Parenting for Peace

I wanted to share info about this movie -- it is so powerful, and was provocative when I saw it at the women's fund --women artists who are not mothers, and mothers who are not artists all found pieces that they related to, and the overall questions and issues were compelling for all of us... Check it out if you can! Kim

http://www.explorefrontier.com/index.php/film-a-event-schedule

Begin forwarded message:

FILM | Who Does She Think She Is? | NR | 84min
A Film by Pamela T. Boll

Showtimes:
Wednesday, Nov 25 | 5pm
Friday, Nov 27 | 5pm & 8:45pm
Tuesday, Dec 1 | 5pm
Thursday-Friday, Dec 3-4 | 3pm
Saturday, Dec 5 | 3pm
Tuesday-Wednesday, Dec 8-9 | 3pm & 7pm

"This film is not about being a woman or being a woman artist but rather how to be a human, how to find your true place in life." - Jean M Murphy, Wellesley Center
For Women

Calling Maine Home

2009-11-16T09:28:00.001-08:00

CALLING MAINE HOME: Immigrants' Images, Voices, and Visibility

6th floor, Glickman Family Library, USM Portland Campus
October 26, 2009 - February 26, 2010 (during regular Library hours)

OPENING RECEPTION November 19, 5:30-6:30pm

Annual Exhibition of the Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine
Curated by: David Carey, Jr. and Blanca Iris Santiago
Assisted by: Robert Atkinson, Reza Jalali, Victoria Chicon

In the whitest state in the nation, recent immigrants struggle between wanting to be visible and wanting to fade into the background. Whether by conscious decision or destiny, Maine is now home. This exhibition explores the triumphs and challenges of Mainers from such diverse paces as Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

For further information or to schedule a gallery talk, contact Susie Bock, bocks@usm.maine.edu, 207-780-4269.
For directions: http://usm.maine.edu/discover/maps.html

Susie R. Bock
Head, Special Collections
Director, Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine
Library Liaison, Women and Gender Studies
University of Southern Maine Libraries
207-780-4269
207-780-4067 (fax)
314 Forest Ave.
PO Box 9301
Portland, ME 04104-9301

Cheryl Rainfield Book Reviews

2009-11-13T08:12:00.001-08:00

I have not used "tags" well and have children's book review sites all over the place.. some day I'll clean it up.

Today I found a wonderful site by Cheryl Rainfield. She has lots of suggestions for picture books, by themes that make a difference for me right now:

How to Feel Better: Coping & Working With Emotion

Encouraging Creativity: Thinking Outside the Box

Finding Friends: A Sense of Belonging

Even Grouches Can Change: Looking Past Assumptions & Attitudes

Pure Fun: Laughter & Joy

Feeling Loved & Safe: Nurturance

Being Yourself: Accepting & Believing In You

Inner Strength: Strong Girls & Boys

Fantasy & Magic: Let Your Imagination Soar

Love of Words: Books Celebrating Books, Writing, & Language

Bedtime Soothers: Night Time Doesn't Have to Be Scary

Super Heroes: Feeling Strong Through Hero Identification

She also has reviews for middle school and teen books...

(x-posted w/Friends School blog)

Packaging Boyhood - tonight in Portland (Nov 12)

2009-11-12T02:55:00.000-08:00

Packaging Boyhood

Paid Sick Leave NOW!

2009-11-11T03:08:00.000-08:00

The call to keep kids home from school always makes me think about a book I read a few years ago, called Forgotten Families, by Jody Heymann. The author documented the public health threat that emerged after we created "workfare" and parents in low wage jobs are forced to be away from home for upwards of 10 hours a day without enough pay to cover childcare expenses. (She also examines the health problems facing poor children in other countries). She found that an increasing amount of caregiving -- for self, sibling, younger neighbors, cousins, and older people -- is falling to children who are too young for paid work themselves. This means kids as young as 5 are caring for toddlers, or are left home alone for significant chunks of time, or are confined to small spaces if they come with their parents to work (chained to a table kind of small spaces). The book broke my heart, and enraged me. What would it be like to build public policy on as if children really mattered?

The New York times reported that the lack of Paid Sick Days in the U.S. may worsen the H1N1 pandemic. And the U.S. lags so far behind other industrialized countries (and other countries, period) it is clear that paid sick leave is considered a reasonable benefit for working families in the larger world. (Check out this pdf)

Senate President Libby Mitchell put forward an Act to Prevent H1N1, which would provide paid sick leave to a limited number of workers in Maine, while federally the Healthy Families Act lingers.

If you'd like to work on passing a paid sick leave law, contact the

Maine Women's Lobby

They are also doing a story collection project:

Have you - or anyone you know - been affected by the H1N1 virus and had to go to work anyway? Or lost pay because you had to stay home?

Contact Charlotte at cwarren@mainewomen.org or 207.622.0851

You can also provide your story online by answering a few questions.

Talking about Losing Marriage Equality in MAine

2009-11-04T05:25:00.001-08:00

It is difficult to know how to talk to children about yesterday's election results regarding marriage equality in Maine. If you believe, as I do, that we are experiencing institutionalized discrimination, the public values reflect a different ideology and set of practices than those we're teaching as core values and responsibilities for our children. Yet, my impulse to criticize the Yes on 1 campaign also perpetuates hurt and fear and worry among my children, and I don't know the standpoints of everyone else's children.

Some children are waking up as victims of discrimination, some as empathetic bystanders and friends, some without language or consciousnesses about the event, some perhaps feeling victorious. Kids will take in the messages and effects of the repeal differently depending on their own identities, family lives, and communities. So, how do we talk about the election in an inclusive, honest, and caring way?

It is probably through storytelling -- letting kids from all kinds of families talk about how this all feels. But where and how and with who? In some way, the worry that kids would talk about families and feelings at school is part of what fueled the Yes on 1 campaign. And yet, if they are not given space to share the multitude of experiences and feelings, how do we grow empathy, how do we banish internalized prejudices?

The Anti-defamation league has resources for teaching relatively young children about prejudice and discrimination. Honoring the reality and existence of discrimination helps all kids see themselves as part of history, part of social structure and part of a hopeful future.

Understanding Prejudice has a booklist coded by age -- the books about gender and family diversity are towards the bottom -- all create opportunities to open up conversations about social justice and our own experiences of isolation, stereotyping, etc.

Although we missed "Ally week" the tools provided by GLSEN might still be useful to us; the concept of being an Ally is a very powerful one for creating cross-identity connections. They also offer a "Safe Space" kit.

Finally, for folks wanting to dig deeper, there are new resources emerging from the social pyschology literature about addressing "stereotype threat." That is, when we know that stereotypes exist, that prejudice is possible, that people might assume negative things about us because of our identity group, we behave in response to that possibility. An instance of discrimination doesn't have to happen to us personally for more generalized prejudice and discrimination to effect us. How might young people whose sexual identities are still emerging or who are questioning their sexual identity confront stereotype threat and how might they behave in response? (see this related teaching tolerance piece on the use of "good morning, girls and boys")

DETOX YOUR TOYBOX --TOMORROW NIGHT -- MY LAST REMINDER :)

2009-10-19T09:32:00.001-07:00

Are you curious about Tuesday night's FREE panel event "Detox Your Toy Box" (7pm, October 20th, USM Abrom son Center -- parking is FREE) but worried that you'll be overwhelmed with scary information? There is so much bad news -- check out this Bangor Daily News article about toxins in the blood of Maine health care workers for a shock -- but feeling shamed, guilty or panicky often immobilizes us instead of helping move us toward action.

At this event, we are going to get the most up-to-date scientific information from David Bellinger, a Harvard researcher with a commitment to translating the science into ideas we can work with. We're also going to celebrate the most recent community activism on this issue (take part NOW), and learn about upcoming opportunities for making change, with help from Kristine Jenkins of the Environmental Health Strategy Center.

And, perhaps most important for parents and teachers, Nicole Borrasso, a teacher at FSP, is going to inspire us with stories about the ways that kids are engaged in environmental stewardship through outdoor play, education and exploration. They already have ecological intelligence and we can partner with them to make cleaning the planet both a joyful and an ordinary everyday practice. See David Sobel's article in YES magazine for a teaser ... or this more recent YES article about "place-based" education.

More follow-up resources to come!

BBC on Play Based Learning

2009-10-16T05:48:00.001-07:00

I'm listening to an interesting NPR/BBC story about a new recommendation from the UK suggesting that kids should delay "formal learning" until the age of 6. They suggest play-based preschool and kindergarten for young children but that children should not be taught reading or other formal content until at least six years old. The BBC report includes counter arguments and some information about what happens around the world...

How much is that what happens in our communities? How structured should learning be in middle childhood?

Interesting questions... here's the link to the BBC story and here's the link to the actual report.

FW: Wabanaki Perspectives and Human Awareness at UMA, Oct. 13-16

2009-10-07T12:50:00.001-07:00

MAIN and Maine Equal Justice wanted to share with our members and friends this exciting opportunity to experience the rich culture of the Wabanaki People. We encourage you to participate in this free public event. If you have questions or want to learn more, please go to: http://www.uma.edu/wabankiperspectives.html

===========================================================

Wabanaki Perspectives and Human Awareness
October 13-16, 2009

University of Maine at Augusta

Several Wabanaki citizens have been working with staff and students from the University of Maine at Augusta to plan Wabanaki Perspectives and Human Awareness.

This four-day event to take place October 13-16 will include presentations, films, demonstrations, and opportunities for socializing to share and to experience the rich culture of the Wabanaki People. The events are free and open to the public.

Week-long ongoing opportunities include: Talking Circles, Sacred Space, Bonfire by the lake, Music by native artists, Continual showing of films on university public monitors, Traditional foods available in the café, Arts displayed throughout the main buildings, and the sale of local Native books, DVDs, CDs, baskets, jewelry, clothing, & crafts.

This event will provide an opportunity

+    For Native American Students attending UMA to gather and share their culture.
+    To allow Wabanaki youth to meet and to celebrate their common heritage while sharing key aspects of Wabanaki nationhood and culture with the non-Indian population.
+    To allow Wabanaki youth to experience a campus environment and learn about the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine.
+    For non-Native American students to learn about the Wabanaki and participate in Wabanaki cultural activities.
For the public to learn about the Wabinaki and participate in Wabanaki cultural activities; and
+    To provide a foundation for future intra and inter cultural interactions amongst university students, faculty, staff and the public.

To learn more about this exciting event and to see a schedule for each day, go to:   http://www.uma.edu/wabankiperspectives.html

Margaret Wheatley in Portland on October 15th!

2009-10-07T09:29:00.001-07:00

Margaret Wheatley is one of the most creative thinkers about leadership and organizational development around. I just finished her book Finding Our Way : Leadership for Uncertain Times and will blog more about that later... I was surprised to find that she's coming to USM on October 15th. Sadly, I'll have just returned from 3 days away from my family and likely will have to be home for bed time, but I hope someone I know will go and tell me all about it!

Fwd: Registration Now Open CCFC's 2010 Consuming Kids Summit

2009-10-07T09:10:00.001-07:00

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Reclaiming Childhood from Corporate Marketers
Praise for CCFC Summits:
"Just the right balance ofinfuriating info and inspiration."
"An amazing opportunity to meet and network with like-minded, motivated activists for change."
"I left thinking about what I can do in my own home to fortify the lives of my children (and myself)...I was so inspired...andwe had so much fun."

Register Now!
CCFC's 7th National Summit:
Consuming Kids: Market Values, Human Values, and the Lives of Children
April 8-10, 2010
Wheelock College
Boston, MA

The values children learn in the marketplace - excessive consumption, impulse buying, and unthinking brand loyalty - are antithetical to healthy development, independent thinking, spirituality, community, and democracy. What happens to childhood - and society -- when market values trump human values? How can we make a difference? What role can parents, educators, public health professionals, faith communities, and policy makers play in stopping the proliferation of market values, and in nurturing positive values, in a commercialized world?
Join CCFC and leading activists, scholars, and authors for the only national conference devoted to stopping the commercial exploitation of children. Register by November 1st to take advantage of recession-busting, super early bird rates and to beat the rush. Our last summit sold out early! Register now at: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/events.htm
Confirmed speakers already include:
Enola Aird, founder, Mothers for Human Future - Tim Kasser, author, The High Price of Materialism - Sharon Lamb & Lyn Mikel Brown, authors, Packing Boyhood & Packaging Girlhood - Lenore Skanazy, author, Free Range Kids - Nancy Carlsson-Paige, author, Taking Back Childhood - Allen Kanner, co-editor, Psychology and Consumer Culture - Diane Levin, co-author, So Sexy, So Soon, Susan Linn, author, The Case for Make Believe - and many, many more to come!

Scholarships available - please visit http://commercialfreechildhood.org/events/summitscholarship2010.html for more information.
Can't make the summit? Help someone else attend by supporting CCFC's summit scholarship fund.

Unsubscribe | Donate | CCFC Events | Forward to a friend |CCFC on Facebook | Contact CCFC

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
A Program of the Judge Baker Children's Center
53 Parker Hill Ave
Boston, MA 02120
www.commercialfreechildhood.org

Fwd: Play Date for Equality - Please join us!

2009-10-06T14:12:00.001-07:00

I know many of us wonder how to best respond to the mean spirited Yes on 1 commercials that vilify families we live in or families we care about... here's one way (also, vote now - absentee ballots can now be requested online -- http://www.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/AbsenteeBallot/index.pl and give money )

Dear friends:

Please join us for a Play Date for Equality on Columbus Day, October 12.

The No on 1 / Protect Maine Equality campaign is hosting a Play Date for Equality for Maine families to show their support marriage equality. We have invited the media to show them the rich diversity of Maine families who support marriage equality.

We will provide cider and cookies; you bring yourselves, toys/balls/frisbees for the park, and your kids, grandkids, nieces/nephews, neighbors, etc. We'd love to have older kids too who may have outgrown play dates but who want to show their support.

It will not only be a fun afternoon, but an important one too. On that day we will be just 19 days from election day and showing the diversity of support for marriage equality is a critical part of our campaign.

Please RSVP if you plan to attend, by emailing or calling me. And bring all your friends!

Thank you.

Betsy

What: "Play Date for Equality"

When: 1:00-3:00 pm on Columbus Day (Monday, October 12th)
[rain date: 1:00 pm on Saturday, October 17th]

Where: The playground at Deering Oaks Park in Portland

Who: All families who support marriage equality

Please pass this on far and wide, even if you cannot attend! Thank you.

Betsy Smith
Executive Director
EqualityMaine
207-939-7769 cell
bsmith@equalitymaine.org

Paul Solman at Bates College (tonight and Wednesday)

2009-10-05T03:29:00.001-07:00

THE ANDREWS LECTURE IN ETHICS AND EDUCATION

Paul Solman
Economics Correspondent
The News Hour with Jim Lehrer

The Divided Self: Money, God and Neighbor

Lecture I
Monday, October 5, 7 p.m., Chase Hall Lounge
Spending Beyond Our Means And Are We Screwed If We Don't?

Lecture II
Wednesday, October 7, 7 p.m., Chase Hall Lounge
IS Money The Root Of All Evil?

Sponsored by the Multifaith Chaplaincy and the Department of Economics
--  The Rev. Bill Blaine-Wallace, Ph.D.  Multifaith Chaplain Bates College 161 Wood Street Lewiston, ME. wblainew@bates.edu 207.753.6906 Fax: 207.786.8282  "A mosaic is a conversation between what is broken." Terry Tempest Williams

FW: Add Verb hosting Q&A Writing Workshops at The Telling Room

2009-10-02T07:03:00.001-07:00

The Telling Room and Add Verb Productions are teaming up this fall
to work with students on a project that has national attention.

Proud to be an Ally: Playwriting for Queer and Allied Youth Activism

Students will create original performance pieces to address how allies can make schools and communities safe and caring. Bring your passion for writing, your creativity, and your friends!
Sign up today to make a difference in your school.

Who Should Attend: Open to ages 12-24

Dates: October 15 & 29 and November 5, 12, & 19

Time: 3:00-5:00 PM

Location: The Telling Room, Downtown Portland, Maine

SAVE YOUR SPOT TODAY!
Contact Add Verb Productions via email: vista@addverbproductions.com or call 207-772-1167.

*This program is made possible by support from the Maine Community Foundation Equity Fund, the Maine Arts Commission, and the Mukti Fund.

About Add Verb Productions: Theatre for Health & Wellness Education
Add Verb Productions addresses health and social issues through live theatre, with the goal of building stronger, healthier communities. Add Verb's three nationally touring plays, The Thin Line, You the Man, and Major Medical Breakthrough, address the complex issues of eating disorders, interpersonal violence, and the health care sector's underutilized role in violence intervention, respectively. Each performance is followed by a panel discussion comprised of local advocates, counselors, and medical experts that allow audience interaction and community discussion. The productions have been presented across the country at middle schools, high schools, colleges, community centers, medical schools, military bases, and conferences.

For more information, visit www.addverbproductions.com

Want to keep updated on all of Add Verb's Events?

Bates screening of 'Food, Inc.' with Stonyfield Farm chairman

2009-10-02T07:01:00.001-07:00

Food safety seems to be one of the most challenging parenting issues we face, as a generation of parents that can't trust the FDA or big business that feeds us, but we can't all homestead either. I saw 2/3 of this movie (a childcare emergency pulled me out before the hopeful part) and it has changed some of my eating habits, and also revealed places for collective action. Plus, how fun to see it with energetic college students (who eat the most amazing food around)...

All are invited...

Stonyfield Farm chairman to speak at Bates screening of 'Food, Inc.'
Saturday, Oct. 3 at 7:00 p.m.
Olin Arts Concert Hall

MORE INFO: http://home.bates.edu/views/2009/09/29/food-inc/

A Bates College screening of the food-industry exposé Food, Inc. will be followed by a question-and-answer session with the director of Bates Dining Services and with Gary Hirshberg P'13, head of organic yogurt producer Stonyfield Farm.
The screening begins at 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 3, in Olin Arts Concert Hall, 75 Russell St. The film is 90 minutes long.
Hirshberg appears in the film, which scrutinizes the food we eat and how it is produced. He'll be joined in the Bates event by college Dining Services Director Christine Schwartz. The event is open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-6476.
Produced and directed by Robert Kenner, Food, Inc. aims to reveal the inside story of American food, the corporations that often place greater value on profit than consumer health, and the regulatory agencies, like the USDA and FDA, that oversee the industry.
Called "an essential, indelible documentary" by Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers, Food, Inc. features interviews with such respected experts as Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, and Omnivore's Dilemma author Michael Pollan. Food-industry figures striving to change the status quo, like Polyface Farms' Joel Salatin and Stonyfield's Hirshberg, are featured describing their efforts to improve the quality of the food Americans consume.
Now chairman, president and "CE-Yo" of Stonyfield, Hirschberg came to the organization in 1983 as director of the Rural Education Center, the small organic farming school (with only seven cows) that spawned the yogurt operation. A renowned speaker on topics such as sustainability, organic agriculture and socially responsible business practices, Hirschberg is author of the 2008 book Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World (Hyperion).

For Your October Calendar - Detox Your Toy Box, FREE Panel Discussion, Oct 20th, 7pm. USM's Abromson Center

2009-10-01T07:34:00.000-07:00

Contact: James Grumbach
Friends School of  Portland
1 Mackworth Island
Falmouth, ME  04105
Phone 207 781-6321
Fax 207 781-6320

--FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE--

FRIENDS SCHOOL OF PORTLAND TO HOST PARENTING FOR PEACE EVENT "DETOX YOUR TOY BOX"
The School has assembled a panel of experts to discuss hopeful and concrete actions for maintaining the health of families and stewardship for the Earth
Portland, Maine September 22, 2009 – Friends School of Portland (FSP), an independent Quaker day school for grades preschool-8, today announces its fall, 2009 Parenting for Peace event, "Detox Your Toy Box."
This event will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 2009, from 7-8:30 PM at the University of Southern Maine, Hannaford Hall, in the Abromson Community Education Center in partnership with the Maine chapter of Physician's for Social Responsibility.
Taking a proactive approach, "Detox Your Toy Box" will explore current research linking environmental toxins to children's health. We will learn about the most urgent problems we face and opportunities for personal and collective action.   The panel will also share strategies for engaging children in making healthy choices for themselves and their planet. This event is free and open to the public.
Experts from diverse, yet connected fields come together as a panel and include:
·     David Bellinger, PhD, Professor, Harvard Medical School—will inform the audience of the latest scientific research linking environmental toxins to children's developmental health.
·     Nicole Borrasso, Teacher and Seasoned Outdoor Educator, FSP—will help us consider the best way to engage children in caring for the environment and their own bodies without scaring them (or the parents!).
·     Kristine Jenkins, Environmental Health Organizer, Environmental Health Strategy Center—will share stories of successful community clean-ups / social change and engage us in a conversation about public policy initiatives on the horizon.
The panel will be moderated by local pediatrician, parent and FSP Board member, Jeff Peterson.  A question and answer period will follow the panel presentation. Resource tables will be available in the lobby.

FSP is pleased and proud to offer Parenting for Peace as a community service to the Greater Portland community.

About FSP
The Friends School of Portland challenges and empowers students to develop their intellectual, physical, emotional, creative and spiritual potential. We honor our students' natural gifts as they learn to enter the world with confidence, competence, joy and a sense of purpose. We are guided by the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, stewardship, and truth.

FW: A New Project Zero Institute

2009-09-30T15:45:00.000-07:00

Educating for Today and Tomorrow:
Connecting Project Zero
Research with Global Issues

February 12-14, 2010
Washington, DC

Greetings!

This is the first ever Project Zero institute that will be held off the Harvard campus. It is hosted by CASIE (Center for the Advancement and Study of International Education) and WIS (Washington International School) in collaboration with Project Zero at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition, the first day of the conference is hosted in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art.

Educating for Today and Tomorrow will focus on current Project Zero approaches to creating learning environments and instructional materials that help learners develop the thinking skills, habits of mind, and global understandings they need in the world of today and tomorrow.

Howard Gardner, David Perkins, Shari Tishman and several other prominent Project Zero researchers will speak at the conference. The conference will also offer a wide selection of interactive sessions that focus on several well-known Project Zero frameworks and themes, including Teaching for Understanding, Visible Thinking, Artful Thinking, Studio Thinking, Educating for the 21st Century, GoodWork®, and Multiple Intelligences. Interactive sessions will be led by practitioners currently using Project Zero ideas in schools and museums, as well as Project Zero researchers.

In a special collaboration with the National Gallery of Art and the Smithsonian Institution museums, the first day of the conference will focus on learning in museums and learning through art. The conference will open at The National Gallery of Art and participants will spend the entire first day in sessions in various museums on the National Mall. The sessions will be appropriate for educators in all disciplines, not just the arts. On February 13 and 14 the conference will continue at the Cleveland Park campus of the Washington International School.

We hope you will consider joining us for this incredible learning opportunity and that you will forward this email to any interested colleagues. For more information or to register, please visit (http://www.casieonline.org/PZ-WIS/registration.html). All registrations must be submitted online. Registration deadline is January 15, 2010.

Sincerely,

The Institutes Team
Project Zero
Harvard Graduate School of Education

After Ghandi

2009-09-29T06:14:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure how it happened, but I never learned about the April arrival of Annie Sibley O'Brien's newest book - After Ghandi : One Hundred Years of Nonviolent Resistance . We just got it from the Library and it is beautiful - I have one on order, it is a keeper! The book contains bibliographic information about peacemakers around the world - many that I knew a little about, and many that I had not heard of (which pains me). I always am glad to be able to introduce my kids to examples of "good guys" and ways that people are able to "be the ones we want to see in the world." Nevertheless, I also know that I do not exhibit the courage and clarity that these activists do, nor would I always be able to encourage my own children to sacrifice or risk their own safety, despite my knowing that we will all be safer in the long run if we establish social justice and peace. So, these chapters are great for reading aloud and really talking through -- not to put activists on a pedestal but to prompt us to think through when and where and how we each might contribute to creating an inclusive, fair and vibrant community, and what to do when we lack the inner or outer resources we might wish for.

The publisher, Charlesbridge also offers these links:

Visit the After Gandhi website, featuring downloadables, excerpts, and more. Join the Pass the Peace campaign! There are extension activities for teachers and parents to use, as well as material for kids.

Learn more about After Gandhi, Anne Sibley O'Brien, and Perry Edmond O'Brien at After Gandhi.com

Watch the video trailer of After Gandhi

Listen to an interview with author Anne Sibley O'Brien at Maine Public Broadcasting

Annie also offers a blog that features book reviews, ponderings, and interviews-with-authors, focusing on "race, culture and children's books"

and Charlesbridge publishes many other wonderful books AND resources for educators using them -- here is their list of books that emphasizes global cultures and diversity.

Fwd: Courage & Renewal Boston Area Events Fall & Winter 2009-2010

2009-09-29T05:31:00.000-07:00

To view this information in html format with images, go to our website at www.CourageNE.org/upcoming

Courage & Renewal Northeast
Upcoming Events in the Boston Area
Fall & Winter 2009-2010

October 15-18, 2009
Massachusetts Poetry Festival
co-sponsored by Courage & Renewal Northeast
For more information: http://masspoetry.org/

Beginning October 23-24, 2009
Courage to Lead Retreat Series for School Leaders
Location: Connors Family Retreat & Conference Center, Dover MA
Facilitators: Pamela Seigle & Chip Wood
For more information: http://www.couragene.org/calendar?task=view_detail&agid=50&year=2009&month=10&day=23

December 11, 2009
Courage to Lead Retreat Day for Non-Profit Leaders
Location: Wellesley College Club, Wellesley, MA
Facilitators: Pamela Seigle & Lisa Sankowski
For more information: http://www.couragene.org/calendar?task=view_detail&agid=76&year=2009&month=12&day=11

December 12, 2009
Courage to Teach Retreat Day for Educators
Location: Alumni Hall, Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
Facilitators: Sharlene Cochrane & Kirsten Olson
For more information: http://www.couragene.org/calendar?task=view_detail&agid=77&year=2009&month=12&day=12

January 22-24, 2010
Circle of Trust® Retreat -The Journey Toward an Undivided Life
for interested individuals in all professions
Location: Connors Family Retreat & Conference Center, Dover MA
Facilitators: Lisa Sankowski & Hanna Sherman
For more information: http://www.couragene.org/calendar?task=view_detail&agid=73&year=2010&month=01&day=22

Winter 2009-Spring 2010
Courage & Renewal collaboration with the Walden Woods Project
One-day events currently in planning combining the arts, mindfulness practice, the wisdom of Thoreau, and the beauty of Walden. If you're interested in more information, please email us at info@couragene.org.

For information about all of these events contact us at info@couragene.org or 781-283-2861.

Courage & Renewal Northeast
Wellesley College, Billings Hall
106 Central Street
Wellesley, MA 02481
781-283-2861
www.CourageNE.org

FW: Time's Running Out To Register

2009-09-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

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Breakfast of Champions!

The Maine Women's Policy Center's annual Breakfast of Champions series is the best way to learn what's on the horizon for Maine women and to engage in discussion about the public policies which will improve our lives. Register today for one of the following events:

October 6, Northern Maine Community College, Presque Isle

October 7, Spectacular Event Center, Bangor

October 8, Holiday Inn By the Bay, Portland

The Presque Isle Breakfast is a free event, but registration is still required. Tickets for Bangor or Portland are $35 in advance, $40 at the door. We're committed to making these events accessible to everyone. Contact us for student prices and further discounted tickets by need. Each event runs from 7:30-9:00 a.m., and we promise to get you out and ready to head to work at 9 a.m.!

The deadline for purchasing tickets is Wednesday, September 30. Contact Bonnie at 207.622.0851, ext. 22, to reserve your seat today.

Headlining the Portland event is Beth Shulman, a nationally renowned policy and media expert on the American workplace and the policy changes and practices needed to create a country with more broadly shared prosperity.

Keynoting all three events is Lisa Maatz, Director of Public Policy and Governmental Relations at AAUW in Washington, D.C., where she works on federal policy initiatives that bolster economic opportunity for women.

The Maine Women's Policy Center will honor the Portland grand format printing company Portland Color with the 2009 ACTION AWARD. The award recognizes an individual policy or set of employment practices that serve to advance women in the workplace and which demonstrates a commitment to women workers.

Thanks to our Lead Sponsors

Thank you!

Charlotte
Associate Director
Maine Women's Policy Center

www.mainewomenspolicycenter.org

Fwd: Thanks for sending a letter to Congress!

2009-09-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

(From Momsrising)

I just sent a note to Congress urging them to improve the Baucus health reform proposal to make it work for kids and families. Here's why. It seems that healthcare reform is kind of like baking a cake. If you don't have the right ingredients, it will fall as flat as a pancake. Last week Senator Baucus released his proposal for health reform that is an attempt at a compromise measure which he hopes will be the blueprint for reform moving forward. Unfortunately, it looks like it needs our help to make it rise.

Tell Congress that the Baucus health reform proposal that they are considering this week is missing some of the necessary ingredients to get health reform right for kids and families! http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27304

What are the missing ingredients in the Baucus proposal? Affordable coverage, comprehensive benefits, employer responsibility to help pay for health coverage, a strong public option, better reimbursement rates for Medicaid providers; and a guarantee that health reform will also benefit kids, not set back the great advances in children's health coverage made by the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

That's right. The Senate Finance Committee is meeting right now to consider the Baucus proposal for health reform. Congress needs to hear from each and every one of us (forward this email far & wide) that any health reform proposal must have the following key ingredients in order to work for kids and families:

* Ending unfair insurance practices such as rejecting applicants based on pre-existing conditions and setting insurance rates based on gender, health status, or age

* A strong public health insurance plan option that ensures choices for consumers, lowers costs, and provide real competition for insurance companies

* Head to toe coverage for ALL children that is affordable and easy to use

* Help for families with low and moderate incomes to cover the costs of health coverage and reasonable limits on out-of-pocket expenses

Health reform without these components will be a flop! Or as famous chef Julia Child said, "A cookbook is only as good as its worst recipe." Let's make sure that the Baucus proposal has a successful recipe for our nation's health reform!

Send a letter to Congress now! http://momsrising.democracyinaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27304

And please forward this message on to your friends and family. This is a critical moment for our nation's future! Let's make sure all our families' voices are heard.

Thanks!

Save the Date 10/20 Detox Your Toy Box -- Please help us spread the word!

2009-09-23T06:12:00.001-07:00

The Friends School of Portland is offering our second Parenting for Peace event. On October 20th, we will convene a panel to query the relationship between environmental health and children's health and to seek idea for improving the health of all of our families and communities. Our panel includes Dr. David Bellinger, from Harvard Medical School, who will share the most updated scientific research with us about the effects that environmental toxins might play in children's health (or health problems); Nicole Borrasso, FSP teacher and seasoned outdoor educator, will help us think about how to engage children in stewardship over our environment and own bodies (without scaring them) and Kristine Jenkins from the Environmental Health Strategy Center, who will share some stories of successful community clean-ups / social change and engage us in a conversation about public policy initiatives on the horizon.

We will leave time for questions and discussion, and there will be a resource fair to allow us to talk individually with partner organizations* (including Maine's chapter of Physician's for Social Responsibility) and to collect information and opportunities for action.

We hope that you will join us at this FREE event, and we hope you will spread the word to others that you know who are interested in engaging questions about how to collectively detox our toy box (and sandbox, and lunchbox, etc. etc. )

MojoMom : HOW to raise a Free-Range Kid

2009-09-22T17:03:00.001-07:00

Kim has sent you a link to a blog:

I'm curious how others feel about this -- are things different for us here in Maine? How is it to be on an island? Do you feel like your kids are more constrained than you were, and for the better or the worse?

Blog: MojoMom
Post: HOW to raise a Free-Range Kid
Link: http://mojomom.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-to-raise-free-range-kid.html

--
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http://www.blogger.com/

Talking to Kids about Bias, Marriage Equality, and a rare ask for $$ for the cause

2009-09-22T08:58:00.001-07:00

As you may know, Maine is set to be the first state to protect marriage equality at the ballot box, and this historic campaign means a lot to me.

Currently, the advertising asking Maine people to repeal the law granting marriage equality is an example of adults engaging in persuasive tactics that are based on bullying language. Bill Nemitz's column today expresses these concerns beautifully. (see the Bangor Daily news editorial questioning the claim that children will be indoctrinated in school, or the memorandum from Maine's Attorney General, Speaker of the House and President of the Senate refuting aspects of the ads, to see some ads, click here.)

We must show the right that we will work together to maintain an inclusive state, and that we will protect Maine's children from hate and exclusion, on this issue and the other initiatives that threaten our communities. We need to stand up, together, and refuse to be manipulated or intimidated by the scare tactics being used in the Yes on 1 media.

I am helping the NO on 1 / Protect Maine Equality Campaign raise money as part of the Online Walk Against 1. For every $1 I can raise, I'll cover one more of the 35,385 square miles in Maine. Our goal is to of raising $35,385 by October 9th. Will you please chip in a few dollars to help me hit my fundraising goal and cover as many miles as I can?

Check out my fundraising page!

Pinwheels for Peace 2009

2009-09-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Equinox, and more regular posting

2009-09-22T03:14:00.000-07:00

After a lovely summer break from blogging, I am returning to P4P, although without a clear mission. The start of this blog included collecting my zillions of links and resources and putting them all in one place. But, my parenting process is ongoing, and the world keeps changing, so I expect this blog to be 1-part reflection, 1-part resource exchange, and 1-part political updates. Of course, I'd love to hear people's comments, ideas, suggestions, feedback, etc.!

This week includes so many moments for families to light a candle, enjoy a meal, pause, reflect, and set goals that a person can feel overwhelmed before it starts. Rosh Hashanah, International Day of Peace, the Equinox, Yom Kippur . . . not to mention apple picking, halloween-dreaming, and soup making. . . Still, settling into some rituals and carving out some special space for reflection seems hopeful and bonds us more closely to each other.

How does your family celebrate and reflect in this season?

Fwd: Wednesday Night at the Northstar Cafe - Hope to see you on the 17th!

2009-06-09T13:04:00.001-07:00

Thought this might be of interest...

Please join us June 17th for an interesting, informative, and informal event that is
open to the public. Come on down to the Northstar Cafe, get yourself a coffee or tea and treat and settle in for a great discussion. Bring a friend!

Pollution in and Around Us:
Moving from Knowledge to Action
June 17th, 7-8:30 p.m.
Northstar Cafe, 225 Congress Street, Portland

Each of us is polluted with dozens of hazardous industrial chemicals, according to several studies. These chemicals are found in products we use every day: plastic containers, toys, furniture, fabric, automobiles, TVs and stereos, water bottles, medical supplies and personal products like shampoo, hairspray and perfume. They are in our homes and offices, food and water, and the air we breathe. Increasingly, we are learning that they are also in us.

In 2006, 13 Maine women and men vounteered to have their bodies tested in the first-ever study of chemical pollution in Maine People. This study found a total of 46 different chemicals (of 71 tested) in samples of blood, urine, and hair. On average, each participant had measurable levels of 36 toxic chemicals in their bodies. (to download the study, visit www.cleandandhealthyme.org)

Increasingly, such chemicals are being linked to health problems, such as reproductive health disorders, cancer, learning and behavioral disabilities, diabetes and obesity.

On June 17th, 7:00 - 8:30 pm at the Northstar Cafe (225 Congress Street,
Portland) the Environmental Health Strategy Center will host an informal
conversation with three women who used their own experiences with environmental toxins to create different types of positive, constructive engagement:

Beth George, lawyer, mother and founder of Speltright Baking
Elisa Boxer Cook, journalist, educator, and mother
Lora Winslow, founder of the Naked Truth Project, and Director of Marketing
and Sustainability for O'Natural's Inc.

We'll listen to their stories, and have an open exchange about how each of us deals with toxins around and in us. We'll learn about local resources for more information and ways to get involved and active to create safer products, homes and workplaces for us all.

This is a WiFi and cell phone free event. Thank you for your cooperation!

For more information, please contact: Kristine Jenkins, Environmental Health
Strategy Center, www.preventharm.org, 878-0082/ 409-9193 (cell),
kristinej@preventharm.org

Summer Respite

2009-06-08T04:15:00.000-07:00

I will be largely missing this summer, given all the time I will be spent actually engaging in parenting (for peace) rather than reflecting on it. I will continue to forward e-mails, and hope to return with more substantive reflection and analysis in the fall. Thanks, Kim

Fwd: Opinion: Trying Times Call for Healthy Families Act

2009-06-08T04:13:00.001-07:00

> From Women's E-NEWS
>
> Here's today's update:
>
>
> COMMENTARY
>
>
> Trying Times Call for Healthy Families Act
>
> By Linda Meric - WeNews correspondent
>
> Editor's Note: The following is a commentary. The opinions expressed
> are those of the author and not necessarily the views of Women's
> Enews.
>
> (WOMENSENEWS)--These are challenging times for America's families.
> One in 4 Americans, or about 23 percent of those surveyed in a
> recent Gallup Poll, report that they are "very worried" about
> keeping up with their monthly bills over the next six months. That's
> up from 19 percent a year ago and 15 percent in March 2007.
>
> And while many of us are working harder than ever to keep pace under
> the current economic pressure, workplace duties are not the only
> duties we have.
>
> Family responsibilities await us at home. That is why we must pass
> the Healthy Families Act, introduced in the 111th Congress on May 18
> by Rep. Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut, and Massachusetts
> Sen. Ted Kennedy, also a Democrat.
>
> Workers still get sick. Children still get fevers and runny noses.
> Mom or Dad still needs to take them to the doctor or just stay by
> their bedside to nurse them back to health. No matter how dedicated
> workers are to hanging on to their jobs at all cost, the need to
> occasionally take time away from work never goes away--not even in a
> tough recession, not even when jobs are this hard to come by.
>
> Unfortunately, nearly half of private sector workers in the United
> States don't have a single paid sick day to care for themselves.
> Additionally, nearly 100 million Americans get no paid time off to
> care for an ailing child or an aging parent.
>
> Fewer "Wives" at Home
>
> While this is an issue for all workers, the reality is that women,
> or "wives," have historically been tasked with the family care-
> giving responsibilities--and most families do not have a "wife" at
> home these days.
>
> The numbers speak for themselves. According to a 2007 report by the
> Multi-State Working Families Consortium, "Valuing Families: It's
> About Time," less than 6 percent of all women in the U.S. were in
> the work force at the turn of the century. By 1950, that number had
> climbed to 24 percent; by 2000 to 60 percent.
>
> Meanwhile, the number of single parents--mostly women--has also
> mushroomed and single mothers are working many more hours than they
> have in past years. Why? The Valuing Families report attributes this
> to pent-up demand among women for career opportunity and economic
> independence--and economic necessity. Simply put, over the last 35
> years women's increased work and earnings has been the only avenue
> for many families to attain or maintain economic self-sufficiency.
>
> Though the flood of women into the work force has been beneficial,
> it has raised an obvious question for families: how to provide all
> the care, support and supervision that children need without
> jeopardizing family economic self-sufficiency. For working women
> without paid sick days, occasionally staying home when a child is
> ill could mean the loss of a day's pay, or worse, the loss of a job.
>
> It's a terrible choice that strikes fear in the hearts of all
> workers; a fear grounded in workplace reality.
>
> Consequences of Time Off
>
> In a 2006 survey, conducted by the Center on Work Life Law at the
> University of California's Hastings College of the Law, 1 in 6
> workers said they or a family member had been fired, suspended,
> punished or threatened by an employer for taking time off to care
> for themselves or a family member when ill.
>
> This is all highly counterproductive.
>
> Healthy workers are key to a healthy national economy.
>
> Paid sick days reduce the business costs of turnover, absenteeism
> and lack of productivity when workers are sick on the job. In fact,
> if workers were provided just seven paid sick days annually,
> according to information released by the National Partnership for
> Women and Families in 2008, our national economy would enjoy an
> annual net savings of more than $8 billion.
>
> Healthy workers also contribute to a healthy public. As public
> health experts and our own government have repeatedly warned as we
> contend with H1N1 swine flu, sick workers can protect public health
> by staying home. But they shouldn't have to pay the awful price of
> job loss and family financial instability to do so.
>
> For all these reasons we need to pass the Healthy Families Act.
>
> It would allow workers to earn up to seven paid sick days a year to
> recover from their own illness, to care for a sick family member, or
> for diagnostic and preventative care. Equally important, it would
> allow workers time to recover from domestic violence or sexual
> assault. Just as no worker should have to choose between pay and
> health, no worker should have to choose between pay and safety.
>
> Need for Federal Policy
>
> In the last three years, paid sick days legislation has passed in
> three cities: San Francisco, the District of Columbia and Milwaukee,
> where implementation is being held up by legal challenges.
>
> This year, there are 15 active paid sick-days state campaigns. But
> what America needs most in these tough economic times is federal
> policy like the Healthy Families Act.
>
> A broad coalition of women's, civil rights, health, children's,
> faith-based and labor organizations supports the act. It has more
> than 100 co-sponsors in the U.S. House, strong leadership from Ted
> Kennedy in the Senate and the steadfast support of the White House.
>
> In accepting his party's nomination last August, President Obama
> said, "We measure the strength of our economy by whether the
> waitress who lives on tips can take a day off and look after a sick
> kid without losing her job." Later he reiterated, "Now is the time
> to help families with paid sick days, because nobody in America
> should have to choose between keeping their job and caring for a
> sick child or an ailing parent."
>
> Congress must pass the Healthy Families Act. The President must sign
> it.
>
> We must ensure that all families have the tools to be as healthy and
> as economically self-sufficient as possible as we move toward
> recovery in the days ahead.
>
> Linda Meric, a nationally-known speaker on family-friendly workplace
> policy, is executive director of 9to5, National Association of
> Working Women. A diverse, grassroots, membership-based nonprofit
> that helps strengthen women's ability to win economic justice, 9to5
> has staffed offices in Milwaukee, Denver, Atlanta, Los Angeles and
> San Jose.
>
> Women's eNews welcomes your comments. E-mail us at editors@womensenews.org
> . -
>
> -

Susan Linn's Visit - Recap

2009-05-21T10:01:00.001-07:00

I so appreciate the community's support of the Friends School's first Parenting for Peace event. We had a great response - 20 teachers signed up for our workshop "Using Puppets in the Classroom" and we had an additional 10 on our waiting list. We are estimating 80 - 100 people attended the public lecture.

In the workshop, Susan described the utility for ADULTS in having a childlike / child-identified puppet as a parenting/teaching partner. Children's interactions with the puppet may be less inhibited than with us as adults, and the puppet can say and do things, or experience situations, that open up great conversations for adults and children.

She encouraged us to make, buy, and use very simple and gender ambigious puppets to reduce the scripting that kids will bring to the interaction. Susan suggested that we might get special and larger puppets that become true characters in our lives and classrooms. Puppets that kids use can be really simple- mittens with button eyes, or gloves with magic marker faces, or sock puppets (a google search reveals tons of web sites with easy instructions). In the workshop, we also talked about how older kids can make puppets and begin a journey of self-expression through what they choose to create.

In the larger forum, Linn argued that parents and teachers are engaging children who are living in a toxic culture. She largely blames the increasing corporatization and heightened consumerism of our post-deregulation media. Kids are bombarded with the message that buying things will bring them happiness, and if they're not made happy by their things they probably need more, newer, or different things. Of course, happiness research reveals the opposite -- after we have our general needs met (and of course, these are defined by our culture), more things do not make us happier. Helping kids deconstruct and resist these messages is tough, and made harder by the fact that we all are effected and busy and stressed.

She shared some resources and ideas for creating social change (check out the Campaign for a Commerical Free Childhood) -- clearly, more are needed!

Books she suggested:

The Parents We Mean to Be by Weissbourd

Free Range Kids by Skenazy (her blog is here)

Books by Nancy Carlson-Paige and Diane Levin about helping kids "play through" media violence and other trauma that they experience.

Maine State Book Award

2009-05-21T09:24:00.001-07:00

The most recent Maine State Book Award List is ready :

It is a reading program for grades 4-8. This year's annotated list, with suggested grade levels, can be found on the Windham Library Page. Every book on the list was read and recommended by at least 4 professional children librarians or teachers from Maine. Many of the books are available at public libraries.

Boys to Men

2009-05-20T17:10:00.000-07:00

Raising Healthy Kids
Strategies for the Whole Community
With Dr. Dennis Embry

FREE Parent Night
Thursday, May 21
7:00-8:30 pm
South Portland High School Auditorium

Presenter Dr. Dennis Embry will outline how many of our current policies and practices can be harmful to youth, and how we can use just four simple, scientifically proven strategies to better the futures of all children.

Dr. Embry is a nationally acclaimed child psychologist whose work has taken him from Sesame Street to the Secretary of Defense with stops in between. He is a National Research Advisory Council Senior Fellow and a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Prevention and Intervention and the National Center on Early Adolescence, an author of evidence-based prevention programs, and an advocate raising healthy kids using community-wide support.

Introductory remarks by Maine's former Attorney General Steve Rowe.

Earlier in the day, Dr. Embry will present the keynote address at the annual
Boys to Men conference at USM.

For more info, check out the e-mail from Real Life Real Talk

FW: May 30: Organizing meeting for an Economic Human Rights Campaign for Maine

2009-05-14T11:42:00.001-07:00

A message from the Maine Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods:

www.peacebreadjustice.org

Working toward an
Economic Human Rights Campaign in Maine

For more information about this work, go to:
http://www.peacebreadjustice.org/news-and-event-items/working-toward-an-economic-human-rights-campaign-in-maine

In April, M.A.I.N. was involved with events in Maine at which Cheri Honkala, national coordinator for the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, spoke.

Economic Human Rights include the RIGHT to: quality health care; a job or income, living wages, equal pay, and the ability to join a union; affordable housing; adequate and nutritional food; free education, and a decent standard of living.

As a result of Cheri's visit, there are many in Maine who are hoping to have an active Economic Human Rights campaign in Maine that will work toward those rights as well as having a connection to national efforts.

We want you to join with us to make noise, make a difference, and make change.

You invited to help in several ways:

(1) Comment on the "Economic Bill of Rights for Maine" that M.A.I.N. created in 1999. (go to, http://www.peacebreadjustice.org/economic-bill-of-rights).

(2) Attend a meeting on May 30, to plan strategies for making economic human rights a goal and reality for every resident in Maine. It will be held at the office of Maine Equal Justice, 126 Sewall St., Augusta (for directions, go to: http://www.mejp.org/about/maps.htm

Following the meeting at 12 noon, there will be a large "Feet on the Street" rally for "National Health Care For Everyone--For Life" across the street at the State Capitol Building in Augusta.

(3) If you can't attend the May 30 meeting but have ideas or want to be active on some part of an economic human rights campaign, contact Larry Dansinger.

(4) Attend the national conference on abolishing poverty on July 16-19 in Louisville, Kentucky that the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign and the Social Welfare Action Alliance are sponsoring. Look for more information on the www.socialwelfareactionalliance.org web site.

For more information about this campaign or the May 30th meeting,
contact: Larry Dansinger, 161 Stovepipe Alley, Monroe, ME 04951, (207) 525-7776, rosc@psouth.net

To learn about the Poor People's Economic Human Rights campaign, go to:
www.economichumanrights.org

Susan Linn in Falmouth May 12th!

2009-05-11T03:47:00.001-07:00

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Reclaiming Childhood from Corporate Marketers

CCFC's Director, psychologist Susan Linn, will be giving a special lecture at the Friends School of Portland this Tuesday, May 12 at 7:00 PM.

Children's creative play is crucial to their growth and development. Play is the foundation of learning, and creativity and is essential to self-reflection and the capacity to make life meaningful. Play comes naturally to children, yet in the 21st century United States its very existence is threatened by an unprecedented convergence of sophisticated screen technology and rampant commercialism. Psychologist Susan Linn discusses the inseparable links between play, creativity and health, identifies the modern threats to make believe, and lays out strategies for nurturing play in a culture that dictates against it.

This event is open to the public.

When: Tuesday, May 12, 7:00PM

Where: Friends School of Portland, 1 Mackworth Island, Falmouth, ME

For more information please click here or contact
information@...

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood
A Program of the Judge Baker Children's Center
53 Parker Hill Ave
Boston, MA 02120
www.commercialfreechildhood.org

FW: Women's Leadership Action Day at the State House

2009-05-06T11:18:00.001-07:00

DAY AT THE STATE HOUSE

Join the
Women's Leadership Action Coalition

Wednesday, May 13, 2009,

8:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Hall of Flags
Maine State House, Augusta

+ Connect with other women from around the state.
+ Learn how the legislative session will affect women.
+ Develop your advocacy skills.
+ Use your voice to influence the political process.

=================

AGENDA for the Day
=================

8:30 - 9:00   Registration, Coffee, Advocacy Displays
Registration is in the Hall of Flags, located on the 2nd Floor of the State House. Get some coffee and a muffin, view the organizational displays, connect with other women.

9:00 - 9:15 Welcome by Legislative Women Leaders, Overview of the              Day-Welcome Center, 1st Floor of the State House

9:15 - 10:15 Current Legislative and Budget Issues
Overview of current Women's Economic Security Agenda issues before the Legislature and the impact of proposed budget cuts on women and families

10:15 -11:30 How You Can Influence Policy Decisions
Hands-on training on how you can use your voice to influence the political process and public opinion

         1)      Introduction to Advocacy/Citizen Lobbying-Welcome Center
         2)      Mock Public Hearing-Room 105, Cross Office Building lower level
         3)      Tour State House-meet in Hall of Flags

11:30 - Noon Wrap Up of Morning and Next Steps-Developing Your
Advocacy Plan and Steps

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch-Bring your own Brown Bag or eat in the State House        Cafeteria (Arrange ahead of time to meet with your Legislator)

1:00 - 2:00   Optional Action Activities
·        Attend a public hearing or work session
·        Connect with/shadow your Legislator
·        Tour the State House/Participate in Scavenger Hunt

Complete Evaluation Form

Maine Equal Justice is a member of the Women's Leadership Action Coalition.

For more information, contact:
Maine Centers for Women, Work and Community
at 1-800-442-2092.
To register,e-mail: lhilton@maine.edu
OR register online at
www.womenworkandcommunity.org.

Fwd: Join us at Working with Girls on Wednesday, May 20th in Portland, ME

2009-05-06T03:03:00.001-07:00

You're invited to…
Working with Girls: A Training in Facilitation and Group Dynamics
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME

Facilitating group work with girls can be as challenging as it is rewarding. While building the group into a safe space, nurturing girls' voices, and helping them speak to their experiences takes effort and time – and it can be difficult and messy we also know that providing girls with the space and supports they need to connect, challenge and talk about their world is essential to girls' healthy development.

That's why we're offering a special training on Wednesday, May 20^th from 9a-4p in Portland, Maine. The training, Working with Girls: A Training in Facilitation and Group Dynamics, is an opportunity for you to learn concrete strategies for:
¨       Appreciating girls' differences and standing with girls
¨       Becoming self-aware as a facilitator and group member
¨       Observing, listening and tracking a group's voice and growth
¨       Practicing the 3 levels of listening
¨       Recognizing & handling resistance
Participants will also have the opportunity to practice facilitation techniques and look at group case studies.

Our trainer is Lael Couper Jepson, the owner and principal of SheChanges, a coaching and consulting firm based in Portland,Maine. She is a professionally educated and seasoned practitioner of organization development as well as a certified coach.
This workshop is designed for teachers, guidance counselors, school administrators, health service and social service providers, parents, and anyone else who wants to learn more effective approaches to bringing out the best in girls!

Join us for this groundbreaking training and find out how we can all create a better world for girls.

Find out more about Working with Girls

Wednesday, May 20, 2009
9:00 am - 4:00 pm
University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME

Registration fee is $95 if received by May 13th; $110 afterward. A 15% discount is available for groups of 3 or more people from the same agency who register together. For more information on the training please visit our website (www.hghw.org), contact Hardy Girls Healthy Women (207) 861-8131 or info@hghw.org.
Register online now

Or

Download the flyer

We hope to see you on May 20^th.

Sincerely,

Megan Williams, Executive Director
Hardy Girls Healthy Women, Inc.
PO Box 821 / 14 Common Street
Waterville, ME 04903-0821
207/861.8131 (tel) / 207/615.0514 (fax)
megan@hghw.org / www.hghw.org

Re: Parenting for Peace: Free Public Lecture - MAY 12 -- Please Forward!

2009-05-05T03:09:00.000-07:00

This week's NYT magazine featured an article by Peggy Orenstein about the importance of free play for young children. [http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03wwln-lede-t.html?_r=1&emc=eta1] We are so pleased to offer an opportunity for child care providers and parents and teachers and community members to discuss this idea, with a national expert.

Susan Linn is the director of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood and recently wrote : The Case for Make Believe which uses developmental psychology and current research on media to help adults think about the role that pretend play has in the lives of young children, the role of adults to engage in that play (or leave it alone), and the role of social forces in scripting, limiting or encouraging make-believe.

Although Susan, a ventriloquist, takes this work very seriously, she brings with her an audacious friend "Audrey" who adds a much needed dose of humor to the conversation.

The talk is FREE

May 12th

Begins at 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:30)

at the Friends School of Portland ~ Mackworth Island

ASL interpreting will be provided

Please come and please share this with friends!

(p.s. I'm sorry to send repetitive reminders, but please do pass them on!)

Who Does She Think She Is

2009-05-04T09:04:00.002-07:00

I attended the Maine Women's Fund's screening of Who Does She Think She Is on Saturday, with two dear friends, but I wished that the room included everyone close to me. The movie is so powerful and resonates so deeply that I think some of the themes (particularly about how extraordinary and how risky consciousness can be) come up for us as we experience the film. I have that sense of having to sublimate some of my deepest connections with the women who were profiled, because I don't have the time, support or emotional energy to follow the threads where they might take me -- but it is good to have some new threads to pull on, when the time comes.

The film is about mothers who are artists and about artists who are mothers. This provides very rich ground for women across generations, occupations, and family experiences to connect. For some of the women in our audience, the resonance came around their experiences of ambition, sexism, and caregiving. For others, the important part was about how a creative impulse can be life defining and how biting back self-expression is tantamount to self-destruction. And yet, how following one's creative energy can cause a lot of harship, saddness, logistical problems, etc. for people. As one of the artists said, about her own experience: Now my dream is out there, and it isn't safe and I'm not safe.

The statistics about women's representation in the art world were horrifying -- while women compose upwards of 75% of art students, they are barely shown in big galleries or national museum collections. The data on NYT book reviews of women authors, of women screen writers, etc. are equally depressing (links to come to the sidebar when I have more time).

As a political person, I feel passionate that there is a link between creating economic security (economic human rights) and allowing women's creativity to have some space. How do we create our art if we're working two jobs and don't have paid sick leave? But others in the audience were quick to point out that there is a psychological and cultural dimension as well -- we need confidence, we need quiet enough to hear our own inner voice, we need patience, we need access to the histories and experiences of other women and other mothers. And to that end, the film provides an extraordinary jumping off point.

It is my huge hope that the women's fund will find a way to offer a lot of public screenings, since the film is not yet available to the public... but if not, you can sign up for an e-mail when it is released.

Raising Healthy Kids - From Medical Care Development

2009-05-04T09:04:00.001-07:00

Dr. Dennis Embry: Raising Healthy Kids

Registration
Join us for a (free!) evening presentation by Dr. Embry, a nationally acclaimed child psychologist whose work has taken him from Sesame Street to the Secretary of Defense with stops in between. Dr. Embry will outline how our society’s current policies and practices are harmful to our youth, and how each of us can use just four simple, scientifically proven strategies to better the futures of all children. Anyone who is responsible for the health and well being of children and adolescents can benefit from this presentation including parents, teachers, social workers, guidance councilors, coaches, nurses, law enforcement, policy makers to name a few.

Instructions: Pre-registration is required for those seeking certificates of attendance, as well as those requesting childcare during the event. For all others, pre-registration is strongly recommended, as seats will fill up fast. Registrations will be confirmed by email or phone and will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the cutoff date or until the conference is full. For registration questions, please use the contact info on the left hand side.

Driving Directions: From I-95 North and South take exit 45 (RTE 1/ SOUTH PORTLAND) Follow to Rte 1. Turn left onto Rte 1 N at the traffic light, go through 2 traffic lights. At the third light (MEINEKE MUFFLER on RT) Bear Right onto Broadway. Keep in the right lane. At the second traffic light bear Right onto Evans St (Amato's Sub Shop is straight ahead). About ¾ of a mile up the street at the crest of a small hill is the South Portland Community Center on the left, just after that is Nelson Rd. Turn left there and drive toward the football field. Parking is in the lot on the left. The South Portland Auditorium is at the top of the hill to the right.

Labryrinths

2009-05-02T07:48:00.000-07:00

Labyrinths are used for mindfulness and peacemaking. Labyrinths provide opportunities for reflection and settling oneself. Some teachers suggest using finger labyrinths with children, to help them focus and settle.

On Sunday, May 17th, from 12 - 4 Lifeworks Chiropractics will offer "Labryinth : A Moving Meditation" -- they say:

A labryinth is a winding path used for contemplation and transformation. Join us for this FREE event where you can walk the labyrinth and experience a gentle spinal alignment to release the spine and relax the body."

Of course, we have a beautiful labyrinth on Mackworth Island. Below are some links for ideas for using it, or bringing one to your home garden.

Real School Gardens offers a bunch of resources, including this pdf about garden labryinth rituals

Labyrinths in School is a whole organization / site devoted to this idea.

This article explains how to make finger labyrinths from clay -- a nice way to start summer, perhaps.

(x-posted with Friends School of Portland Parents blog)

Paid Sick Leave, DUH!

2009-05-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

Momsrising articulated my fury at our Governor's / President's call for people to stay home when they are sick without creating a paid sick leave law. Schools are planning to close for up to a week if the Swine Flu hits, but what are parents going to do? The intersection of recession and flu calls for public policy response and offering everyone paid sick leave is the very least we can do.

Jody Heymann writes about what happens in poor families when parents need to work and can not find or afford childcare -- children are left home alone at younger and younger ages, or are left in the care of other children, or are left with elders who might also need care. (Her book, Forgotten Families, is a must read!)

A fact sheet by Heymann

The Chicago Sun Times and US News and World Reports have articles about this particular dilemma

MomsRising offers easy activism at the national level and the Maine Women's Lobby is working on paid sick days for the state.

In this emergency, however, we might need emergency measures if we really want children and parents to stay home if they are sick, and we don't want to cause a secondary public health crisis by leaving young children home alone.

Talking to Kids About Marriage Equality

2009-04-28T17:29:00.001-07:00

In breaking news, Maine's representatives have passed the Marriage Equality bill out of committee and it now goes to the Senate. I am desperately hoping that the Senate passes it without attaching an amendment that would send it out for referendum. Maine can not afford a referendum about civil rights right now -- not financially or emotionally.

I have been thinking a lot about how children hear us talk about these issues. It seems so important to talk about why some families might choose to be married and how all families deserve equal rights, but also how some families do not choose marriage and how single parent families and grandparent-caregiver families and foster families are also abundant and normal and healthy places for children to live. We don't want to overstate the importance of marriage, but do want to provide some context for helping kids think about why Gay and Lesbian parents/couples might want to be married.

The following resources provide books and suggestions for helping children (and adults) maintain a broad sensibility about who can be a family and might help children develop some consciousness about exclusion or heterosexism. If the anti-marriage campaign heats up, we're likely to hear a lot more hate speech and will need to develop more resources for helping kids speak up for themselves, their families, and other people's families.

----------------------
Tibury House publishes Lucy's Family Tree and provides resources to go with it -- the story emphasizes the range of families we live in and problematizes a simply biological approach to thinking about families.

Ava McCall, referenced in my last post, has a 75-book annotated bibliography about families.

COLAGE offers downloadable "respect all families" posters, book resources for LGBTQ parents, and resources for people with LGBTQ parents. They also offer a link to download this report:

Involved, Invisible, Ignored: Collaborative Report on the experiences of Students with LGBT Parents, and LGBT Parents in Schools written by GLSEN, COLAGE and Family Equality Council

GLSEN - the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network also offers a ton of resources for parents and teachers.

Maine's Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence offers testimony and research about the experiences of LGBTQ families in this free report: Honoring All Maine Families

Great Bibliographies

2009-04-28T17:27:00.000-07:00

While looking for resources for using Poetry to teach about social justice, I stumbled upon these amazing annotated bibliographies by Professor Ava McCall. She has so many ideas for books and does a fabulous job describing the content, issue area and age the book is intended for. I can't wait to take the lists to the library!

Parenting for Peace: Free Public Lecture May 12th @ 1 Mackworth Island

2009-04-16T05:11:00.000-07:00

Dear FSP PARENTS : Please help us spread the word about this free talk for parents (at this time the workshop is full, but we are accepting a waiting list)! At a time when Sponge Bob is encountering sexy dancing to promote eating at Burger King and Dora is getting a tweeny make-over, we are lucky to have Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commerical Free Childhood in Falmouth to talk with us about how to help kids meet these media images and use creative play to write new scripts for themselves... Please share this info far and wide... Thank you, Kim

(Shucks -- the poster didn't come through... please e-mail me for the full info!)

Parenting for Peace: Free Public Lecture

2009-04-16T05:08:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends and Children's Advocates : Please help us spread the word about this free talk for parents (at this time the workshop is full, but we are accepting a waiting list)! At a time when Sponge Bob is encountering sexy dancing to promote eating at Burger King (??????) and Dora is getting a tweeny make-over, we are lucky to have Susan Linn, director of the Campaign for a Commerical Free Childhood in Falmouth to talk with us about how to help kids meet these media images and use creative play to write new scripts for themselves... Please share this info far and wide... Thank you, Kim (Kim Simmons, member of the board of the Friends School of Parents and mother of 2!).

Fwd: Take Back the Night!

2009-04-14T10:23:00.000-07:00

Take Back the Night, the annual community gathering in response to sexual assault, will be held on Friday April 24th at 6pm at the First Parrish Church. There is a rally during which Prevention. Action. Change. is leading "NO" and "YES" Circles, followed by a march through the streets of Portland.

This year as part of a public education effect, we are collecting bystander pledges (pledges to act to prevent and respond to Sexual Assault) and Speak Outs from survivors of sexual violence. The Speakouts are anonymous and you choose how they are used.

If you would like to submit either a By-stander Pledge or a Speak Out. You can return them via email tojohanna@sarsonline.org or by mail to: SARSSM PO Box 1371, Portland, ME, 04104.

Fwd: Tell Nick and Burger King: SpongeBob and Sexualization Don't Mix

2009-04-13T07:47:00.001-07:00

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Reclaiming Childhood from Corporate Marketers
Dear Kimberly,

Nickelodeon and Burger King have reached a new low. They've partnered to produce a new, highly sexualized, ad for a Burger King SpongeBob SquarePants Kids Meal. The commercial, which randuring the men's NCAA basketball championship last night, features The King singing a remix of Sir Mix-A-Lot's 1990's hit song, "Baby Got Back" with the new lyrics, "I like square butts and I cannot lie." The ad shows images of The King singing in front of women shaking their behinds for the camera intercut with images of SpongeBob dancing along. The King even measures the behind of one of the woman who has stuffed a phonebook under her dress. After the King informs children about the free SpongeBob toy they get with the purchase of a Burger King Kids Meal, the ad ends with Sir Mix-A-Lot, lounging on a couch with two female admirers, saying, "Booty is booty."
It's harmful enough when a beloved media icon advertises junk food to children, but it's utterly reprehensible when SpongeBob simultaneously promotes the objectification of women through sexualized imagery.
Please take a moment to view the ad for yourself athttp://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/pressreleases/spongebobburgerking.html. If you agree with us that this is an egregious way to advertise a kid's meal -or anything--to children, tell Nickelodeon and Burger King to immediately pull this commercial off the air by visitinghttp://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/621/t/6725/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27008.
There is little doubt that Burger King was hoping to court controversy when they produced this ad. The company continually positions itself as an edgier alternative to other fast food chains. But it's one thing to market edginess to adults. It's another to exploit children in the process. It is simply unacceptable that Burger King is objectifying women and using sexual stereotypes to lure young children to its restaurants.
As for Nickelodeon, it's bad enough that the company profits from using their most popular characters to sell kids on junk food. But to associate a beloved male cartoon character with lechery SpongeBob sends an even stronger message about how little Nick cares about the wellbeing of their devoted audience.
Tell Nickelodeon and Burger King that this ad needs to stop. Now.

Fwd: URGENT UPDATE

2009-04-13T07:35:00.001-07:00

Dear Kim,
Today we received important information that the public hearing of our marriage bill has been changed toWEDNESDAY, APRIL 22 at the AUGUSTA CIVIC CENTER.
Given the overwhelming number of people on both sides who are planning to attend the hearing, the Legislature made the decision to move the location to the Augusta Civic Center on the nearest available day, Wednesday April 22.
Now more than ever, we need you at the public hearing.RSVP to april22@equalitymaine.org. Include your name, address, and phone number.
This will be the most important day of the campaign outside the final vote. The media, legislators, governor, and the people of Maine will be watching. We cannot let the opposition outnumber us on this critical day.
Please spread the word to your friends and family. This will be a family-friendly event, with activities and spaces for children and their loved ones.
The hearing starts at 9 am. Doors open at 8 am. Large crowds are expected, please plan to arrive early.
Remember to RSVP to april22@equalitymaine.org. Once you RSVP, you will receive important details about the hearing.
We cannot win without you. See you on April 22.

Betsy Smith
Executive Director
P.S. If you previously sent an RSVP, be sure to send another RSVP for the new date and location: april22@equalitymaine.org

Fwd: You're invited to The Thin Line - April 14th at 7pm

2009-04-09T16:47:00.001-07:00

This is a unique opportunity!

Come see "The Thin Line" next Tuesday

Bowdoin College is sponsoring a performance of Add Verb Productions' nationally touring one woman play, The Thin Line. Admission is free and open to the community, please contact us if you would like to attend.

When: Tuesday, April 14, 2009 at 7pm

Where: Kresge Auditorium (basement of the Visual Arts Center)
    Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME

RSVP:   Contact Amanda Bailey at 207-772-1167
             or email amanda@addverbproductions.com

Who should attend: Anyone who would like to better understand how eating disorders impact family, friends and the community. Suitable for mature middle school, high school and college students and their supporters.

Check out the recent article in The Forecaster about The Thin Line.

Also if you know of anyone who would be interested in seeing The Thin Line, feel free to pass this email on!

More About The Thin Line

The Thin Line is an engaging and effective tool in reaching audiences, inspiring personal reflection and conversation around healthy and unhealthy behaviors. Developed from personal interviews and research, the play composites a look at how an entire community is impacted by the disease, not just the person who is diagnosed.

Watch The Thin Line Promo Video
See what others have been saying about The Thin Line
See where The Thin Line has been performed

What are others saying about The Thin Line?

Mere minutes into the performance, tears were streaming down my face. The play was a reflection of my life. My struggle was there for all to see, I was not alone, and someone was putting words to what I could not. The Thin Line is the most accurate portrayal I have seen, heard or read. This play helped my loved ones to understand. It showed my parents a little of what was going on in my head. This play captured my emotions, my thoughts and my struggles.
--KV, recovering anorexic

The Thin Line is one of the most accurate examinations of the experience of eating disorders. It shows the insidious hold eating disorders develop on an otherwise rational, resourceful, reliable person; how it destroys self-confidence, judgment, and relationships; how they affect the families and friends; how they defy logic and destroy the spirit. The Thin Line may serve to both prevent eating disorders and to provide insight and hope to those who suffer from them. It will be a valuable tool in our attempts to defeat the "Body Wars" that plague girls and women in western culture.
--Dr. Margo Maine, author of Body Wars: Making Peace with Women's Bodies.

To date, The Thin Line and You the Man have toured to 32 states (as well as Bermuda and Japan!), and reached over 115,000 people.

To keep up to date on upcoming performances for all of Add Verb's programming,
Sign up for our enews announcements!

Forward email

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Come visit Parenting for Peace

Friday April 24 - Public Hearing on Marriage Equality

2009-04-09T05:18:00.000-07:00

Dear friends:

Maine’s marriage campaign is moving to the next level. The public hearing on the marriage bill has been scheduled for Friday, April 24 at Cony High School in Augusta.

Make no mistake about it—April 24 will be the single most important day of this campaign outside of the final vote. The media, legislators, governor, and people of Maine will be watching.

Our opponents—Michael Heath and the Christian Civic League, Bob Emrich and the Maine Marriage Alliance, and national groups like Tony Perkins' Family Research Council—have already announced they will have over 1,000 people at the hearing.

We cannot let the opposition outnumber us on this critical day. The LGBT and allied community must come together like never before. Please join us in Augusta and bring your family and friends with you. Children are encouraged to attend—this will be a family-friendly event.

RSVP for the hearing by sending an email to April24@EqualityMaine.org. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number. Once you RSVP, you’ll receive an automatic response with the important details about the hearing.

Get ready for a day you'll never forget. This is history in the making!

Betsy

p.s. Please forward this message to friends and allies.

Betsy Smith
Executive Director
EqualityMaine
PO Box 1951
Portland, ME 04104
207-761-3732
207-761-3752 fax
207-939-7769 cell
bsmith@equalitymaine.org
www.equalitymaine.org

Courage to Teach - Aroostok County

2009-04-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

If any of you live The County or know teachers who do, this looks like a fabulous opportunity. Doug Babkirk was once my neighbor and he is an outstanding person - I'm sure a pleasure to be at a retreat he is facilitating. The Courage to Teach model is such a great one, too.

Alliance for Childhood ~ Little Kids Need Time To Play

2009-04-03T06:09:00.000-07:00

The Alliance for Childhood has released their report on why young children need time for play (unstructured play) at school. The full report is available for download at their website.

For those interested in this topic in Maine, we at the Friends School of Portland are thrilled to be bringing Susan Linn (author of the Case for Make Believe and associate director of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood) to Maine for a teacher workshop and public lecture. Her talk, also entitled the Case for Make Believe, will be held at the Governor Baxter School for the Deaf on Mackworth Island on May 12th at 7pm. It is free and ASL interpreting will occur.

The Power of Song

2009-03-25T03:16:00.001-07:00

I think I've written before about how much I love the singing times at my children's school. Shared music has the power to create connection and solidarity among the singers, to bring joy, to express injustice, and to get us all a little sillier and more creative.

There are several extraordinary musical happenings in Maine... The first is a production of Elijah by the Choral Arts Society on March 31st at Merrill Auditorium. Read more about the production here.

The second is the incredible opportunity to study music with a leader from Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Graduate Courses in Music
Teaching and Learning

The Power of Song
MUS 599

June 29 - July 3, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

Instructor: Ysaye M. Barnwell
Location: Gorham

There is an awesome power in the human voice and when uncommon voices are blended for the common good, they become a 'vocal community' at its best. Masterfully led by Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell, singers and non-singers alike will share the common experience of learning in the oral tradition and singing rhythms, chants, traditional songs from Africa and the Diaspora, and a variety of songs from African American culture including spirituals, ring shouts, hymns, gospels, and songs from the civil rights movement. The historical, social and political context will provided as an introduction to the songs. Through out this experience, the group will explore from an African American world view, the values imbedded in the music, the role of cultural and spiritual traditions and rituals, ways in which leadership emerges and can be shared by and among community members, the nature of cultural responses to and influences on political and social struggle, and finally the significance of a shared communal experience in ones' personal life. A willingness to sing is all that is required.
3 credits.

If all that passes you by, check out the Power of Song film about Pete Seeger's life, or Shut Up and Sing about the Dixie Chicks... both reveal the impact that music can have on the music-makers and the audience writ large.

Tell Scholastic - Take the Commercials Out of Books

2009-03-23T05:40:00.001-07:00

This is a special request from the Campaign for a Commerical Free Childhood for teachers to talk back to scholastic...

Teachers Tell Scholastic to Shape Up!
"Our school is taking a stand against mass marketing to children. Scholastic is a Book Club and should not be an advertising base for products marketed to children. We see this as exploitation! Our teachers will not be used as salesmen."~ Jeanne Voltz-Loomis, Pre-K Teacher, Myrtle Beach, SC.

When nearly 5,000 CCFC members told Scholastic to "Put the book back in book club," a Scholastic executive told the New York Times, "We work with teachers to make sure that items are O.K. to put out in their classrooms." But teachers all over the country are telling a different story. More than 800 people have already signed CCFC's teacher petition to Scholastic and many have included personal, eloquent expressions of discomfort about promoting toys and plastic trinkets to their students. Some have stopped distributing the flyers altogether.

If you're a teacher and you have not yet signed the petition, please take a moment to do so by visiting http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/scholastic. If you're not a teacher, please share our petition with the teachers you know. And be sure to visit our Shape Up, Scholastic headquarters at for information and resources for countering Scholastic's in-school commercialism.

Resources for teaching about food

2009-03-23T05:32:00.001-07:00

There are tons of great resources in this months YES magazine / web site on food and teaching about food.

I am drawn toward the idea of saying blessings over food, and practicing more gratitude for the food that we have. And I love that my kids are interested in gardening and growing food...

And Born to Read has a great collection of children's books featuring gardens, although reading them does feel a bit like a big tease right now...It is still hard to eat locally in Maine right now!

Daughters.Com

2009-03-19T06:08:00.001-07:00

The creator of New Moon Magazine has a newly designed website for parents of daughters... at first glance, it looks like a helpful feminist resource.

Conference on Teaching about Africa

2009-03-18T09:06:00.000-07:00

The Maine Humanities Council is offering a professional development opportunity for teachers in April entitled Africa in Transition. We are going to be at Colby on April 9th and our lead scholar for the program is Jim Webb. Other presenting scholars include Catherine Besteman and Mamadou Samb. You can find the entire program and registration information at http://mainehumanities.org/programs/teachers/africa-transition.html If you want to pass any of this info along, please do!

Forbes article on the kicked-out women of wall street

2009-03-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

There is a devastating article in Forbes about discrimination against women in Investment Banking. Of course, it is happening everywhere, but given how much we need ethics and a feminist point of view in our economy, it seems like a double-whammy. I wish I knew how to start a women's investment firm, and bring all the talented and kicked-out women together to give Citibank et al. a run for their money!

Programs from Primary Source

2009-03-15T05:32:00.001-07:00

Same dear friend recommends the programs and resources developed by Primary Source. Especially interesting to me is this summer conference -- what are our emerging 21st century skills, values and educational mandate?

Teaching for Global Understanding in the 21st Century

Online Orientation: 6 hours to be completed from June 19-28, 2009*
Institute Dates: July 27-31, 2009
Location: Boston College
Follow-Up Session: Saturday, October 17, 2009
PDPs/Credits: 67.5 PDPs; 3 graduate credits for the course
Fee: Partnership educators--no cost other than fee for 3 graduate credits;
Non-partnership educators--$600 plus fee for 3 graduate credits
Registration Information

Educators are increasingly aware that the challenges of our changing world will require students to think and learn in new ways. In addition to teaching core academic content, our schools need to cultivate key skills: global awareness, critical thinking, media literacy, collaboration, intercultural communication, technological ability, and civic engagement. This course will explore the importance of such skills and will build a case for re-envisioning how we prepare students for an interconnected world. Participants will examine the global economy, the environment, health, social justice, education, and the globalization of culture. Interested participants should be willing to take on a leadership role in their districts and to be advocates for global education across disciplines and grade levels.

Suitable especially for K-12 educators and curriculum leaders.

*In addition to an online orientation, this course will involve participants in a variety of new technologies in the field of global education. Advanced reading and one hour of online discussion is also required.

Teaching About Asia

2009-03-15T05:16:00.000-07:00

A dear friend highly recommends this opportunity for Maine teachers interested in developing curricula on Asia.

NCTA in the Northeast > Maine

National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) seminars offers K-12 educators the opportunity to explore East Asian history, geography, culture, literature, arts, and language with Maine’s top scholars of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean studies. The program provides K-12 teachers with content background and pedagogical techniques for integrating East Asia into their curriculums. Participating teachers receive substantial incentives including $500 in cash stipends, $200 in books, and $300 in mini-grants as well as qualifying for highly subsidized study tours to East Asia.

Location: Bowdoin College, Brunswick

Seminar Leader: Matt Gardner
Tel (207) 846 6072

Application available as pdf from the web page.
or contact seminar leader

For more info, visit:

World Affairs Council of Maine
Maine Humanities Council

Dates:

* Fri, May 1
* Sat, May 2
* Sun, Jun 28 – Wed, Jul 1 in residence at Bowdoin College

Support ALL kids and mothers and families

2009-03-13T13:46:00.001-07:00

Dear Friends,

I’m writing to share some exciting news and to ask a favor.

You may have heard that EqualityMaine and its coalition partners have launched a campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples in Maine in 2009. This campaign is a very exciting step forward for all of us, and one that touches me on both a personal and professional level.

The campaign will happen in two phases. The first will involve passing a marriage bill in the legislature, either in May or June. The second phase will involve defending the marriage bill at the polls as early as November. (The opposition has already announced it will collect signatures for a people’s veto if the bill passes.)

The good news is that we are making progress in the legislature, where we have an unprecedented 64 co-sponsors of our marriage bill! The first true test will be at the Judiciary Committee Hearing on Friday, April 24, where official testimony will be given for and against the bill. This is a critical day that will be watched closely by legislators and the media. It will be our first major opportunity to show that Mainers support fairness for all families – gay or straight. More details on the Public Hearing are to come, but please plan to take off work, bring your family, and join us in Augusta on Friday, April 24.

The bad news is that the opposition has begun to ramp up its own campaign. They are circulating a video and also sending mail to individual homes that says if the marriage bill passes parent’s rights will be threatened because children would be taught about gay marriage in schools. They also argue that same-sex couples already enjoy legal protections similar to marriage. These things are not only false, but they are being used as scare tactics to confuse and avoid the real issue. These same tactics have been used effectively in marriage campaigns in other states, but we can’t let them get away with this in Maine.

That’s why I need your help. I need your help to send a clear message that ALL families deserve the dignity, respect, and legal protections that come only from a legal marriage. When it comes to what’s important for children, the fact is that children of same-sex couples are disadvantaged when their parents do not receive all the legal protections of marriage.

As part of our campaign, we have launched a “Family Portrait Project” that captures both gay and straight families who believe all families deserve legal protections, regardless of sexual orientation. We are partnering with a wonderful Maine-based photographer, Jo Moser, who has agreed to volunteer her time to photograph families for this project.

Our goal is to capture at least 30 families from around the state before April 1. We hope to use these photographs as part of the Judiciary Committee Hearing later that month, and also use them on our website.

Would you consider being part of this important project? We need you and your family to join other Mainer families for fairness. We only have a couple of weeks to make it happen.

If you are interested, please contact photographer Jo Mosser at 207-329-4489 or by email jo@jomoser.com (she’s waiting for responses). Jo is also cc’d on this email, so you can simply hit reply to this message. Once Jo hears from you, she will then set up a time to visit your home (or other location) as soon as possible.

Thank you so much for considering this.

Betsy

P.S. Please forward this to anyone who you think would be interested in joining this special project. We only have a couple weeks. Thanks!

Betsy Smith
Executive Director
EqualityMaine
PO Box 1951
Portland, ME 04104
207-761-3732
207-761-3752 fax
207-939-7769 cell
bsmith@equalitymaine.org
www.equalitymaine.org

Very Young Girls

2009-03-12T17:30:00.000-07:00

My parents association hosted Real Life, Real Talk: Sex Eds for Parents last night. For me, there was such a deep connection between the ideas we exchanged about what we need to do and say for our own children to have the chance of safe, healthy, and fun sexual futures, and what we need to begin to think about doing for all children. In a way, that's the point of my whole blog.

TThree seperate events crossed my e-mail/happened this morning, but they are connected at the root.

First, apparently Mattel is sexing-up Dora, which is absolutely disgusting. Hardy Girls has started the petition to keep her strong, bold, adventuress and with a bit of a girls belly.

Then, I had the incredible pleasure of hosting Cathy Plourde in my activism class. She is an incredibly inspiring activist and playwrite and director and creator and teacher. Truly, she rocked. But the material she brings into the community is serious and hard. Eating disorders, gendered and sexual violence, homophobia and heterosexism. Again, these are all part of youth's lives and as adults we need to bear witness and be strong allies and agents of change. Her project is Add Verb Productions and the web site is full of great info.

Then, on a progressively harder-to-watch note, the Maine Women's Fund is sponsoring a viewing of A Very Young Girl, which chronicles the story of several girls who have been manipulated into a life of prostitution, as teens. Courtney has a review on Feministing, and there is more information on the web site.

I am possibly too tired and my head is too full of thoughts to write the cogent analysis of how these issues stack up on each other, and yet it seems so clear that they do and it effects us all in different ways.

Very Young Girls
March 26: Social Justice Film Series
SPACE Gallery - 538 Congress St, Portland
Doors Open at 7:00 and Film at 7:30 pm
Admission $7 / $5 for SPACE members
VERY YOUNG GIRLS + Q&A with Director David Schisgall
Tix/Info at www.space538.org
Film website: www.vygthemovie.com

2009-03-11T10:51:00.000-07:00

Pro-choice Mother Sticker (Oval)
Buy this product at CafePress
Designed by Pro-choice America!

I believe that control over my body is a fundamental human right. Control over reproduction matters to me in such intimate ways, but also in really basic political ways. And I want my daughters to come of age in a world that is less objectifying, more sex-positive and authentic, and allows the to control all aspects of their sexuality. Why does that feel like such a pipe dream?

There is a way to take concrete action today! Picketers have reemerged on the steps of Maine's Family Planning Association, trying to shame and intimidate women who enter the clinic, despite the wide variety of reasons women might seek health care from FPA. Family Planning has a great response - - they are asking pro-choice people to pledge anything from a quarter on up, for every picketer who shows up. (At last check, they have 58 pledges -- we should be able to bring this to at least an even 100!) Although it would be much better to lose the picketers and the money, at least this creates a bit of a quagmire for those who want to interfere with women's access to health care -- and raises much needed funds for an extremely valuable program.

College Women's Political Leadership Training - In Maine and Free!

2009-03-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Maine NEW Leadership—a six-day, non-partisan residential training program provided at no cost to undergraduate college women throughout the state of Maine. The program is available to women from a variety of backgrounds, ages, races, and majors from public and private, four- and two-year institutions throughout Maine.

And for those of us who are no longer college students, there is the amazing looking Eleanor Days.

Are there other leadership training opportunities that activists and activist parents might consider?

Reading and Sibling Rivalry

2009-03-09T17:42:00.000-07:00

My youngest daughter has declared that she can read, and pity the person who challenges her. She brought The Yearling to a party. She positions herself on the couch in positions identical to her book-a-holic sister. And she has a giant tantrum every time said older sister provokes her with an actual word. I cajole Grace to let it go, but there are times when she's clearly provoked. And vice versa. I'm still at the bottom of the learning curve in terms of teaching useful peacemaking skills for small people.

The issue of Grace being marked the reader is straight out of Siblings Without Rivalry. I'm trying to be very careful to be inclusive and also talk about Kate as someone who loves books. Because she does, and she just happens to be 4.5 years younger and on a different learning trajectory. We are a family of readers and she wants to fit, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with imitation.

I'm also trying to figure out how to lay off trying to slyly teach her things, because maybe it is too much pressure. I believe that kids should learn through play at this age, but then I also can't help but bring on the phonics over alphabet soup. On the other hand, when she asserts herself in complete contradiction to my reality, I start to want her to actually know how to read. And I feel like some of her frustration and competitiveness will dissipate as she gets caught up, but then, she's only 4.5 and will always be 4.5 years younger than her only sibling, so that isn't really a good way out of this conflict.

I also try to figure out how to help my elder lay off. Grace is unbelievably lovely and kind in almost all situations, but the assertions of her younger sister drive her to distraction, and she can be pretty harsh in her corrections. My corrections of her corrections do not help.

I'd love picture book ideas for siblings thinking about birth order and their own sibling rivalry, books about compassion vs. being right (perhaps too heady for the picture book crowd?), and books about the frustration of learning to read. Any thoughts?

I did find a new blog that features 5 great books about a particular theme, for kids learning to read

Solitude

2009-03-05T10:54:00.000-08:00

This podcast was just recommended to me - I've downloaded it but haven't listened to it, but decided to put it out here 'cause it would be great to get some comments about other resources for thinking about solitude and silence, and what people think about this message...

Podcast: KQED Forum
Episode: 1/30/09 "The End of Solitude"
Description: The advent of new technologies like text messaging and online
social networking makes it easier to connect with friends far and wide, but
at what cost? We talk with literary critic William Deresiewicz about the
repercussions of hyper-connectivity and a generation that, he argues, seems
unable to tolerate solitude and quiet reflection.

(I couldn't get it off of itunes store, but did download it from the KQED website which is linked above).

Invitation to conference for advocates on March 12 in Augusta

2009-03-05T10:40:00.002-08:00

Every Child Matters

The Alliance for Children's Care, Education, and Supporting Services ACCESS

And Building Partnerships to Strengthen Maine Families

invite you to join us for a day of information, discussion and networking for child and family advocates, parents, providers and legislators.

Thursday, March 12th

Maine State Legislator's Breakfast - 7:30 - 8:30 am

Conference - 9:00 am - 3:30 pm

At the Holiday Inn, Augusta
How Congress Can Make a Difference in the Lives of Children: The Link Between Federal and State Programs to meet the Needs of Maine's Children and Families Congressional Roundtable on Children's Programs with representatives from the offices of Maine's Congressional Delegation "What is the Forecast for Maine's Children?"

Panel Discussion with:
Jim Clair, Goold Health Systems and Business Roundtable on Early Childhood Investment
Patti Woolley, DHHS Early Childhood Division

Barbara Van Burgel, DHHS Office of Integrated Access & Support
Representative Seth Berry, Maine House District 67

Elinor Goldberg, Maine Children's Alliance
And much more!!!

Seating is limited so please RSVP to mlbeaver@everychildmatters.org
by Monday, March 9th.

This event is free and open to the public. Lunch will be
provided.

Take action on treatment of immigrant / perceived immigrant mothers

2009-03-05T10:40:00.001-08:00

From MomsRising

In Maricopa County, Arizona, a mother with two small children in the car was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. Armed deputies in ski masks detained her for over an hour while her children watched in horror, not knowing what was happening to their mother or what would happen to them.

The whole event was caught on tape – and the video is truly heart wrenching. Even worse, the Sheriff in this small town has a long track record of racial profiling and civil rights violations in the name of immigration enforcement.

No matter where you stand on the immigration issue, mothers and children should never be treated this way.

Click here to watch the video on the MomsRising.org website, then sign a petition asking the Department of Justice to investigate this Sheriff:

http://www.momsrisingaction.org/o/1768/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=26817

LookyBook

2009-03-03T16:53:00.000-08:00

Lookybook : An extremely fun web site for tracking down great picture books.

A Powerful Noise -- Thursday March 5th

2009-02-27T04:07:00.000-08:00

The Brunswick Cinema 10 in Maine, and 450 theaters across the United States are having a 1 night event -- a live screening and post-movie event -- in honor of the new film A Powerful Noise. The film looks like incredibly inspiring as we think about the global women's movement and mother's responsibilities to ourselves, to each other, and to children everywhere. There are resources on the web site for planning future events as well...

Synopsis

Hanh is an HIV-positive widow in Vietnam. Nada, a survivor of the Bosnian war. And Jacqueline works the slums of Bamako, Mali. Three very different lives. Three vastly different worlds. But they share something in common: Power. These women are each overcoming gender barriers to rise up and claim a voice in their societies. Through their empowerment and ability to empower others, Hanh, Nada and Jacqueline are sparking remarkable changes. Fighting AIDS. Rebuilding communities. Educating girls.

Hi-Tech / No-Tech

2009-02-25T06:30:00.001-08:00

Good teaching is more a giving of right questions than a giving of right answers. --Josef Albers

Through some magical childcare intervention, I managed to stay for Gretchen Feiss's talk yesterday on the importance of technology in children's science education.

She opened with a review of the No Child Left Inside movement. Inspired in large part by Richard Louv's book Last Child in the Woods, the movement is working to make sure that outdoor time is part of our national curriculum and that parents, teachers and other caregivers recognize the importance of nature in children's lives.
Gretchen argued for the biophilia hypothesis -- that we all hold a relationship to nature as part of our core identities and need time in nature to feel whole.

She also argued that time in nature leads kids to natural inquiry. She supports inquiry based learning and reported that the Maine Learning Results also supports teaching kids scientific process and skills building over pure content.
I followed Gretchen easily to the end of this part of the talk. My kids attend the Friends School of Portland, and similar values in education have been stressed there. The importance of outdoor time, of following children's curiosity and inquiry, of place based education... these are starting to almost seem like givens in contemporary progressive education.

Gretchen went on, however, to bridge this stance with support for some screen time. She argued that many of us want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, so to speak, when we see nature and technology as a zero-sum game. She argued that well chosen technology can increase children's interest in nature and better help them answer the questions they raise. She pointed to the GPS starfinder as an example -- when a child wonders what star she's looking at, she can be a) distracted by a tired and unknowing parent, b) told to figure it out with a book, which can be really hard, or c) can use the gps starfinder to immediately learn all kinds of things about astronomy. Similarly, she argued that the simulations found on most Maine school-granted laptops are good for kids science education.

I was influenced by the work of Jane Healy, who made a sensible argument (in my view) that most computer use is low-skill, and that the early introduction of computers is at best a waste of time and at worst a replacement for the learning activities children need for healthy development. But even she, a fairly outspoken critic of computers for children, says that around age 7 computers can be useful in kids lives. (read a segment of her book here). As a parent of a 9 year old, I like the idea of creating a relationship between her questions that rise from her lived experience and the vast amount of interesting information that we can access with technology. Figuring out what counts as high quality web site, software, gadgets, etc. however is almost a full-time job, and I worry that we will be constantly bombarded with more stuff in our attempt to do this well.

A question in the audience spoke to this issue, a bit - we have such profound income inequality in our country, that we have a gigantic digital divide and nature divide. How do we keep these questions from simply being the province of the upper middle class?

Also, how do we know "how much is too much" in terms of time in front of the computer, even if it is in pursuit of high quality info?

Should kids learn about how computers work and how programming works? What media and computer literacy should accompany the use of computers?

Clearly, technology use will continue to be a part of our children's lives, but there is a lot for parents and educators to consider as we integrate hi-tech and no-tech into our days.

More links are on the sidebar...

The importance of recess

2009-02-24T02:42:00.001-08:00

I wish adults had recess too!

NYT, February 24, 2009
WELL Blog
The 3 R’s? A Fourth Is Crucial, Too: Recess
By TARA PARKER-POPE
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/health/24well.html

LGBTQ rights in Maine / on marriage

2009-02-23T09:22:00.000-08:00

Maine's LGBTQ community is organizing to establish marriage as a right for all people, including gay and lesbian couples. This campaign is going to cost money -- you can donate to Equality Maine here. But it also is going to take a lot of conversations. Talking with young children about exclusion and civil rights is really important -- and something they can pretty easily get a grasp on. Talking about why some families might choose marriage, and some might not, is more complicated, but still important. We don't want to conflate the right to marry with over emphasizing the importance of marriage, since many LGBTQ and straight families happily (or unhappily) exist without married parents. And, we don't all want our children thinking that getting married is the end-all and be-all, despite media/government campaigns to the contrary.

We haven't read any great picture books about creative family formations recently - has anyone else?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For help talking with teens about homophobia and its effects, check out the
Free Ugly Ducklings Screening in Portland

Join us for a free screening of the documentary film 'Ugly Ducklings,' readings from the play, and a panel discussion with members of the creative team. The event is Friday, February 27th, 2009, 7pm, at the St. Lawrence Arts and Community Center at 76 Congress Street in Portland, Maine. The film is appropriate for ages 12+.

'Ugly Ducklings,' the film, highlights homophobia, bullying, and harassment: the real experiences that lead young people to mask their sexual identities, feelings, and questions. By weaving together scenes from the rehearsal process, the play, and from interviews with the fourteen female actors as well as local experts on gender, Hardy Girls Healthy Women and Greater Waterville C4CY have created an important program that can be replicated throughout the country to change cultural attitudes.

Our goal for Ugly Ducklings is to educate and inspire people to take action against bias-based bullying and harassment, so that we can protect our children from the harassment and violence that can lead to self-harm and suicide. Find out more about the Ugly Ducklings Campaign.

Writing Motherhood

2009-02-19T13:00:00.000-08:00

The challenge of negotiating motherhood and an academic profession is a sensitive topic for me, but I did like the breadth of topics covered in Mama Ph.D. and this recent interview with the editors.

The editors are now issuing a CFP about writing, motherhood, and writing about motherhood...

Real Life Real Talk Events

2009-02-19T12:48:00.001-08:00

Planned Parenthood's Real Life Real Talk program are offering a number of fascinating sounding community events this spring, including:

Self Defense – Self Awareness for Women and Girls
With Clara Porter, MSW
Thursdays, March 5 and 12
6:00-8:00 pm
East Tower Learning Resource Center, Maine Medical Center
22 Bramhall St., Portland

Is This Love: Adolescents and Dating Violence
Join Real Life. Real Talk. and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England for a Professional Training
Our keynote speaker is Vicki Crompton, author of Saving Beauty from the Beast: How to Protect Your Daughter from an Unhealthy Relationship
Thursday, March 19
3:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Earn 3 CEUs
$ 40.00 registration fee
For more information please visit this page.

Free Parent Night
With Vicki Crompton, author of Saving Beauty from the Beast
Thursday, March 19
7:00-9:00 pm
Portland High School Auditorium

Sexuality and Health, Women & Girls—A Training for Health Professionals
With Gina Ogden, PhD
Friday, April 3
9:00 am – 2:00 pm
$60 per person, discounts available for groups of 3 or more

The Heart and Soul of Sex
With Gina Ogden, PhD
Friday, April 3
7:00-8:00 pm
Charles A. Dana Center Auditorium
Maine Medical Center
22 Bramhall St., Portland

Real Life…Girl Talk: A Conversation
With Gina Ogden, PhD
Saturday, April 4
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
True North Health Center
Women: $25; Girls: $15 (scholarships available)

An Interesting Looking Event @ Merriconeag

2009-02-13T06:59:00.001-08:00

Planting the Seeds of Kindness: Creative Ways to Work with Aggression in Children

A public talk by Kim John Payne (www.thechildtoday.com)
Wednesday, March 4, 7:00 PM
Community Hall

Merriconeag Waldorf School, 57 Desert Road, Freeport

An Interesting Looking Event @ Bates

2009-02-13T06:58:00.001-08:00

"HI TECH//:NO TECH, WHY COMPUTERS AND
NATURE STUDIES MUST BOTH BE INTEGRATED
INTO THE 21ST CENTURY CURRICULUM"

GRETCHEN FEISS
Department of Education

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
4:00 P.M.
G65 PETTENGILL HALL

Sponsored by: The Department of Education

Save USM childcare

2009-02-09T12:14:00.000-08:00

The University of Southern Maine has decided to shut down its childcare as a cost savings measure. This action is devastating for parents who depend on the local high quality childcare to allow them to pursue education. It is also a terrible message for the greater community about our collective priorities.

Personally, I believe that Governor Baldacci has to decide that he can support targeted taxes to raise revenue -- we can not continue to use the "more for less" cliche, particularly when it comes to caregiving and children!

Sign the Save USM's Childcare Petition or write a letter to the editor today!

That said, the University says there is virtually no way they'll reconsider, so perhaps our activism needs to be broader -- high quality, affordable childcare for all!

Why we need babysitters -- and state support

2009-02-09T12:04:00.000-08:00

Stephanie Coontz, whose work I admire, has an op-ed in the NYT about why parents need to get babysitters more. As has been reported previously, Coontz stresses that our (my) generation parents in a more intensive way than previous generations, has less personal time, and less couple time. But she leaves it in such a pat way -- get a babysitter, more self-care. Juxtaposed against the USA today story reporting actual unemployment (that is, including underemployment and people timed out of collecting Unemployment Insurance)at almost 14%, which is certainly still going to be an underreported #, it is hard to understand how Coontz could leave the issue in the realm of the personal. What economic support do families need to make it possible to "get out more"? What happens when the stress of poverty intersects with the culture of intensive parenting? What do we do about the loss of quality childcare in our communities?

Coontz offers a good pre-valentines's day piece for reflecting on how to stay married during the hard years of no-sleep and someone-always-touching-you, but we need bigger visioning for how to keep families intact and ok when the issues are so much more political.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/opinion/05coontz.html?_r=3&ref=opinion

Anti-Sexist Programming in Maine

2009-02-09T08:12:00.000-08:00

What is it to offer an anti-sexist enviornment? Barrie Thorne, in her groundbreaking book, Gender Play, on how kids police gender expression with each other, suggests that when teachers and adults refrain from using sex as a major organizing system or for imputing a lot of meaning to gender, kids also deflect attention -- it becomes a less important trait for organizing behavior, play, etc. On the other hand, psychologists like Lyn Mikel Brown, argue that the cultural context that girls and boys grow up in shapes their development and lived experience in particularly gendered ways. Are there strategies for downplaying gender and being conscious about gender and sexism all at once?

Two Maine organizations specialize in thinking about anti-sexism in gender specific ways. Hardy Girls, Healthy Women will be offering a workshop for adults who work with girls to build programs that build on girls strengths, and help girls see themselves as strong and capable problem solvers (rather than the endless labeling of "mean girls" to pre-adolescent and teen girls). The Maine Women's Lobby is also offering a leadership development program for 8th grade girls -- Girls Day at the Statehouse -- as a pipeline project, hoping that girls will begin to imagine themselves as potential public officials.

Boys To Men offers similar programming for boys and adults who work with boys, and is currently seeking feedback to help them plan the 2009 conference.

Enviornmental Health Action

2009-02-06T07:33:00.000-08:00

"Every Maine consumer deserves a home that is free of toxic chemicals, and Maine's business owners should also have the right to know that the products being sold on their shelves are safe"

The Environmental Health Strategy Center (EHSC) has been keeping warm these days by staying active! Together with partners from the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine, we've been reaching out to local businesses to get support for initiatives aimed at creating less pollution in people.

If you know of - or own- a local business that wants to sign on to a statement that says we shouldn't have to choose between good health and good business, contact Meredith Small at meredith@toxicsaction.org or call (207) 871-8035

Legislative Priorities for 2009:

Along with ensuring implementation of the Kids' Safe Product Act (LD2048), EHSC joins its partners in supporting the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine's legislative priorities:

Address safety and disposal issues of mercury containing lightbulbs
Protect neighbors and small farmers with a notification system for pesticide spraying
Phase out lead wheel weights to protect drinking water and wildlife
Improve Maine's e-waste law to recycle more and save money
Ensure that Maine Firefighters get the care they need when they contract cancer from workplace chemical exposures
On Tuesday, February 10th, we'll be at the Statehouse in Augusta speaking with legislators about these legislative priorities - for a briefing and to take part - Join us on Tuesday morning!

For more information on the ACHM Legislative priorities, and to join us at the Statehouse on February 10th, contact Kristine Jenkins at KristineJ@preventharm.org or call (207) 878-0082/ (207) 409-9193 (cell)

May your home and your body be pollution free!

-Kristine Jenkins

Environmental Health Strategy Center

KristineJ@preventharm.org, 878-0082/409-9193 (cell)

Additional Information and Resources:

We have some great new information sheets and articles. Please contact me at KristineJ@preventharm.org to get electronic or hard copies of:

Information sheets on ACHM legislative priorities - 2009
Study: "Pollution Comes Home and Gets Personal" about women's household chemical exposures, Journal of Health and Social Behavior,Volume 49, #4 visit
"Girl Disrupted: Hormone Disrupters and Women's Reproductive Health" (and other great materials from the Collaborative on Health and the Environment)

Journal for Peace

2009-01-12T17:02:00.001-08:00

I adore the band The Nields and this comes from Nerissa:

Journal For Peace

In these interesting (I'm thinking positively) economic times, many of us feel more than ever that we could use some support. I know that's true for me, which is why I surround myself with people who are as eager to tell on themselves as I am, and by that I mean: people willing to say, "Here's what I'm afraid of" and not be judged for saying so. The zeitgeist of the times is all about scarcity; we've just learned that consumer spending is at its lowest ebb in over half a century. And we also know that when we think we don't have enough, we humans begin to behave strangely: we hoard, we worry, we become less generous. And what we need, paradoxically, is to behave as though we have everything we need right here, right now. When we come from a place of equanimity and gratitude, we open ourselves up to the miracles that are all around us. I know you already know this, but this might just be the best time in your life.

In this 10 week program, weaving modern day psychology with concepts from Buddhism, Christianity, Yoga and 12 Step Spirituality, we'll be discussing and working on the following themes:
-Awareness
-Abundance
-Mind/Body connection
-Articulating and achieving our desires
-Articulating and living our life's mission
-Exploring our spirituality
-Acceptance
-Boundaries in relationships and also around food and money
-Working on our personal road maps (where we came from)
-Exquisite self-care: treats, feasts, personalized delights (where we're headed)
-Writing (of course) as a means of liberation
-Radical peace-making

Also, in these interesting economic times, we all want a bargain. So here's what we're proposing here at Symbols & Cymbals Life Composition, my grand corporation of one:
• You get some life coaching with a clear target: making peace with fear, be it financial, social, personal, professional. Another way of saying this is "Making Peace With What Is."
• You get it at almost 1/3 the price (10 weeks for $300 instead of 1 month for $300)
• You get the wisdom of a group of fellow travelers and not just yours truly
• You get to do the work--because you'll be showing up for your weekly call in the presence of others, peer pressure will insure that you will actually do that exercise, take that quiet time, commit to that goal.

We will be meeting weekly on the phone (bridge line, conference call) for a fifty minute hour (another bargain—sessions are usually a half-hour). Each week, we'll explore a different issue, share what we learned in the previous week, have an opportunity to be coached, talk about what is working, what is not working. At the beginning, each of us will identify an area in our lives where we want to make peace (or areas) and work mindfully on that specific area for the duration of the program. I will always give homework, which will often consist of writing. If appropriate, we might share writing online before or after meetings.

Right now, I have two spots open, depending on what would be most convenient for participants: Wednesday afternoons from 3-3:50 or Friday afternoons either at 3 or 4. I'd like to start the group the first week of February and meet through the end of April. My thought about the group is that it would be no fewer than four and no more than 8. If I get, say 10 responses, I would do two groups instead of one. We will be very structured with set time for each person to share. There would be no cross talk, though if someone wanted feedback, she could ask for it. We'd set some ground rules about feedback, too.

To sign up, email Nerissand@gmail.com. To secure your spot for the class, go here.

I hope to be working with you soon!

Prevention Action Change

2009-01-12T07:06:00.001-08:00

Prevention. Action. Change.
Building Skills to End Violence

In addition to our ongoing work in collaboration with area service providers and lunch-n-learns for businesses, Prevention. Action. Change. is offering public classes for women, mothers and daughters (ages 9 to 12 and 14 and up) and kids all over the Portland area this winter.

Check them out to find the
best fit for you and your family.

Saturday January 24th - Women's Self Defense Intensive
Noon to 5pm at Full Circle Synergy - 500 Forest Avenue
cost: sliding scale $25 to $50
to register: email preventionactionchange@earthlink.net

Saturday February 7th - Mothers and Girls (ages 9 to 12)
11am to 4pm at the Portland YMCA
cost: $15 family members, $45 non members
to register: call 874-1111 or visit
www.cumberlandcountyymca.org

Mondays March 2nd through April 13 - Children's Safety Class
(ages 8 to 12)
4 to 5pm at the Portland YMCA
to register: call 874-1111 or visit
www.cumberlandcountyymca.org

Thursdays March 5th and 12th - Mothers and Girls ages 14 and up
6 to 8 pm at Maine Medical Center East Tower LRC (22 Bramhall St.)
to register: contact the Maine Learning Resource Centers
1-866-609-5183

Look forward seeing you in class!

If you are interested in our work with adults and youth in supported living, drug and alcohol recovery programs, and with survivors of violence, give us a call at
(207) 232-0484.

MLK day events 2009

2009-01-11T17:15:00.001-08:00

The Portland Press Herald has a list of a few events happening around Portland in honor of MLK Jr. Day, and UNE is offering some interesting looking speakers as well.

Bowdoin offers an annual children's program in honor of Dr. King at the Bowdoin Library at 10:00 am.

There is also a movement to engage people in MLK day as a Day of Service (President Elect Obama has called on people to serve, as well). Some service opportunities in the Portland area are posted here

I'm curious how others will use MLK day?