ANNA
Oh, okay

Pause he observes her

I—

Pause

MICKEY
I’d like to pick you up tomorrow at 8pm.

ANNA
Oh, okay. (stands: “seeing him out”)

(MICKEY exits. ANNA hears the music. The record is still turning on the turntable. ANNA observes BEN and LESLIE)

BLACKOUT

SCENE IV

In the darkness we hear sounds of music, laughter and moaning (ANNA and MICKEY). Lights up on ANNA standing on the opposite side of the stage of the door. She is holding a long curtain, standing on a chair. MICKEY is throwing flowers at her. She guards like a matador. They are laughing. MICKEYgoes to her. Picks her up, off the chair and onto the floor, ravaging her. Blackout, sound out.

In the darkness, we hear sounds of music, laughter and moaning (ANNA and MICKEY). Lights up on ANNA in the same area, drawing her foot crossing the threshold of their house. MICKEY plays his guitar. She looks at him.

ANNA
I’m home… (MICKEY smiles, continues to play more excitedly)

Blackout, sound out.

In the darkness, we hear sounds of music and whispering (ANNA and MICKEY). Lights up on ANNA in the same area, standing on a chair, trying to put up a curtain, different from before. MICKEY sits reading a paper. ANNA reaching but can’t quite reach.

ANNA
Mickey… (chair wobbles) Mickey… (she falls off the chair and shouts out.)

MICKEY
(looking up from the paper) Oh… (goes to her and helps her up.)

Blackout, sound out.

In the darkness, we hear sounds of music, laughter and whispers (ANNA). Lights come up on ANNA in the same area, drawing her foot walking away from her house. MICKEY just sits.

MICKEY
I’m going out.

ANNA
Okay. (He leers at her. She does not notice. Continues to draw.) I have tacos for dinner. Could you pick up some beer?

MICKEY
Aren’t you the least bit interested in where I’m going?

ANNA
(She stops. Thinks a little.) No. Should I be?
ANNA (cont.)
Pause

Do I want to go?

MICKEY
No, I guess not.

Blackout, sound out.

In the darkness we hear sounds of laughter and moaning (LESLIE and MICKEY). Then we hear BEN’s muffled voice yelling. LESLIE yells a muffled “NO.” Light up on ANNA drawing another boot standing in water. In the darkness comes the sound of a baseball bat hitting a car. Screaming and yelling ensue. A death scream issued by LESLIE.

Lights up on ANNA, setting the table, looks up as though she heard it. Looks toward the door. MICKEY bursts through the door. He is covered in blood and bruises. His clothes are torn and a mess.

ANNA
Oh my god… (MICKEY is unable to respond)

What happened…?

Sit down…

(MICKEY stumbles into the house. He does not look at ANNA. ANNA sits him down and gets towels and water. She becomes his nurse. He says nothing.)

Where were you? What were you doing? (MICKEY pathetically tries to stop her.)

Okay… it’s okay…

I’ll take care of you.

I’m here. Was it the car? A car accident?

(ANNA removes his shirt)

MICKEY
(Mumbling) stop… you… I can’t… Please stop.

ANNA
No… no… I’m will clean you up and you just go to bed… it’s okay… I’m here…

(MICKEY puts his hands up as though to defend himself. But not with a lot of will to stop her from cleaning him)

It’ll be fine… you’re safe…

MICKEY
(picks her up by her throat and pushes her against the wall) Stop it! You bitch! Open your eyes. Why didn’t you care!

ANNA
I can’t… stop—

MICKEY
You slut… You got me… you didn’t care… jealous… you got me to… you killed her!

ANNA
Let go! I can’t breath! Let go! Help…. (gasping for breath) Let go!

(They stare at each other. He lets go of her. She falls to the ground, panting. Pause. ANNA looks at him… recovers. Crawls to water and towels. Cleans Towel. Returns to MICKEY who is staring at the wall. ANNA washes his back)

MICKEY
I…
I…
Do you want to know where I was?

Don’t you care?

ANNA
I am happy you are safe… alive.

MICKEY
I was… I was…with Leslie.

ANNA
Is she hurt? (Silence) Where is she? (Silence) Is she hurt? (Silence) Did you hurt her?

MICKEY
Oh, No… Ben… it was Ben… He did…

He knew…

Silence

But, not you…
You didn’t…
I had sex with Leslie!

ANNA
Where is she?

MICKEY
Don’t you care? I cheated on you with your little friend.

ANNA
I heard you. Where is she?

MICKEY
What? I had my dick in her mouth… I fucked her!

(ANNA pauses… hits him with the towel. Finds herself. Then continues bathing him)

ANNA
Where is she?

MICKEY
She felt real good!

ANNA
Is that why you hurt her? (hits him with the towel.) ‘Cause she felt so good? (she hits him with towel as though it were a whip.) What did you do? You are covered in blood. Is it hers? (MICKEY guards himself against the beating )

MICKEY
Stop! Stop! Enough!

ANNA
Did you kill her? What did you do? (she gives him one last slashing)

MICKEY
Ben! It was Ben. Ben hurt her! I didn’t hurt her…

ANNA
Okay…

MICKEY
Aren’t you mad? Don’t you care?

ANNA
Did he kill her?

MICKEY
I don’t know.

ANNA
Where is she?

MICKEY
In my car… behind the fields. You’re not jealous? Don’t you love me anymore?

ANNA
What’s wrong with you? (PAUSE) You don’t know?

Is what you did, a sign of love?

You want to talk about love? That is not love… I’ve been down that road. I know this road. That bastard hurt me… just different than you. Jerry hit me with his hands with objects. I woke up in hospitals or got there eventually. You, you don’t hit… you don’t talk… you lash out without fists, without words. I wake up, four walls… I stay in… four walls. Four fucking walls…

Pause

(She picks up his shirt. She tears it in many pieces.)

I want you to keep this piece. I will keep this piece. (She hands him one piece. She places her piece in her pocket.) You want a sign of my love. You want a sign? This is a sign. Whenever you forget, look at it. Remember today. I don’t know if it’s love. But, it’s somethin’. And, I don’t wanna know no more. (He takes the piece of shirt. Places it in his pocket. They are very sober.)

Are you hurt anywhere?

MICKEY
No.

ANNA
Fine. I’m going to find Leslie. I’ll be back.

MICKEY
I’ll go with you…

ANNA
No, please no… stay here. Eat your dinner. I’ll clean up when I get home.

Go to bed.

(starts to leave)

ANNA (cont.)
We’re going to have a baby.

Pause

I’ve always wanted a baby. (Big smile… closes door behind her.
BLACKOUT

SCENE V

Lights come up on an extremely colorful and fantastic scene. There is a band playing festive Mexican songs. ANNA and LESLIE are preparing an enormous feast and decorating for a party. They move as though they are dancing on a stage. LESLIE is only a memory. She is according to ANNA’s idealized vision of her. This translates in beauty, movement, voice, and dress. But, she is not there, so she should not touch anyone. Nor, should she be able to lift or do things on her own. She can help, however, like a helpful wind that aids you to open the door. ANNA is very pregnant. The place is decorated for a party. This is a one to two minute choreographed intermezzo.

LESLIE
Do you have the salsa?

ANNA
Oh my god… I can never remember anything… Where are the tomatoes?

LESLIE
Under the table.

(ANNA takes out an enormous box of tomatoes. They are beautiful.)

ANNA
Oh my god, I can hardly lift it. Wow, these tomatoes… this place is so beautiful. Just like I always imagined.

LESLIE
Oh, those sounds… I have to dance… Do you need me?

ANNA
I couldn’t live without you. But I can cook on my own. I love to see you dance.

(Enjoy the moment)

You know, I never thought life would turn out like this. It is like all my dreams came true. Like a fairy tale. Just like a fairy tale.

(ANNA focuses on her belly then continues to prepare the salsa. There is a rattle at the door. It is MICKEY. He is having a difficult time with the doorknob because his arms are filled with field flowers. LESLIE helps with the door. ANNA lets out a burst of glee.)

MICKEY
I’m sorry I’m late. But, they were so beautiful… I couldn’t carry enough.

(ANNA takes an armful and places them in a bucket of water. MICKEY looks down at the remainder and throws them into the air. He catches one and prunes it. Places it in to ANNA’s hair or maybe her dress)

MICKEY
Everything is perfect isn’t it.

(He kneels down and embraces her legs, gently kissing her belly)

ANNA
Everything is perfect.

(During this time, LESLIE disappears.)

(MICKEY gently leads her to the bed and lays her down. He lies behind her, caresses her arms, belly, legs. The bands is nearly unheard, nearly unseen as they play their ballad)

MICKEY
Tell me you will never leave.

(ANNA turns her head to the side, staring off into the distance.)

(The lights shift to darken on the bed and come up on the band and LESLIE dancing.)

ANNA
You never told me about that night.

MICKEY
Shh… not now.

(LESLIE sits at the table. ANNA unknown to MICKEY gets up and sits at the table. MICKEY continues as though she is there.)

LESLIE
Hello, honey.

ANNA
Hey, are you hungry?

LESLIE
No.

ANNA
Gosh, I am.

LESLIE
I’ll watch you eat.

ANNA
It’s almost time, you know. (LESLIE nods.) I’m so scared. I just—

LESLIE
Honey… (ANNA is sobbing) Honey! You don’t need to worry. Everything is perfect. We are going to have a beautiful baby. You will be a perfect mother.

ANNA
But— (controlling herself) but, Mickey… he’s so good, he’ll be a good father, won’t he?

LESLIE
Oh, the best. Don’t you worry… don’t you worry one bit. We’ll be one big, happy family.

ANNA
Sometimes (laughs to herself) you know, sometimes I think you’re not really here. Sometimes I think you really did die. And I get so—

LESLIE
Shh… he’s finishing up, honey… it’s time to go back.

ANNA
Oh… (she walks toward the bed and lays down. LESLIE disappears. ANNA screams.)

BLACKOUT

SCENE VI

In the darkness, we heard the sounds of a baby’s cries. The band is playing a lonely ballad. Lights rise on ANNA who lays face up on the bed the baby is on the bed with her. MICKEY enters with a rocking chair.

MICKEY
Anna, the baby…

(He puts the rocking chair down and picks up the baby.)

Anna, Anna… um… I brought… you rest

(He sits with the bundle in the rocking chair. He sings a little lullaby. The band no longer plays they are dark. ANNA sits up. She is clutching her bloody piece of cloth. She looks at MICKEY. LESLIE comes in and stands behind him. He sees ANNA looking at them.)

MICKEY
The baby was cryin’. Didn’t you hear her?

ANNA
I guess I was dreamin’

MICKEY
What were you dreamin’ about?

ANNA
I don’t know… (Pause)… I think I am dreaming about… a little creek. A little creek near a little house… were I lived once. But I can’t find it. The house… I can’t find the little house. There’s only the creek and trees. And I think I have a friend nearby.

MICKEY
Well, this little bundle needs her momma. You can’t just check out like that.

ANNA
Sure. Where were you? Where were you?

MICKEY
Oh, don’t you see? I’m sittin’ in it. (Pause) I bought you a rockin’ chair.

ANNA
I see. (She stands and walks to him and drops her cloth in his lap. Exits)

MICKEY
Anna! (Stands) Wait, come back.
MICKEY (cont.)
You can’t leave me. You can’t. I won’t let you.

You can’t leave me with this kid. With this shirt. You can’t go. (cries and clutches the baby.) I won’t allow it.

(He puts the baby down and runs outside. We hear a struggle and watch him drag her back inside.

MICKEY
You see? We are a family, here, a family. Lay down. You’re just tired. (He goes to a cabinet filled with Christmas decorations and gets a bell and a ribbon. He ties the bell to her leg, near her foot.)

ANNA
What are you doing?

MICKEY
Protecting you.

BLACKOUT

SCENE VII

In the darkness we hear the baby cry. Then we hear the sounds of footsteps. There is a large bell tied to ANNA’s foot. MICKEY turns on the light. ANNA is holding the baby in the rocking chair.

MICKEY
Again? (He goes and brings her a glass of water.) Here. Is she hungry?

ANNA
No, just tired. Go back to bed.

MICKEY
Nah, I stay up with you. My beautiful Anna, beautiful mother.

ANNA
I think I’d like to get some air. Walk around maybe.

MICKEY
Come back to bed. The baby’s fine.

ANNA
But, it is a lovely night. I won’t be long.

MICKEY
You are needed here, mother. Walk tomorrow. Lay down with me. I need you now. Not the moon.

Lights fade to black.

SCENE VII
Lights rise on ANNA and LESLIE sitting at the table. There are shirts tied around the bell. They are drinking tea.

ANNA
I had to put a sock in it.

The bell… I can’t move anymore.

I am dying.

LESLIE
Honey… you’re not dying.

ANNA
Yes, I am. He’s killing me. Slowly. Quietly. Death comes sweetly but not fast enough.

LESLIE
Anna. You’re not dying. You don’t want to die.

ANNA
How do you know. You’re free. You can come and go as you want. No one ties you up. Tells you not to cry.

LESLIE
That’s not true.

ANNA
Right.

LESLIE
Honey, you tell me when to come, when to leave, what to say. You keep me here. I was dead.

I was dead. And you keep bringing me back.

You have to let go… of everything.

You have to leave. Take that baby and go. Make a new life. Somewhere else.

I can’t come back. I can’t come back.

You need to let go. Let me die.

Let me leave.

(ANNA looking at her, crying,)

ANNA
You’re right. I gotta go.

LESLIE
Just follow your map. Follow those boots all the way back to that tree to that bench. Follow the creek back to that place.

ANNA
I’ll miss you. (LESLIE stands and opens the front door. LESLIE walks out. MICKEY wakes up.)

MICKEY
Anna! Close that door! Come back to bed. It’s too late for walks.

(ANNA goes to the baby’s crib and caresses his head. She sits on the bed and removes the shirts from the bell. She lies down)

MICKEY
It’s too late, now. Go to sleep. We’ll walk in the morning.

BLACKOUT

SCENE VIII

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed. Her head half hangs off. MICKEY sits on the edge of the bed. He is tightening the bell around her foot. He looks up and looks around. MICKEY stands. Walks to the baby. Lays baby down next to ANNA. Walks to dresser. Pick up wallet, keys. Walks to mirror. Checks beard. Looks at ANNA. Walks out of the room. Locks door.

BLACKOUT

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. MICKEY enters. Places keys and wallet on the dresser. Sits down next to ANNA. Picks up baby.

BLACKOUT

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. MICKEY sits on the edge of the bed. His head is placed in his hands as he looks at his feet. He looks up and looks around. MICKEY stands. Walks to dresser. Pick up wallet, keys. Walks to mirror. Checks his beard. Looks at ANNA. Pause. Takes a blood-stained piece of cloth from his pocket. Looks at it. Places it on the dresser. Walks out of the room. Locks door.

BLACKOUT

Baby cries in the darkness.

LIGHTS UP

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. MICKEY enters “a little older” than before. Places keys and wallet on the dresser. Pause. Sees then picks up blood-stained cloth. Crosses to baby. Picks her up. Sits in the rocking chair. Holds the cloth to his face and cries.

BLACKOUT

LIGHTS UP

Bob Dylan tune plays.

ANNA lies face up on the bed as before. She looks to MICKEY who lies next to her. She sits up and carefully removes the bell. She stands and gets a hidden overnight bag. Picks up the baby. Go to the dresser. Places her bloody cloth on the dresser.

ANNA
(whispers) Good night, Leslie.

Takes his keys and his wallet. Exits, locks the door behind her.

BLACKOUT
END OF PLAY

ARTs INTEgrated Education...SLAVERY SYLabus

2007-02-19T12:06:00.000-08:00

Slavery Syllabus

Dominique Gallo
copywrite: Fall 2006

Created for:
Fontbonne University
EDU 541: Framework for Learning

“Education is not filling the bowl with information,
It is making the bowl bigger.”
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi

Contents:
3-7 Lesson Plan
8-11 The Research
12 Bibliography
Supplemental turned in previously

The Lesson
Grade Level: 11th grade
Time: One month
Students: average urban public school

OBJECTIVES
Students will gain an understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare
Students will study the concept of slavery and see how it relates to them.
Students will collate two books for the library.
PLAN
1. A large piece of butcher paper will be laid out on the floor. In the center is a the word “slavery” with a circle around it. The students will be asked to do a word association with the word on the butcher paper using markers. They can draw or write other words. Then, we will reconvene and discuss our piece of butcher paper. I will engage them in a discussion on what slavery is and is not. Whether or not there is slavery today. The students will then draw a picture and write a paragraph on what slavery means to them-- Any personal stories of slavery. Because most of the children will have some knowledge of slavery in the United States, we will break into five small groups and discuss what we know about slavery. They will come up with five points on slavery which will be presented to the class. I will introduce a community journal where any students may write any question or comment to be addressed or not during the next class period.
2. I will tell them the story of the Tempest by W. Shakespeare in a story telling fashion. They can ask questions and make statements regarding the story. I will assign them to read as much of the first act as they can.
3. Today, we can discuss the language of the play. I will choose a section of each act and walk through how to read it. They will then break up into their groups again and each tackles their own act of the play.
4. Tackling the act includes rewriting it in their own words and manner. They will rewrite the play in a play format in modern times. The final quarter of each period will be another writing assignment to be completed at home. One day, we will write song lyrics inspired by the action of the play. Another day we will write a poem. Still others, paint or write a short story.
5. During this time, in our social sciences period, we will also be studying institutional and culture slavery around the world. We will look critically at the practices of cultures towards woman, and those of other races as it pertains to slavery. The students will be keeping both a personal journal and a newsprint journal of things they thought about and found in the media.
6. I will invite a representative from the United Nations, St. Louis office to come and speak on global slavery as well as regional slavery. This will be followed be a question and answer period and journal period. The students will then be given a disposable camera. Their task is to use the film to shoot photographs of things that remind them of or exemplify slavery for them.
7. At about this point, each group will be about ready to present their section of the play. We will then view Julie Taymor’s production. We will discuss the play and in what ways it relates to slavery. And in what ways it relates to us. We will then place another large piece of butcher paper on the floor and write the word “slavery” in the center. The students will do a new word and picture association on the new sheet. We will place the two sheets next to each other and discuss followed by journaling.
8. The social studies aspect will then produce a proposal or request to end an aspect of slavery. This is being delivered to or presented to the parties the students decide are appropriate.
9. The performance literature aspect will then perform their version of the Tempest. We will have a party.
10. The new Tempest inspired by W. Shakespeare will be printed and bound. The supplemental stories, drawing, song lyrics, photographs etc… will also be bound into a second book. One copy of each will be placed into the library and each student will receive a copy.
11. Each student will bind their own work: photographs, stories, journal etc.
12. We will present the play that we write along with prepared hand out material for the parents, special friends and fellow classmates.

EVALUATION
1. Evaluate each student’s conceptual understand of slavery.
2. Evaluate each student’s mastery of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
3. Evaluate a growth in each student’s civic understanding.

1. The books, performances and class participation will be used to evaluate each student’s success with the subject matter.
2. A personal session with each student will take place two weeks into the program as well as complete the program.

The Research

The Slavery Syllabus is intended for students in high School. This is due to the graphic nature of the information that will be obtained when discussing current slavery topics. I feel that this is a lesson that any average urban school could handle; however, they may or may not be able to complete the lesson within the one month time frame. This time frame was decided based on daily contact with the students in blocks of one and a hours to two hours. As an urban district, the demographic would be mixed. I think the ideal demographic contains a magnet school’s level of diversity.

The Learning challenges posed in the classrooms would be varied. As I do not have a classroom, I did not design this based on a particular class. Rather, I designed this based on a combination of classrooms I have been a part of. I am certain that in the urban school, there will be behavioral as well as emotional disorders. I do feel that the variety and types of activities presented throughout the class are meant to retain attention as well as provide a meaningful learning experience. The art-integrated education studies show a marked improvement in lower achieving students in an art integrated learning environment. (DeMoss)

The Learning challenges in the lesson itself are many. Slavery is a deeply emotional and culturally charged subject. The truthful introduction of this type of topic is difficult. However, I think that the benefits of completing the program exceed the challenges. The benefits, as I see them, include but are not limited to the following. First, each student will leave this program with experience and knowledge that is current, historic, literary and metaphoric. They will take the physical books that they have made. Second, because of the deeply associative nature of the project, they will build a huge association net. They will experience intense transfer in between subjects and in their lives. They can take this into their other subjects or interests. Third, whether the learner is more motivated by visuals, sounds or reading; whether they prefer working as a class, in groups or alone there is a great deal in the lesson plan for each leaning preference.

The student’s previous learning and understanding is explored on the very first day. Instead of having the students write or discuss what they understand, I have them on the floor in hands on activity. I want to start the class with an ice breaker of sorts. The material the will be covered can be difficult to discuss. The environment must feel safe. Having the students leave their comfort zones to get on the floor and fill out a group brain storm will pull some of the fear out.

I use many forms of instruction that support brain compatible learning. In the literature section, the students are in groups. I am using a Vygotsky style scaffolding system to introduce and teach the language of Shakespeare. Through the group’s repetition and increased rehearsal of the language, they will no longer need me. They will run their own groups. The majority of the literature side of this lesson plan is in a “practice by doing” and an “immediate use of knowledge” format. This will ensure retention of 75-90% of the information after twenty-four hours. The social science/history section of the lesson is using mostly discussion groups and teaching other. Their retention rate is more like 50%-90%.

Let us not forget that the students are constantly using one class to experience the other class. This means that the retrieval and rehearsal processes are receiving a whole host of new associations. The student will become a more efficient learner as a by product. This allows the memory to be stronger and in the information within it more easily retrievable in the future. I think that this is a tremendous motivator to work hard and bring new information to the class.

This type of instruction opens the student to experience transfer in everyday life. I hope that at some point the student will look for the transfer. I hope that they search out how things relate to each other and to them.

“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”
Galileo Galilei

Ormrod, Jeanette (2004) Human Learning Upper Saddle River, NJ
Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall
How Arts Integration Supports Student Learning: Students Shed Light on the
Connections. (2006) Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education: www.capeweb.org Author: Karen DeMoss

A SCHOOL FOR THE COMMUNITY

2007-02-19T11:59:00.000-08:00

THE SHAW SCHOOL

A proposal

Dominique Gallo
copywrite: Fall 2006

A concept created for
EDU526: Cultural Contexts/Diverse Learners
Elaine Waldon, instructor

It is our earth, not yours or mine or his. We are meant to live on it, helping each other, not destroying each other

J. Krishnamurti

From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere… If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.”

Dr. Seuss.,, One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

“Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught. “

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax

A school in its most idealized setting is that place where children grow to be reasonable, thinking adults who will lead the civilization into endless millennia. What do we ask of our schools? What are parents expecting when they send their child into an educational institution? Some would say their purpose is to grow and gain the tools to be a successful adult—to “have it better than I did.” It is then, the institution, the district to decide how best to go about this. It is their job to integrate the most contemporary science and philosophic understanding of learning into the current practices of the school to enable the institution that will offer the tools for a successful student to evolve. I do not believe this is how the modern Missourian districts approach their task. I have therefore built this presentation in accordance with the modern understanding of how students would best become successful and responsible citizens. The school I have created is an institution whose purpose is to offer an institution whose aims are toward excellence in academia, an understanding of community, of civilization, breeding real understanding of concepts enabling children to grow into broad minded, critical thinking citizens. These children will find success in their future endeavors because they have been given the tools needed to be everything they choose to become.

The Practicals… Location… Location… Location
“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.”
William B Yeats
The idea of the school is to be an intrinsic aspect of the community. If this school were to become a district, the same formula would be followed by each new institution. That formula is as follows:
· Location: the students are able to attend the school only if they live in the neighborhood or walking distance to the school’s location. This is the Shaw School. That means that children from age 4 until high school graduation who live in the Shaw and South Grand neighborhoods may attend the Shaw School.
· Community Partnerships: The Shaw School being in the Shaw neighborhood includes such institutions as The Missouri Botanical Garden, Tower Grove Park, Nursing Home, Center High School, St. Margaret’s of Scotland, as well as the School for the Deaf to name a few. We will form bonds and partnerships with these organizations and institutions in a mutually beneficial relationship. For instance, the Missouri Botanical Garden could offer seminars in exchange for volunteer work in the garden.
· Professional Partnerships: There are a variety of businesses in the Shaw and South Grand Neighborhoods. As young people become a certain age, they will require the knowledge to find a job. We will work in partnership with the businesses in the neighborhood to not only integrate our students into the work environment; but the practical knowledge as well: fill out applications, succeed in the interview process and write a resume.
· The Gallery: The school will have its own retail/gallery business. We will have a student run and student art consignment shop. The items sold will be the direct products of the students. The students will make a percentage of that item while paying a commission to the gallery.
· Teaching Style: The focus of instruction for the Shaw School will be of an Arts-Integrated approach. This means that artists work with teachers to develop the lessons. (Rabkin, Redmond ) The departments will work as a unit covering compatible units if not working as a combined unit. (DeMoss) I included a sample of the types of lessons an observer might see. (See A1.)
· Diversity: Shaw and South Grand are filled with diversity: economic, racial, ethnic, creed, and family style. These are things that make it great here.
o All of our teachers will be a minimum of bilingual. Bilingual includes sign language. In fact sign language will be one language of 50 per cent of our teachers. This school will become a streamline program for deaf children.
o Language and culture will be taught from the start. This will breed an open environment for conversation and exposure as well as forming a bilingual community. Our students will engage in bilingual studies from the first year. Exposure to a bilingual
education increases the neuro-pathways for better associations and organization in all subjects. (Ormrod) Multilingual study also shows the variety of ways a thing can be said. We will; therefore, be better able to communicate.
· Health: Obesity and Mental Disorders are now rampant in our student populations. Many of these problems are directly linked to stress, general health and diet. Most people no longer know how to cook or what to eat. We will have greenhouses on top of each of our buildings. We will also have a large kitchen. The students will learn how to grow their own food, cook their own food and make healthy making their own independent choices. We will include the stress relief and increased brain activation found in Transcendental Meditation and other relaxation and physical fitness techniques.
· Money: Our teachers will earn a $40,000 starting salary. We will retain a crew of grant writers for the purpose of paying our faculty and staff. The students and our community partners will take up their own mantles. As much as we can, we will in-source our needs: web site, cleaning crew, grounds people, cooks, etc… Donations will always be accepted with deep gratitude; however, no building or bench will be dedicated to a donor.
· Schedules: The school’s operating hours are form 7 until 7. Students have individualized schedules. Some may go from 7 until 3. Some may attend from 12 until 7. Some may come in at 7 leave at 12, come back at 3 and stay until 7. Some still may be there from 7 until 7. The students schedule will depend on that student’s home life. Some parents work nights and would never see their children. The inverse is possible. Also, many cultures observe an afternoon siesta. Some children, still simply cannot concentrate in the afternoon. Our aim is the greatest education for our students; therefore, we will build the environment that will best accomplish that goal.

Members of a Community
“Education is too important to be left solely to educators.”
Francis Keppel
A neighbor is more than geographic location. A well known African proverb states: “It takes a village to raise a child.” A village has within it many of the tools a child requires to be a successful adult. It has families, businesses, parks, libraries and schools. Defining aspects of poverty include a lack of support systems, a lack of role models, and a lack of emotional resources. (Payne) Many times, these resources exist in the neighborhood; but, there is little knowledge as to how to access them. The neighborhood also includes a certain amount of diversity. Many times our fear of what is unknown creates a division which prohibits true integration. Understanding that the community is an organism, that all of it’s parts are part of it’s whole, creates an atmosphere of acceptance through experience and understanding. We have to experience each other in order to see and understand each other.

The Shaw School will create a partnership with it’s neighbors creating a vast network of support systems. Having these systems already in place offer both the students and their parents the knowledge that the resources exist as well as aid them in locating the appropriate resources as they are needed. Our goal is to be the village that raises the child. Our goal is to offer our neighbor a more broad definition of their role in ours lives.

Community Partnerships:
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”
Galileo Galilei

In order to be a part of the community, we will build partnerships with the organizations within the neighborhood. The Shaw School will be an active member of the community by building mutually beneficial relationships with it’s neighbors. The Shaw School’s neighbors include: The Missouri Botanical Garden, Tower Grove Park, St. Margaret’s of Scotland, A Nursing and Retirement Home, The School for the Blind, Center High School, The St. Louis Public Library both on Kingshighway and Grand Avenues. We will work together to explore and understand our neighborhood and our responsibilities as citizens. Our neighbors also provide a real world laboratory for our students to experience more depth in their lessons.

This can express itself in many ways. One way this concept and interdependence will manifest is within our own school. The high school students will be required to teach in the lower school two hours per week. Another example in the community would be a clean-up program where we would invite a member of the Missouri Botanical Garden to lead a group of students through the neighborhood. The students would pick up trash while the Garden’s staff member would talk and point out the plants in front of people’s homes. She would focus on plants that are indigenous to Missouri offering a definition to “indigenous”.

This concept understanding will transfer into others fields. Indigenous is that which was here such as Missouri thistle or field onion. Plants and trees that were planted by Shaw, for instance the Ginkgo Tree, are foreign. The foreign trees alter the ecosystem. There is a certain amount of change that occurs to the indigenous plant life. Foreign plants also offer new dimensions to the landscape which were impossible without the introduction. This is plant diversity mirrors human diversity. The understanding of “indigenous” allows for more intellectual discussions of human migration, animal migration as well as cultures that are the culmination of much human caused diversity and migration.

The sociologic, historic, religious, and philosophic studies of India are a great example of how the understanding of “indigenous” can greatly impact the understanding and approach of topic: India. As you can see, the transfer and association create the neuro-net that will be better able to recall information previously learned. (Ormrod) This gives way to a greater ability to understand new information and allows them a meaningful learning experience. Not only would the students be assimilating and integrating information in a meaningful way, but they are also gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of the neighborhood as well as their place in it. This leads to an interest and realization of civic duty.
“I am sure the reason such young nitwits are produced in our schools is because they have no contact with anything of any use in everyday life.”
Petronius (circa 66 CE) The Satyricon

Professional Partnerships for Professional Students
“The result of the educative process is capacity for further education.”
John Dewey

Students grow up and will need jobs. The Shaw Schools will teach the students the hidden rules of job applications and interviews. Regardless of whether they are applying for a job as a clerk in the game stop or a web designer for the parks department, the prospective employee will need to understand the hidden rules of that organization. Most of the businesses are set up using the rules of the Middle Class. The students will then have to be comfortable in those rules. They will have to have the language skills to speak in the parent voice with a Formal Discourse Pattern. (Payne) Understanding these voice and pattern differences will enable a student for any economic background to be successful in the academic and professional endeavors. Payne states that students of poverty “cannot use the formal register. The problem is that all the state tests—SAT, ACT, etc—are in formal register. It is further complicated by the fact that to get a well-paying job, it is expected that one will be able to use formal register.” (Payne, 43)

For students in the Shaw School, these concepts will be instilled early on through our education techniques and philosophy. The partnering with the businesses from early on will continue to emphasis this understanding. What we will be able to really teach once the student is ready to apply is the application and interview process. The behavior is already there. It is important to mention that Shaw School is not interested in suffocating the culture of poverty, but to understand and be able to choose when it is appropriate to use what voice and discourse. For instance there is a place for a casual-register discourse pattern. However, that place is not a job interview. Just as creative writing is different from scholarly writing. It is important to embrace the diversity in our school.

“The things taught in colleges and schools are not an education but the means of a education.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

As part of their junior year examinations, they will be required to find and apply for a part time job. They will have to successfully fill out the job application, gather all the necessary materials required for employment and go through the interview process. Once they are hired, they will open a checking account. They will begin a savings account. They will be responsible employees. This real world study of money and economy allows for more intrinsic learning. The process which includes the bank accounts teaches the rules of the middle class thus empowering them throughout their lives.

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.”
Mortimer Adler

The Gallery
“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad.”
Theodore Roosevelt
The Shaw School’s campus includes a gallery open for business. The students will learn the value of their work by running a gallery filled with their projects and crafts. This is a consignment store like any other gallery in the city. We would ask for guidance from professional mentors such as the curators of I and I Gallery on Grand. Students will design the business plan and keep the books. Student, upon selling her work, will pay a commission to the gallery. This business will be totally run by the students under the guidance of teachers and community advisors.

The benefit of this Gallery is the real world application of running a business. The entrepreneur can come from any neighborhood and open a business if that entrepreneur has the how-to knowledge behind running the business. As a member of the community, that business owner has a duty to the betterment of that community. The students will become better problem solvers and strategizers which in turn will help them become more organized and successful students.

The student who sells their work sees the value of their craft. They can make money doing things they love. This endeavor teaches the value of work, creativity, vision, and community. And it is real, so there is a meaningful learning experience. The students become intentional learners “in which a learner is actively and consciously engaged in cognitive and metacognitive activities directed specifically at thinking about and learning something.” (Ormrod, 350)

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela

Arts Integrated Learning
“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though awakens your own expectations.”
Patricia Neal
Arts-Integrated education was sited in the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 as having a “significant correlation, growing over time, between arts participation and academic performance.” (Rabkin, Redmond, 60) Students show academic progress at two times the rate of none arts integrated programs. This is particularly true in high risk students including those from lower social- economic situations.

In a controlled experiment in Chicago, the standardized tests of the test group rose as much as two times faster than youth in more traditional schools. (Rabkin, Redmond) In fact, in a separate study, the qualitative differences between the art units and the none arts integrated units were found to be a difference of 66-78%. The highest achieving students in the non-arts units retained 44% of the material. The lowest achieving students in the same unit retained 33% of the material. The highest achieving students in the Arts-Integrated units retained 78% of the material; while their lowest achieving counterparts retained 56%. (DeMoss, 11) The lowest achieving students in the art-integrated units retained more than the highest achieving students in the non-arts units.

So what is this Arts-Integrated teaching philosophy? It is a partnership in the classrooms between learning specialists (teachers) and artists. I am broadening this to a whole school collaboration of curricula. The research done by CAPE finds that students who participate in arts-integrated learning, experience more meaningful learning.

The “Intrinsic Learning Motivation” (DeMoss, 22) is shown by the student’s interest in taking more responsibility in their arts-integrated units than the non-arts-integrated units. They exhibit more of a free thinking conceptual understanding of the material and are therefore, able to engage in more expository conversation. They retain and are able to repeat facts or tidbits of information.

“Democratic access to Intellectual Knowledge” (DeMoss, 22). When the students are involved in the art-integrated units, they are more interested in figuring out solutions more readily than in the non-arts units. Also, many barriers that contribute to competition are removed and the students work together to increase their understanding and enjoyment of the material.

“Independent Learning Beyond School” (DeMoss, 23) The students are much more interested in learning more about the subject than the non-arts students. In fact, during the study, the students were asked whether or not they would read any more on the subject, some had already looked information up on the internet or became interested in the news and engaging their parents in conversation.

Arts-Integrated learning exemplifies cognitive research. Organization is paramount to the retrieval process. (Ormrod) The organizing of information is imperative to associating it with more sources creating a large body of information making retrieval, not only easier but more meaningful.

“Attention is essential for Learning.” (Ormrod 211) A variety of engaging tasks makes an easier environment for attention to occur. “Different people may attend differently to the same stimulus.” (Ormrod 212) The intrinsic understanding expressed in arts-integrated classrooms teaches the student to continually ask him or herself questions relating to their comprehension of the concept. “People can process only a limited amount of information at a time… Memory is selective…” (Ormrod 212) Because the exercises and tasks presented in the arts-integrated schema are directed toward the understanding of the concept, the information overload is less likely because there are not more facts to be put to memory; there is more gain in understanding and experience. The greater experiences allows for more association which allows for greater flow between the working and long-terms memory and greater rehearsal of tasks and strategies that will become automatic and authentic.

“Education is the transmission of civilization.” Ariel and Will Durant
Diversity
“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.”
Charlotte Bronte

The Shaw School will be an institution that embraces diversity. This will be shown not only in the student and faculty bodies; but experienced in a meaningful manner.
Our students will live in diversity, not just study “those people.” We will strive to approach topics of language, creed, color and ethnicity from a holistic view. We are all unique. We are all similar. We will draw from our neighbors and ourselves to experience diversity in everyday life.

Diversity is embedded in the structure of the school itself. All of the teachers will be bilingual. Many of the teachers will be fluent in sign language. Our students will be exposed to a second language from the very beginning. This exposure will breed a greater experience of communication. The exposure of signing and multi-lingual classrooms will broaden the associations of objects and names.

The anthropologic studies will be an ongoing and continual experience. For instance, we will not limit the students to learning about African Americans to Black History Month. For every Robert Frost there is a Maya Angelou. We will integrate a more complete and global education. Black History Month can be more the experience of Black people in the struggle for civil rights. The understanding of what civil rights and civil liberties are. This is the study of what is guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. This is a current events study, a history study, and study of literature and social change. This is civic responsibility. I have written an example lesson labeled “A1” to show what this type of study may look like.

“Whenever people are well informed, they can be trusted with government.”
Thomas Jefferson

Our diversity is what makes us united and unique. Our local heroes are part of this lesson. It would be common practice for members of the community to come to the school and share who they are. Our single, working parents, our entrepreneurs, our alderman, our businesspeople, our artists, our clerks and our parents are our heroes. They show us our diversity.

Our students will be introduced to the people who make up the neighborhood support systems. This openness with the community leaders provides a basis for personal exploration. The student will be able to make contact with people of all jobs and further their own understanding of who it is they wish to become. What sorts of things are important to them as well as the opportunity to test their own strengths and weaknesses.

In this forum, the students could organize a lunch with a big shot mortgage broker. They could understand what it is they do and why. The next week, they could meet a local mortgage dealer whose mission it is to provide lost cost affordable loans to people who may not otherwise consider a loan or be approved for a loan. These are two extremes of the same business. The exposure to the many professional options which include the reasons one may choose one option over another, intensifies their individuality and offers direction for their future academic career.

“In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through you.”
Mortimer Adler

HEALTH… The Science of Life
“If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.”
Carl Rogers

“Fundamental to the individual’s ability to remain healthy… are the maintenance of a sound diet and a stable, healthy routine. Also important are the pursuit of traditional practices such as yoga and breathing exercises…. Diet should be chosen to suit the individual constitution. If one understands the constitution and its relationship to the qualities of various foods, then it is possible to select a proper diet.” (Lad, 80)

The science of diet and use of relaxation techniques such as Transcendental Meditation increase an individual’s capacity to experience life. Many problems that plague children are diseases of excess and ignorance. Many of these diseases are manageable through diet and exercise. The Shaw School will approach this by a two fold path. First is through the practice of Transcendental Meditation and yoga. The second is understanding of food, it’s properties and how they affect us.

The practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a proven tool to the decrease of anxiety and fear. What the practice of TM does is centers the individual in a neutral space fully activating the neurology of the brain. This space is free of muscular and mental anxiety and tension. This, recalibrating of the body, enables the practitioner to enter into new situations free to experience the exercise fully. By activating the neurological pathways, increase the ability to listen as the person is not anticipating directions as much as hearing them. The research in Maharishi University shows through brain scans that there are greater connections in the neural network and increase brain activation due to the practice of TM. There have been studies of this practice allowing students to reach their full potential as tests show an increase in GPA. (Dodds) TM will therefore, be taught and included in the structure of the school.

“Exercise improves the circulation system, immunity is increased, muscles are strengthened and relaxed, and the elimination of malas (waste) is assisted. It stimulates digestive fire, which increases appetite. This can be positive, if the diet is healthy and balanced… Exercise should be gentle and pleasant, and not strain or over-exert the body. It is best to choose a form of exercise appropriate to your constitution.” (Chauhan 139)
The Shaw School will instill the principles of Ayurveda into the daily understanding of the individual’s moods and needs. Ayurveda is a very individualized approach to health and diet. We will partner with an Ayurvedic doctor versed in western medicine to guide the Ayurvedic Practitioner in the education of each student’s individual constitution. We are not interested in eliminating the use of Western Medicines, we are interested in promoting total health and individual awareness among students so they may be better able to both use preventative care and provide academic and professional excellence.

The students will learn how they are unique and yet an intrinsic to the balance of the universe. The student will learn how to pay attention to their own bodies to ensure a greater understanding of their needs. The students will become the cooking staff and clean up staff for each other.
“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.”
Anatole France
The Shaw School will be very unique as we will have green houses on the roof of each and every building. The students in tandem with science classes will in effect grow their own food. They will grow fruits and vegetables alongside herbs. They will learn the qualities of the food from seed to plant to kitchen.

The kitchen, then, is a building unto itself. The dietician will be able to teach the students a variety of recipes and techniques in preparing their food. Guest cooks will also come and teach the students. The students will teach their peers their own recipes.

The benefits of this type of program range from personal to classroom to community. The students begin with as understanding and responsibility for themselves and how they feel, their body. The laboratory classroom is filled with meaning and meaningful learning. The students are then responsible for each other at a most basic level: food. We are becoming citizens.
“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands. Anne Frank
An Ideal Setting Comes at a Price
“Your education is worth what you are worth.”
Anon
I remember a couple of years ago, a restaurant opened in New York City. The menu did no include prices. The owners wanted to know what the patrons would pay or felt the food was worth. They kept detailed records of what each patron paid for the food. After six months, they priced the food according to the data they acquired. I feel that the same will be done with this school. I think that people will place a monetary value on what they receive through this independent school. Money is not the only currency. The parent may also pay with time, work or goods. Of course, this will not cover all of the costs; The Shaw School will have grant writers on staff trying to make all the ends meet.

All donations will be met with gratitude; however, no donation will warrant the singling out of a bench or a building. All gifts, no matter, the comparative size are any greater than any other due to each gift giver’s relative ability.

The Shaw School will in-source as much of its needs as we are able. The web site will be maintained by the graphic design and computer classrooms. The cooking and cleaning will be done by students and parents. The grounds will be kept by the students and the parents.

Our goal for the faculty is to pay a starting salary of $40,000 per year. Our faculty will be required to keep current on education topics, research and personal development. They will meet these requirements with inter-faculty papers, new classes and new certifications.

“I am not a teacher; only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed

ahead–ahead of myself as well as of you. “

George Bernard Shaw

As a community, we will lead be example. We, too, are members of the community. We will exemplify this in our actions and our attitudes. The Shaw School is based in the idea that we are all in this together. We are a democracy and are therefore be informed, knowledgeable and concerned citizens. This is our aim.

“The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher.”
Elbert Hubbard

Schedules
“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”
Robert Frost

The Schools is opened from 7am until 7pm. The students and teachers are placed on individual schedules. This is because we are all unique in our manner, our family and our culture. A parent may work nights. This parent and this student may require that morning time as their quality time. This student’s day would begin at 11 or 12 and go until 7pm. Another student may have a typical 7am-3pm day. Another student, still, may have siesta with their family during he lunch hour or be unable to concentrate after lunch. This student would be in school from 7am until 12pm then again from 3pm until 7pm. There are a myriad of possibilities. Each student will be evaluated and scheduled accordingly.

It is important to know that the campus is open from 7am until 7pm. The student may, if fact remain at the campus and participate in gardening, cleaning, drawing or wondering. The campus is open and each student is instilled with respect for it’s amenities. Disrespect for art labs, gardens, kitchens will not be tolerated; discipline, however, will be just as specialized as the schedule.
Group Medtiation will be held at 7am and then again at 3pm.
“Education is not filling the Bowl with information. It is making the Bowl Bigger.”
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
CONCLUSION
The design of the Shaw School is based on a couple of basic topics. The first is that the school is the place where children become adults. This is the place where they learn how to become members of the society. With this in mind, the students are armed with the tools they need to survive in our culture.

They are offered support systems. Through community partners, teachers and the community, itself the role models and support systems and their meaning will be taught and experienced by the students of the Shaw School. The community contains role models. The community contains the systems. And if we find one that isn’t there, we can take steps to creating that system. Graduates of the Shaw School will be unable to suffer the crippling effect being without a support structure or role models. Graduates of the Shaw School will be able to find their system or create their system.

The Shaw School students will be offered an education only considered in very wealthy schools. This education will be free of a set charge. The value of the education will be expressed in the donation of money, time and goods. The education of financial institutions, entrepreneurial concepts, job search tools, and creating items for consignment, offers our students the know-how to be success in their careers. They can break they cycle of generational poverty. Those not from poverty will be equally engaged in the practices of success. The diversity of our school will breed the consciousness that will perpetuate responsible citizenship.

Emotional dysfunction is address in the structure and compassion of the Shaw School. As the students are better able to monitor their bodies, they will monitor their emotions and be better able to address their states and problems. The practice of TM and yoga will also help to increase their awareness and emotional stability. The role models are in place to help each and every student regardless of background understand and deal with their emotions.

Mental skills are acquired through an art-integrated curriculum designed to provide the greatest concept understanding. Teaching the student to organize their thoughts and introducing material in a variety of ways increases the student’s transfer ability. This increase in transfer makes the student a better student.

The attention paid to the self and world around the self offers a holistic, cosmic guidance to the students. The attention is expressed in a variety of ways but is attained primarily through the Ayurvedic health principles, meditation, gardening and physical well being. As well as the experience in civil service and the job place. This understanding is supportive to the student’s feeling of worth and importance. This is the cosmic intelligence that understands that we are all connected and we are all separate. This is spirituality anchored in science and free to anyone of any religious persuasion. This is not a religion.

Ruby Payne expressed and repeated the necessity for people to understand the hidden rules of the classes in order to move through them. Shaw School will be particularly able to accomplish this due to its intense attention to diversity. This diversity is inherent in the school’s attitudes toward the different classes as well as the cultural inclusion throughout the lessons. Each class has something of value to offer. Each situation calls for a certain group of rule to be followed. The key is to know what rules are called for and to feel comfortable in utilizing those tools.

I believe that would this school be built, the graduates would be nothing short of superb. They would be superb in their confidence, understanding and clarity of themselves and their environment.

“When asked how much educated men were superior to those uneducated, Aristotle answered, ‘As much as the living are to the dead.”
Diogenes Laertius

“Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master.”
Leonardo da Vinci

A1
Sample Lesson
Grade Level: 11th grade
Time: One month
Students: average urban public school

OBJECTIVES
Students will gain an understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare
Students will study the concept of slavery and see how it relates to them.
Students will collate two books for the library.
PLAN
1. A large piece of butcher paper will be laid out on the floor. In the center is a the word “slavery” with a circle around it. The students will be asked to do a word association with the word on the butcher paper using markers. They can draw or write other words. Then, we will reconvene and discuss our piece of butcher paper. I will engage them in a discussion on what slavery is and is not. Whether or not there is slavery today. The students will then draw a picture and write a paragraph on what slavery means to them-- Any personal stories of slavery. Because most of the children will have some knowledge of slavery in the United States, we will break into five small groups and discuss what we know about slavery. They will come up with five points on slavery which will be presented to the class. I will introduce a community journal where any students may write any question or comment to be addressed or not during the next class period.
2. I will tell them the story of the Tempest by W. Shakespeare in a story telling fashion. They can ask questions and make statements regarding the story. I will assign them to read as much of the first act as they can.
3. Today, we can discuss the language of the play. I will choose a section of each act and walk through how to read it. They will then break up into their groups again and each tackles their own act of the play.
4. Tackling the act includes rewriting it in their own words and manner. They will rewrite the play in a play format in modern times. The final quarter of each period will be another writing assignment to be completed at home. One day, we will write song lyrics inspired by the action of the play. Another day we will write a poem. Still others, paint or write a short story.
5. During this time, in our social sciences period, we will also be studying institutional and culture slavery around the world. We will look critically at the practices of cultures towards woman, and those of other races as it pertains to slavery. The students will be keeping both a personal journal and a newsprint journal of things they thought about and found in the media.
6. I will invite a representative from the United Nations, St. Louis office to come and speak on global slavery as well as regional slavery. This will be followed be a question and answer period and journal period. The students will then be given a disposable camera. Their task is to use the film to shoot photographs of things that remind them of or exemplify slavery for them.
7. At about this point, each group will be about ready to present their section of the play. We will then view Julie Taymor’s production. We will discuss the play and in what ways it relates to slavery. And in what ways it relates to us. We will then place another large piece of butcher paper on the floor and write the word “slavery” in the center. The students will do a new word and picture association on the new sheet. We will place the two sheets next to each other and discuss followed by journaling.
8. The social studies aspect will then produce a proposal or request to end an aspect of slavery. This is being delivered to or presented to the parties the students decide are appropriate.
9. The performance literature aspect will then perform their version of the Tempest. We will have a party.
10. The new Tempest inspired by W. Shakespeare will be printed and bound. The supplemental stories, drawing, song lyrics, photographs etc… will also be bound into a second book. One copy of each will be placed into the library and each student will receive a copy.
11. Each student will bind their own work: photographs, stories, journal etc.
12. We will present the play that we write along with prepared hand out material for the parents, special friends and fellow classmates.
EVALUATION
1. Evaluate each student’s conceptual understand of slavery.
2. Evaluate each student’s mastery of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
3. Evaluate a growth in each student’s civic understanding.

1. The books, performances and class participation will be used to evaluate each student’s success with the subject matter.
2. A personal session with each student will take place two weeks into the program as well as complete the program.
A2
Clarification of the Model

This is a piece of property that actually exists in the Shaw Neighborhood in the 3900 block of Magnolia in St. Louis, Missouri.

The southern border of the campus is Tower Grove Park. The western border is Lawrence Avenue.

The new buildings will be green. This means that they use solar energy for electricity and heat. The toilettes are grey water toilettes. This means that the water used in the toilettes is then flash composted and used for the plant irrigation system. Because there is a greenhouse on the roof of each building, the total energy requirement is lessened. The buildings are however hooked up to the grid and we sell excess energy to the energy company.

The preexisting buildings will be transformed green as the finances permit.

Building One: Administrative Building
This is an administrative building. This is where the grant writers and the rest of the staff is located.

Building Two: The Gallery
This is the store that the school owns and the students run.

Building Three: Eating House
This house will be the dining facility. There is a separation between the students and the faculty.

Building Four: The Kitchen
This building contains three full kitchens. This is where food preparation classes and the actual food preparation occurs.

Building Five: Grades 7-9
This is currently a huge six flat. It will be transformed into a junior high school. The idea is to transition the students into these more traditional building in preparation for their academic future. This building will be less traditional on the interior than its counterpart in the high school.
Building Six: Grades 10-12
This is the high school. It is very traditional in appearance.

Building Seven: The Lower School
The Lower School is a completely new building. There is an octagonal main building. This is a multi purpose room. It houses theatre, assembly and indoor physical education.

There are three accompanying buildings which are the classrooms. They are also octagonal in shape. The interior walls are not fixed so each classroom may be opened up to create a classroom double in size.

Building Eight: The Art Studio
The Art Studio is a full studio containing drawing and painting rooms as well as potters wheels, fibers materials and a photo lab.

Building Nine: The Science Lab
The science lab is just that. Laboratories for Biology, Physics, Chemistry and a discovery lab.

GARDENS
Besides the 7 food gardens on the roof of each building, there are 9 ecosystems. These are part of the science department. They include an indigenous Missouri garden, a desert, a pond, meditation garden, a rock garden, a perennial garden, an annuals/home garden to name a few.

This environment is meant to awaken the students to the reality of what they study as well as provide a unique and beautiful garden within which learning is excited.

1 The Arts Make a Difference. 2006. Chicago, Illinois: Educational Leadership/
February. Author: Nick Rabkin and Robin Redmond.
2 Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. (2004). Human Learning. Columbus, Ohio. Pearson, Merrill
Prentice Hall
3 Payne, Ruby K. (1998). A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Revised Edition)
Baytown, Texas. RFT Publishing.
4 How Arts Integration Supports Student Learning: Students Shed Light on the
Connections. 2006. Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education: www.capeweb.org.
Author: Karen DeMoss
5. Lad, Vasant Dr. (1984) Ayurveda: the Science of Self-Healing, A Practical Guide.
Dehli, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
6. The Effect of Transcendental Meditation on Language Learning and GPA. 1975.
Speeches and meeting papers. Dinah Dodds
7. Maharishi International University Mixes Meditation and Education. 1975.
CHANGE. Allison Engel
8. Tiwari, Maya. (1995) Ayurveda: Secrets of Healing. Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. Lotus
Press
9. Chauhan, Partap Dr. (2000) Eternal Health: The Essence of Ayurveda. Faridabad,
Haryana, India .
10. The Professional Artist as Public School Educator. 2000-2001. CAPE. Lynn A.
Waldorf, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

11. Khasla, Dharma Singh M.D. and Cameron Stauth. 2001. Meditation and Medicine.
New York City, NY. Pocket Publishing.
12. Social Cognition in Context: Validating a Cartoon-Based Attributional Measure for

THE SHAW SCHOOL

A proposal

Dominique Gallo
Fall 2006

A concept created for
EDU526: Cultural Contexts/Diverse Learners
Elaine Waldon, instructor

It is our earth, not yours or mine or his. We are meant to live on it, helping each other, not destroying each other

J. Krishnamurti

From there to here, from here to there, funny things are everywhere… If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good.”

Dr. Seuss.,, One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish

“Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught. “

George Savile, Marquis of Halifax

A school in its most idealized setting is that place where children grow to be reasonable, thinking adults who will lead the civilization into endless millennia. What do we ask of our schools? What are parents expecting when they send their child into an educational institution? Some would say their purpose is to grow and gain the tools to be a successful adult—to “have it better than I did.” It is then, the institution, the district to decide how best to go about this. It is their job to integrate the most contemporary science and philosophic understanding of learning into the current practices of the school to enable the institution that will offer the tools for a successful student to evolve. I do not believe this is how the modern Missourian districts approach their task. I have therefore built this presentation in accordance with the modern understanding of how students would best become successful and responsible citizens. The school I have created is an institution whose purpose is to offer an institution whose aims are toward excellence in academia, an understanding of community, of civilization, breeding real understanding of concepts enabling children to grow into broad minded, critical thinking citizens. These children will find success in their future endeavors because they have been given the tools needed to be everything they choose to become.

The Practicals… Location… Location… Location
“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.”
William B Yeats
The idea of the school is to be an intrinsic aspect of the community. If this school were to become a district, the same formula would be followed by each new institution. That formula is as follows:
· Location: the students are able to attend the school only if they live in the neighborhood or walking distance to the school’s location. This is the Shaw School. That means that children from age 4 until high school graduation who live in the Shaw and South Grand neighborhoods may attend the Shaw School.
· Community Partnerships: The Shaw School being in the Shaw neighborhood includes such institutions as The Missouri Botanical Garden, Tower Grove Park, Nursing Home, Center High School, St. Margaret’s of Scotland, as well as the School for the Deaf to name a few. We will form bonds and partnerships with these organizations and institutions in a mutually beneficial relationship. For instance, the Missouri Botanical Garden could offer seminars in exchange for volunteer work in the garden.
· Professional Partnerships: There are a variety of businesses in the Shaw and South Grand Neighborhoods. As young people become a certain age, they will require the knowledge to find a job. We will work in partnership with the businesses in the neighborhood to not only integrate our students into the work environment; but the practical knowledge as well: fill out applications, succeed in the interview process and write a resume.
· The Gallery: The school will have its own retail/gallery business. We will have a student run and student art consignment shop. The items sold will be the direct products of the students. The students will make a percentage of that item while paying a commission to the gallery.
· Teaching Style: The focus of instruction for the Shaw School will be of an Arts-Integrated approach. This means that artists work with teachers to develop the lessons. (Rabkin, Redmond ) The departments will work as a unit covering compatible units if not working as a combined unit. (DeMoss) I included a sample of the types of lessons an observer might see. (See A1.)
· Diversity: Shaw and South Grand are filled with diversity: economic, racial, ethnic, creed, and family style. These are things that make it great here.
o All of our teachers will be a minimum of bilingual. Bilingual includes sign language. In fact sign language will be one language of 50 per cent of our teachers. This school will become a streamline program for deaf children.
o Language and culture will be taught from the start. This will breed an open environment for conversation and exposure as well as forming a bilingual community. Our students will engage in bilingual studies from the first year. Exposure to a bilingual
education increases the neuro-pathways for better associations and organization in all subjects. (Ormrod) Multilingual study also shows the variety of ways a thing can be said. We will; therefore, be better able to communicate.
· Health: Obesity and Mental Disorders are now rampant in our student populations. Many of these problems are directly linked to stress, general health and diet. Most people no longer know how to cook or what to eat. We will have greenhouses on top of each of our buildings. We will also have a large kitchen. The students will learn how to grow their own food, cook their own food and make healthy making their own independent choices. We will include the stress relief and increased brain activation found in Transcendental Meditation and other relaxation and physical fitness techniques.
· Money: Our teachers will earn a $40,000 starting salary. We will retain a crew of grant writers for the purpose of paying our faculty and staff. The students and our community partners will take up their own mantles. As much as we can, we will in-source our needs: web site, cleaning crew, grounds people, cooks, etc… Donations will always be accepted with deep gratitude; however, no building or bench will be dedicated to a donor.
· Schedules: The school’s operating hours are form 7 until 7. Students have individualized schedules. Some may go from 7 until 3. Some may attend from 12 until 7. Some may come in at 7 leave at 12, come back at 3 and stay until 7. Some still may be there from 7 until 7. The students schedule will depend on that student’s home life. Some parents work nights and would never see their children. The inverse is possible. Also, many cultures observe an afternoon siesta. Some children, still simply cannot concentrate in the afternoon. Our aim is the greatest education for our students; therefore, we will build the environment that will best accomplish that goal.

Members of a Community
“Education is too important to be left solely to educators.”
Francis Keppel
A neighbor is more than geographic location. A well known African proverb states: “It takes a village to raise a child.” A village has within it many of the tools a child requires to be a successful adult. It has families, businesses, parks, libraries and schools. Defining aspects of poverty include a lack of support systems, a lack of role models, and a lack of emotional resources. (Payne) Many times, these resources exist in the neighborhood; but, there is little knowledge as to how to access them. The neighborhood also includes a certain amount of diversity. Many times our fear of what is unknown creates a division which prohibits true integration. Understanding that the community is an organism, that all of it’s parts are part of it’s whole, creates an atmosphere of acceptance through experience and understanding. We have to experience each other in order to see and understand each other.

The Shaw School will create a partnership with it’s neighbors creating a vast network of support systems. Having these systems already in place offer both the students and their parents the knowledge that the resources exist as well as aid them in locating the appropriate resources as they are needed. Our goal is to be the village that raises the child. Our goal is to offer our neighbor a more broad definition of their role in ours lives.

Community Partnerships:
“You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself.”
Galileo Galilei

In order to be a part of the community, we will build partnerships with the organizations within the neighborhood. The Shaw School will be an active member of the community by building mutually beneficial relationships with it’s neighbors. The Shaw School’s neighbors include: The Missouri Botanical Garden, Tower Grove Park, St. Margaret’s of Scotland, A Nursing and Retirement Home, The School for the Blind, Center High School, The St. Louis Public Library both on Kingshighway and Grand Avenues. We will work together to explore and understand our neighborhood and our responsibilities as citizens. Our neighbors also provide a real world laboratory for our students to experience more depth in their lessons.

This can express itself in many ways. One way this concept and interdependence will manifest is within our own school. The high school students will be required to teach in the lower school two hours per week. Another example in the community would be a clean-up program where we would invite a member of the Missouri Botanical Garden to lead a group of students through the neighborhood. The students would pick up trash while the Garden’s staff member would talk and point out the plants in front of people’s homes. She would focus on plants that are indigenous to Missouri offering a definition to “indigenous”.

This concept understanding will transfer into others fields. Indigenous is that which was here such as Missouri thistle or field onion. Plants and trees that were planted by Shaw, for instance the Ginkgo Tree, are foreign. The foreign trees alter the ecosystem. There is a certain amount of change that occurs to the indigenous plant life. Foreign plants also offer new dimensions to the landscape which were impossible without the introduction. This is plant diversity mirrors human diversity. The understanding of “indigenous” allows for more intellectual discussions of human migration, animal migration as well as cultures that are the culmination of much human caused diversity and migration.

The sociologic, historic, religious, and philosophic studies of India are a great example of how the understanding of “indigenous” can greatly impact the understanding and approach of topic: India. As you can see, the transfer and association create the neuro-net that will be better able to recall information previously learned. (Ormrod) This gives way to a greater ability to understand new information and allows them a meaningful learning experience. Not only would the students be assimilating and integrating information in a meaningful way, but they are also gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of the neighborhood as well as their place in it. This leads to an interest and realization of civic duty.
“I am sure the reason such young nitwits are produced in our schools is because they have no contact with anything of any use in everyday life.”
Petronius (circa 66 CE) The Satyricon

Professional Partnerships for Professional Students
“The result of the educative process is capacity for further education.”
John Dewey

Students grow up and will need jobs. The Shaw Schools will teach the students the hidden rules of job applications and interviews. Regardless of whether they are applying for a job as a clerk in the game stop or a web designer for the parks department, the prospective employee will need to understand the hidden rules of that organization. Most of the businesses are set up using the rules of the Middle Class. The students will then have to be comfortable in those rules. They will have to have the language skills to speak in the parent voice with a Formal Discourse Pattern. (Payne) Understanding these voice and pattern differences will enable a student for any economic background to be successful in the academic and professional endeavors. Payne states that students of poverty “cannot use the formal register. The problem is that all the state tests—SAT, ACT, etc—are in formal register. It is further complicated by the fact that to get a well-paying job, it is expected that one will be able to use formal register.” (Payne, 43)

For students in the Shaw School, these concepts will be instilled early on through our education techniques and philosophy. The partnering with the businesses from early on will continue to emphasis this understanding. What we will be able to really teach once the student is ready to apply is the application and interview process. The behavior is already there. It is important to mention that Shaw School is not interested in suffocating the culture of poverty, but to understand and be able to choose when it is appropriate to use what voice and discourse. For instance there is a place for a casual-register discourse pattern. However, that place is not a job interview. Just as creative writing is different from scholarly writing. It is important to embrace the diversity in our school.

“The things taught in colleges and schools are not an education but the means of a education.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

As part of their junior year examinations, they will be required to find and apply for a part time job. They will have to successfully fill out the job application, gather all the necessary materials required for employment and go through the interview process. Once they are hired, they will open a checking account. They will begin a savings account. They will be responsible employees. This real world study of money and economy allows for more intrinsic learning. The process which includes the bank accounts teaches the rules of the middle class thus empowering them throughout their lives.

“The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.”
Mortimer Adler

The Gallery
“A man who has never gone to school may steal from a freight car; but if he has a university education he may steal the whole railroad.”
Theodore Roosevelt
The Shaw School’s campus includes a gallery open for business. The students will learn the value of their work by running a gallery filled with their projects and crafts. This is a consignment store like any other gallery in the city. We would ask for guidance from professional mentors such as the curators of I and I Gallery on Grand. Students will design the business plan and keep the books. Student, upon selling her work, will pay a commission to the gallery. This business will be totally run by the students under the guidance of teachers and community advisors.

The benefit of this Gallery is the real world application of running a business. The entrepreneur can come from any neighborhood and open a business if that entrepreneur has the how-to knowledge behind running the business. As a member of the community, that business owner has a duty to the betterment of that community. The students will become better problem solvers and strategizers which in turn will help them become more organized and successful students.

The student who sells their work sees the value of their craft. They can make money doing things they love. This endeavor teaches the value of work, creativity, vision, and community. And it is real, so there is a meaningful learning experience. The students become intentional learners “in which a learner is actively and consciously engaged in cognitive and metacognitive activities directed specifically at thinking about and learning something.” (Ormrod, 350)

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela

Arts Integrated Learning
“A master can tell you what he expects of you. A teacher, though awakens your own expectations.”
Patricia Neal
Arts-Integrated education was sited in the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 as having a “significant correlation, growing over time, between arts participation and academic performance.” (Rabkin, Redmond, 60) Students show academic progress at two times the rate of none arts integrated programs. This is particularly true in high risk students including those from lower social- economic situations.

In a controlled experiment in Chicago, the standardized tests of the test group rose as much as two times faster than youth in more traditional schools. (Rabkin, Redmond) In fact, in a separate study, the qualitative differences between the art units and the none arts integrated units were found to be a difference of 66-78%. The highest achieving students in the non-arts units retained 44% of the material. The lowest achieving students in the same unit retained 33% of the material. The highest achieving students in the Arts-Integrated units retained 78% of the material; while their lowest achieving counterparts retained 56%. (DeMoss, 11) The lowest achieving students in the art-integrated units retained more than the highest achieving students in the non-arts units.

So what is this Arts-Integrated teaching philosophy? It is a partnership in the classrooms between learning specialists (teachers) and artists. I am broadening this to a whole school collaboration of curricula. The research done by CAPE finds that students who participate in arts-integrated learning, experience more meaningful learning.

The “Intrinsic Learning Motivation” (DeMoss, 22) is shown by the student’s interest in taking more responsibility in their arts-integrated units than the non-arts-integrated units. They exhibit more of a free thinking conceptual understanding of the material and are therefore, able to engage in more expository conversation. They retain and are able to repeat facts or tidbits of information.

“Democratic access to Intellectual Knowledge” (DeMoss, 22). When the students are involved in the art-integrated units, they are more interested in figuring out solutions more readily than in the non-arts units. Also, many barriers that contribute to competition are removed and the students work together to increase their understanding and enjoyment of the material.

“Independent Learning Beyond School” (DeMoss, 23) The students are much more interested in learning more about the subject than the non-arts students. In fact, during the study, the students were asked whether or not they would read any more on the subject, some had already looked information up on the internet or became interested in the news and engaging their parents in conversation.

Arts-Integrated learning exemplifies cognitive research. Organization is paramount to the retrieval process. (Ormrod) The organizing of information is imperative to associating it with more sources creating a large body of information making retrieval, not only easier but more meaningful.

“Attention is essential for Learning.” (Ormrod 211) A variety of engaging tasks makes an easier environment for attention to occur. “Different people may attend differently to the same stimulus.” (Ormrod 212) The intrinsic understanding expressed in arts-integrated classrooms teaches the student to continually ask him or herself questions relating to their comprehension of the concept. “People can process only a limited amount of information at a time… Memory is selective…” (Ormrod 212) Because the exercises and tasks presented in the arts-integrated schema are directed toward the understanding of the concept, the information overload is less likely because there are not more facts to be put to memory; there is more gain in understanding and experience. The greater experiences allows for more association which allows for greater flow between the working and long-terms memory and greater rehearsal of tasks and strategies that will become automatic and authentic.

“Education is the transmission of civilization.” Ariel and Will Durant
Diversity
“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.”
Charlotte Bronte

The Shaw School will be an institution that embraces diversity. This will be shown not only in the student and faculty bodies; but experienced in a meaningful manner.
Our students will live in diversity, not just study “those people.” We will strive to approach topics of language, creed, color and ethnicity from a holistic view. We are all unique. We are all similar. We will draw from our neighbors and ourselves to experience diversity in everyday life.

Diversity is embedded in the structure of the school itself. All of the teachers will be bilingual. Many of the teachers will be fluent in sign language. Our students will be exposed to a second language from the very beginning. This exposure will breed a greater experience of communication. The exposure of signing and multi-lingual classrooms will broaden the associations of objects and names.

The anthropologic studies will be an ongoing and continual experience. For instance, we will not limit the students to learning about African Americans to Black History Month. For every Robert Frost there is a Maya Angelou. We will integrate a more complete and global education. Black History Month can be more the experience of Black people in the struggle for civil rights. The understanding of what civil rights and civil liberties are. This is the study of what is guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. This is a current events study, a history study, and study of literature and social change. This is civic responsibility. I have written an example lesson labeled “A1” to show what this type of study may look like.

“Whenever people are well informed, they can be trusted with government.”
Thomas Jefferson

Our diversity is what makes us united and unique. Our local heroes are part of this lesson. It would be common practice for members of the community to come to the school and share who they are. Our single, working parents, our entrepreneurs, our alderman, our businesspeople, our artists, our clerks and our parents are our heroes. They show us our diversity.

Our students will be introduced to the people who make up the neighborhood support systems. This openness with the community leaders provides a basis for personal exploration. The student will be able to make contact with people of all jobs and further their own understanding of who it is they wish to become. What sorts of things are important to them as well as the opportunity to test their own strengths and weaknesses.

In this forum, the students could organize a lunch with a big shot mortgage broker. They could understand what it is they do and why. The next week, they could meet a local mortgage dealer whose mission it is to provide lost cost affordable loans to people who may not otherwise consider a loan or be approved for a loan. These are two extremes of the same business. The exposure to the many professional options which include the reasons one may choose one option over another, intensifies their individuality and offers direction for their future academic career.

“In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but how many can get through you.”
Mortimer Adler

HEALTH… The Science of Life
“If we value independence, if we are disturbed by the growing conformity of knowledge, of values, of attitudes, which our present system induces, then we may wish to set up conditions of learning which make for uniqueness, for self-direction, and for self-initiated learning.”
Carl Rogers

“Fundamental to the individual’s ability to remain healthy… are the maintenance of a sound diet and a stable, healthy routine. Also important are the pursuit of traditional practices such as yoga and breathing exercises…. Diet should be chosen to suit the individual constitution. If one understands the constitution and its relationship to the qualities of various foods, then it is possible to select a proper diet.” (Lad, 80)

The science of diet and use of relaxation techniques such as Transcendental Meditation increase an individual’s capacity to experience life. Many problems that plague children are diseases of excess and ignorance. Many of these diseases are manageable through diet and exercise. The Shaw School will approach this by a two fold path. First is through the practice of Transcendental Meditation and yoga. The second is understanding of food, it’s properties and how they affect us.

The practice of Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a proven tool to the decrease of anxiety and fear. What the practice of TM does is centers the individual in a neutral space fully activating the neurology of the brain. This space is free of muscular and mental anxiety and tension. This, recalibrating of the body, enables the practitioner to enter into new situations free to experience the exercise fully. By activating the neurological pathways, increase the ability to listen as the person is not anticipating directions as much as hearing them. The research in Maharishi University shows through brain scans that there are greater connections in the neural network and increase brain activation due to the practice of TM. There have been studies of this practice allowing students to reach their full potential as tests show an increase in GPA. (Dodds) TM will therefore, be taught and included in the structure of the school.

“Exercise improves the circulation system, immunity is increased, muscles are strengthened and relaxed, and the elimination of malas (waste) is assisted. It stimulates digestive fire, which increases appetite. This can be positive, if the diet is healthy and balanced… Exercise should be gentle and pleasant, and not strain or over-exert the body. It is best to choose a form of exercise appropriate to your constitution.” (Chauhan 139)
The Shaw School will instill the principles of Ayurveda into the daily understanding of the individual’s moods and needs. Ayurveda is a very individualized approach to health and diet. We will partner with an Ayurvedic doctor versed in western medicine to guide the Ayurvedic Practitioner in the education of each student’s individual constitution. We are not interested in eliminating the use of Western Medicines, we are interested in promoting total health and individual awareness among students so they may be better able to both use preventative care and provide academic and professional excellence.

The students will learn how they are unique and yet an intrinsic to the balance of the universe. The student will learn how to pay attention to their own bodies to ensure a greater understanding of their needs. The students will become the cooking staff and clean up staff for each other.
“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.”
Anatole France
The Shaw School will be very unique as we will have green houses on the roof of each and every building. The students in tandem with science classes will in effect grow their own food. They will grow fruits and vegetables alongside herbs. They will learn the qualities of the food from seed to plant to kitchen.

The kitchen, then, is a building unto itself. The dietician will be able to teach the students a variety of recipes and techniques in preparing their food. Guest cooks will also come and teach the students. The students will teach their peers their own recipes.

The benefits of this type of program range from personal to classroom to community. The students begin with as understanding and responsibility for themselves and how they feel, their body. The laboratory classroom is filled with meaning and meaningful learning. The students are then responsible for each other at a most basic level: food. We are becoming citizens.
“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands. Anne Frank
An Ideal Setting Comes at a Price
“Your education is worth what you are worth.”
Anon
I remember a couple of years ago, a restaurant opened in New York City. The menu did no include prices. The owners wanted to know what the patrons would pay or felt the food was worth. They kept detailed records of what each patron paid for the food. After six months, they priced the food according to the data they acquired. I feel that the same will be done with this school. I think that people will place a monetary value on what they receive through this independent school. Money is not the only currency. The parent may also pay with time, work or goods. Of course, this will not cover all of the costs; The Shaw School will have grant writers on staff trying to make all the ends meet.

All donations will be met with gratitude; however, no donation will warrant the singling out of a bench or a building. All gifts, no matter, the comparative size are any greater than any other due to each gift giver’s relative ability.

The Shaw School will in-source as much of its needs as we are able. The web site will be maintained by the graphic design and computer classrooms. The cooking and cleaning will be done by students and parents. The grounds will be kept by the students and the parents.

Our goal for the faculty is to pay a starting salary of $40,000 per year. Our faculty will be required to keep current on education topics, research and personal development. They will meet these requirements with inter-faculty papers, new classes and new certifications.

“I am not a teacher; only a fellow traveler of whom you asked the way. I pointed

ahead–ahead of myself as well as of you. “

George Bernard Shaw

As a community, we will lead be example. We, too, are members of the community. We will exemplify this in our actions and our attitudes. The Shaw School is based in the idea that we are all in this together. We are a democracy and are therefore be informed, knowledgeable and concerned citizens. This is our aim.

“The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without a teacher.”
Elbert Hubbard

Schedules
“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”
Robert Frost

The Schools is opened from 7am until 7pm. The students and teachers are placed on individual schedules. This is because we are all unique in our manner, our family and our culture. A parent may work nights. This parent and this student may require that morning time as their quality time. This student’s day would begin at 11 or 12 and go until 7pm. Another student may have a typical 7am-3pm day. Another student, still, may have siesta with their family during he lunch hour or be unable to concentrate after lunch. This student would be in school from 7am until 12pm then again from 3pm until 7pm. There are a myriad of possibilities. Each student will be evaluated and scheduled accordingly.

It is important to know that the campus is open from 7am until 7pm. The student may, if fact remain at the campus and participate in gardening, cleaning, drawing or wondering. The campus is open and each student is instilled with respect for it’s amenities. Disrespect for art labs, gardens, kitchens will not be tolerated; discipline, however, will be just as specialized as the schedule.
Group Medtiation will be held at 7am and then again at 3pm.
“Education is not filling the Bowl with information. It is making the Bowl Bigger.”
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
CONCLUSION
The design of the Shaw School is based on a couple of basic topics. The first is that the school is the place where children become adults. This is the place where they learn how to become members of the society. With this in mind, the students are armed with the tools they need to survive in our culture.

They are offered support systems. Through community partners, teachers and the community, itself the role models and support systems and their meaning will be taught and experienced by the students of the Shaw School. The community contains role models. The community contains the systems. And if we find one that isn’t there, we can take steps to creating that system. Graduates of the Shaw School will be unable to suffer the crippling effect being without a support structure or role models. Graduates of the Shaw School will be able to find their system or create their system.

The Shaw School students will be offered an education only considered in very wealthy schools. This education will be free of a set charge. The value of the education will be expressed in the donation of money, time and goods. The education of financial institutions, entrepreneurial concepts, job search tools, and creating items for consignment, offers our students the know-how to be success in their careers. They can break they cycle of generational poverty. Those not from poverty will be equally engaged in the practices of success. The diversity of our school will breed the consciousness that will perpetuate responsible citizenship.

Emotional dysfunction is address in the structure and compassion of the Shaw School. As the students are better able to monitor their bodies, they will monitor their emotions and be better able to address their states and problems. The practice of TM and yoga will also help to increase their awareness and emotional stability. The role models are in place to help each and every student regardless of background understand and deal with their emotions.

Mental skills are acquired through an art-integrated curriculum designed to provide the greatest concept understanding. Teaching the student to organize their thoughts and introducing material in a variety of ways increases the student’s transfer ability. This increase in transfer makes the student a better student.

The attention paid to the self and world around the self offers a holistic, cosmic guidance to the students. The attention is expressed in a variety of ways but is attained primarily through the Ayurvedic health principles, meditation, gardening and physical well being. As well as the experience in civil service and the job place. This understanding is supportive to the student’s feeling of worth and importance. This is the cosmic intelligence that understands that we are all connected and we are all separate. This is spirituality anchored in science and free to anyone of any religious persuasion. This is not a religion.

Ruby Payne expressed and repeated the necessity for people to understand the hidden rules of the classes in order to move through them. Shaw School will be particularly able to accomplish this due to its intense attention to diversity. This diversity is inherent in the school’s attitudes toward the different classes as well as the cultural inclusion throughout the lessons. Each class has something of value to offer. Each situation calls for a certain group of rule to be followed. The key is to know what rules are called for and to feel comfortable in utilizing those tools.

I believe that would this school be built, the graduates would be nothing short of superb. They would be superb in their confidence, understanding and clarity of themselves and their environment.

“When asked how much educated men were superior to those uneducated, Aristotle answered, ‘As much as the living are to the dead.”
Diogenes Laertius

“Poor is the pupil who does not surpass his master.”
Leonardo da Vinci

A1
Sample Lesson
Grade Level: 11th grade
Time: One month
Students: average urban public school

OBJECTIVES
Students will gain an understanding and appreciation for Shakespeare
Students will study the concept of slavery and see how it relates to them.
Students will collate two books for the library.
PLAN
1. A large piece of butcher paper will be laid out on the floor. In the center is a the word “slavery” with a circle around it. The students will be asked to do a word association with the word on the butcher paper using markers. They can draw or write other words. Then, we will reconvene and discuss our piece of butcher paper. I will engage them in a discussion on what slavery is and is not. Whether or not there is slavery today. The students will then draw a picture and write a paragraph on what slavery means to them-- Any personal stories of slavery. Because most of the children will have some knowledge of slavery in the United States, we will break into five small groups and discuss what we know about slavery. They will come up with five points on slavery which will be presented to the class. I will introduce a community journal where any students may write any question or comment to be addressed or not during the next class period.
2. I will tell them the story of the Tempest by W. Shakespeare in a story telling fashion. They can ask questions and make statements regarding the story. I will assign them to read as much of the first act as they can.
3. Today, we can discuss the language of the play. I will choose a section of each act and walk through how to read it. They will then break up into their groups again and each tackles their own act of the play.
4. Tackling the act includes rewriting it in their own words and manner. They will rewrite the play in a play format in modern times. The final quarter of each period will be another writing assignment to be completed at home. One day, we will write song lyrics inspired by the action of the play. Another day we will write a poem. Still others, paint or write a short story.
5. During this time, in our social sciences period, we will also be studying institutional and culture slavery around the world. We will look critically at the practices of cultures towards woman, and those of other races as it pertains to slavery. The students will be keeping both a personal journal and a newsprint journal of things they thought about and found in the media.
6. I will invite a representative from the United Nations, St. Louis office to come and speak on global slavery as well as regional slavery. This will be followed be a question and answer period and journal period. The students will then be given a disposable camera. Their task is to use the film to shoot photographs of things that remind them of or exemplify slavery for them.
7. At about this point, each group will be about ready to present their section of the play. We will then view Julie Taymor’s production. We will discuss the play and in what ways it relates to slavery. And in what ways it relates to us. We will then place another large piece of butcher paper on the floor and write the word “slavery” in the center. The students will do a new word and picture association on the new sheet. We will place the two sheets next to each other and discuss followed by journaling.
8. The social studies aspect will then produce a proposal or request to end an aspect of slavery. This is being delivered to or presented to the parties the students decide are appropriate.
9. The performance literature aspect will then perform their version of the Tempest. We will have a party.
10. The new Tempest inspired by W. Shakespeare will be printed and bound. The supplemental stories, drawing, song lyrics, photographs etc… will also be bound into a second book. One copy of each will be placed into the library and each student will receive a copy.
11. Each student will bind their own work: photographs, stories, journal etc.
12. We will present the play that we write along with prepared hand out material for the parents, special friends and fellow classmates.
EVALUATION
1. Evaluate each student’s conceptual understand of slavery.
2. Evaluate each student’s mastery of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
3. Evaluate a growth in each student’s civic understanding.

1. The books, performances and class participation will be used to evaluate each student’s success with the subject matter.
2. A personal session with each student will take place two weeks into the program as well as complete the program.
A2
Clarification of the Model

This is a piece of property that actually exists in the Shaw Neighborhood in the 3900 block of Magnolia in St. Louis, Missouri.

The southern border of the campus is Tower Grove Park. The western border is Lawrence Avenue.

The new buildings will be green. This means that they use solar energy for electricity and heat. The toilettes are grey water toilettes. This means that the water used in the toilettes is then flash composted and used for the plant irrigation system. Because there is a greenhouse on the roof of each building, the total energy requirement is lessened. The buildings are however hooked up to the grid and we sell excess energy to the energy company.

The preexisting buildings will be transformed green as the finances permit.

Building One: Administrative Building
This is an administrative building. This is where the grant writers and the rest of the staff is located.

Building Two: The Gallery
This is the store that the school owns and the students run.

Building Three: Eating House
This house will be the dining facility. There is a separation between the students and the faculty.

Building Four: The Kitchen
This building contains three full kitchens. This is where food preparation classes and the actual food preparation occurs.

Building Five: Grades 7-9
This is currently a huge six flat. It will be transformed into a junior high school. The idea is to transition the students into these more traditional building in preparation for their academic future. This building will be less traditional on the interior than its counterpart in the high school.
Building Six: Grades 10-12
This is the high school. It is very traditional in appearance.

Building Seven: The Lower School
The Lower School is a completely new building. There is an octagonal main building. This is a multi purpose room. It houses theatre, assembly and indoor physical education.

There are three accompanying buildings which are the classrooms. They are also octagonal in shape. The interior walls are not fixed so each classroom may be opened up to create a classroom double in size.

Building Eight: The Art Studio
The Art Studio is a full studio containing drawing and painting rooms as well as potters wheels, fibers materials and a photo lab.

Building Nine: The Science Lab
The science lab is just that. Laboratories for Biology, Physics, Chemistry and a discovery lab.

GARDENS
Besides the 7 food gardens on the roof of each building, there are 9 ecosystems. These are part of the science department. They include an indigenous Missouri garden, a desert, a pond, meditation garden, a rock garden, a perennial garden, an annuals/home garden to name a few.

This environment is meant to awaken the students to the reality of what they study as well as provide a unique and beautiful garden within which learning is excited.

1 The Arts Make a Difference. 2006. Chicago, Illinois: Educational Leadership/
February. Author: Nick Rabkin and Robin Redmond.
2 Ormrod, Jeanne Ellis. (2004). Human Learning. Columbus, Ohio. Pearson, Merrill
Prentice Hall
3 Payne, Ruby K. (1998). A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Revised Edition)
Baytown, Texas. RFT Publishing.
4 How Arts Integration Supports Student Learning: Students Shed Light on the
Connections. 2006. Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education: www.capeweb.org.
Author: Karen DeMoss
5. Lad, Vasant Dr. (1984) Ayurveda: the Science of Self-Healing, A Practical Guide.
Dehli, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers
6. The Effect of Transcendental Meditation on Language Learning and GPA. 1975.
Speeches and meeting papers. Dinah Dodds
7. Maharishi International University Mixes Meditation and Education. 1975.
CHANGE. Allison Engel
8. Tiwari, Maya. (1995) Ayurveda: Secrets of Healing. Twin Lakes, Wisconsin. Lotus
Press
9. Chauhan, Partap Dr. (2000) Eternal Health: The Essence of Ayurveda. Faridabad,
Haryana, India .
10. The Professional Artist as Public School Educator. 2000-2001. CAPE. Lynn A.
Waldorf, UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies

11. Khasla, Dharma Singh M.D. and Cameron Stauth. 2001. Meditation and Medicine.
New York City, NY. Pocket Publishing.
12. Social Cognition in Context: Validating a Cartoon-Based Attributional Measure for
Urban Girls. 2006. Child Development. Author: Stephen S Leff
Urban Girls. 2006. Child Development. Author: Stephen S Leff