June 27th, 2009 by admin

Posted by student ALI TURRO - I am completing my international project at Nyaka AIDS Orphans School which located in Nyakagyezi village in southwestern Uganda. Nyaka serves more than 300 children who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDS and with more than 2 million AIDS orphans in the country, the needs are very great. For my project, I am working with the school to produce its organizational development plan. I also spend several hours each day teaching students English and Science.
 
“Every now and then, we are shedding tears. AIDS is killing our people.” These are the words to one of the songs that Nyaka’s Anti-AIDS Choir sang last Tuesday. I was more than excited when Teacher Agaba invited me to join him and the choir. Twenty students from all levels make up the choir. Together they sing songs and act out plays to educate others about how HIV/AIDS affects everyone.

It was my first opportunity to see Nyaka’s students represent themselves outside of the school. They confidently walked into the school room that was packed with students and adults and demonstrated such grace and poise during each performance. In other environments, being labeled an “AIDS orphan” brings with it many negative consequences. However, the welcoming and nurturing environment that Nyaka provides its students with helps them overcome the negative connotations. They sing and share their stories to educate others about their experiences, which is certainly no easy task for an average 5- to 13-year-old child.

One of my students, Sensio, gave an incredible solo performance. He acted and sang about being a young man wanting to travel to Kampala, the “big city.”  There, he met many different women and soon found himself HIV-positive. Though the song was performed in Rukiga, I watched Sensio as he sang his heart out. He acted out the symptoms of HIV/AIDS and put chalk markings on his face to represent the spots of Kaposi’s sarcoma. Daniel, another student, joined Sensio and played his father who was devastated upon learning about his son’s illness.

The entire performance was touching. I sat there thinking about all of the things that these children have been through at such young ages. So many of them watched as their parents, relatives or siblings succumb to AIDS. And yet, they sang with such incredible composure. They are the ones who need to be telling their stories. During one of the final songs, the students sang the words, “We are the instruments of change in Uganda.”  If this doesn’t serve as a wake-up call for others, than I’m not sure what will.
 
I am incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to be here at Nyaka. The students, teachers and staff are incredible. They give me great hope for Uganda’s future.
 
For more information about Nyaka, please visit its website at www.nyakaschool.org.

More updates about my adventures in Uganda can be found at http://ugandaloveit.wordpress.com.

June 25th, 2009 by admin

Posted by student JENNIFER HICKS - Sometimes the work we do in public service is impersonal, detached. Perhaps we work as advocates on behalf of people we never see or lobby for policy changes whose impact may only come long after we are gone. It’s easy enough to turn off the lights at the end of the day and head home. But with some projects, like my work with the Amani Children’s home orphanage here in Moshi, Tanzania, the need is so tangible and so enveloping, it’s hard to maintain a professional distance. Perhaps we aren’t meant to.

Last week, I traveled to Arusha, a city of roughly 300,000 just north of Mount Kilimanjaro, with Amani’s street educator Godfrey. We had come on business, but we weren’t ready to get to work until after the sun had gone down. We were there to talk to the kids that call the streets of the Arusha their home. Some kids had left home because there was not enough food for them or because of an abusive parent, whose alcoholism had led to neglect. Others had no home from which to flee, having lost their parents to AIDS, malaria or birthing-related maternal death. Bundled in layers of dirty clothes and lacking shoes, children as young as eight sniffed glue in an effort to sleep through the cold and the hunger. Some of the kids do not even know their date of birth. If they agree to come with us, we bring them to Amani.

Amani Children’s Home is dedicated to the protection of Tanzania’s most vulnerable population: street-children and AIDS orphans. It is estimated that there are 2.5 million orphaned children in Tanzania. Since its founding by Tanzanians in 2001, Amani has rescued hundreds of children from the perils of life on the streets, where they face a high risk of HIV transmission, malnutrition, and abuse. Amani, which means “peace” in Swahili, provides healthy food, education, counseling and medical care for every child who turns to us for help. The organization is unique in that it is not an orphanage, but instead actively seeks to reunite a child with a loving and capable family member whenever possible.

In my International Public Service Project for Amani, I am working with their marketing director to develop new relationships through their Partner Schools Program, which partners Amani’s classrooms with schools throughout the world. Through the program, children exchange cultural information beneficial to both our kids and those in our partnering classroom. In the past, partner schools have proved a vital resource to Amani through their fundraising efforts on Amani’s behalf. Fundraisers such as a Walk for Water – where kids find sponsors to donate an amount for every lap they make around a gymnasium, symbolizing the distance a child must walk everyday to get water – is a great way to instill in children a sense of empathy and foster a commitment toward public service.

Based on the principle that we can do more as a collective than we can do individually, Amani is seeking businesses and churches that may be interested in partnering with Amani, in an effort to expand this type of outreach. The Amani Partners program is a wonderful opportunity to promote team cohesion and a positive working environment as a business’s team works together to raise vital funds for children that are truly and greatly in need. Options such as matching donations, further companies corporate social responsibility efforts and can provide a fantastic public relations opportunity. Churches will find the Amani Partners to be a great program through which churches can expand their ministry. Learning about the plight of street children and AIDS orphans can be a very beneficial addition to both children’s and adults’ bible school classes.

If you would like to learn more about Amani Children’s Home for your office, church, or school, please contact me at jkhicks@clintonschool.uasys.edu or email Joe Ventura at joe@amanikids.org.

June 25th, 2009 by admin

Posted by BEN BEAUMONT – Bestselling spy novelist Alan Furst, who writes espionage tales set in WWII Europe, stopped by the Clinton School on Tuesday to promote his latest book, “The Spies of Warsaw,” which was recently released in paperback.

More than 100 fans came to hear Furst discuss his craft and sign copies of the book. Furst also say down with the Associated Press for a story about his work:

Furst, 68, who is touring to promote the paperback edition his 2008 novel “The Spies of Warsaw,” said Tuesday the emotional connection some readers have with his ten books is striking since he fell into writing “historic espionage.” It was the type of book that he wanted to read, and his aim is to write stories a traveler would take on an airplane.

“These novels are entertainment,” Furst said. “I’m a commercial entertainment novelist.”

A native New Yorker, Furst taught in southern France as a Fulbright teaching fellow, giving him a connection to Arkansas — the state that Sen. William Fulbright represented in Washington. Furst was scheduled to read Tuesday night at the Clinton School of Public Service, which is attached to the Clinton Presidential Library near downtown Little Rock.

On tour, he said, he likes stopping by independent bookstores to help them through what’s become an extended difficult period. Since he’s promoting a paperback, he’s able to stop in smaller cities than when promoting a hardcover. While in Arkansas, he said he hoped to see Central High School in Little Rock, scene of the 1957 integration crisis in which nine black students needed the protection of federal troops to enter the school.

CLICK HERE for the full article. Video of Furst’s Clinton School lecture will be posted in the coming days at www.clintonschoolspeakers.com.

June 23rd, 2009 by admin

Posted by DEAN SKIP RUTHERFORD - When guests come to Little Rock to visit the Clinton School and the Clinton Library, they now have a wide variety of quality hotel options in downtown Little Rock. It wasn’t always the case.

When we started planning the Clinton Presidential Library in 1997, the now Peabody Hotel was The Excelsior. By the late 1990’s The Excelsior was significantly declining and needed major/costly physical and service rehabilitation. One of the reasons the Peabody owners (the Belz Family) decided to make the much needed major investment was the location of the soon-to-be Clinton Library and School only blocks away.

With the “new” Peabody, the historic Capital Hotel (which is as fine a hotel as you will see anywhere in the country) and the Doubletree (recently renovated), the city had some very good downtown/convention hotels by the time the Clinton Center opened in November 2004.

But during the process of seeking tourism advice from others, we learned that Little Rock did not have brand name/moderately priced hotel properties on the interstate which were needed to attract motor coaches, (tour buses), leisure travelers, prospective students and first-time visitors to the Clinton Center. The Peabody, the Capital and the Doubletree were not visible from the interstate.

As a result, one of my more memorable experiences in the planning of the Library and School began when I started recruiting interstate hotels. This was not a familiar area to me at all, and I had no idea it would be in the job description. But with the help of private sector investors and the Little Rock Convention and Visitors Bureau, we were successful.

A closed hotel was converted to what is now the Holiday Inn Presidential Center and a $19.99 day rate hotel is now a Comfort Inn and Suites. Both the Holiday Inn and Comfort Inn opened before the Clinton Center, and both have played significant roles in helping bring people to Little Rock. I give these hotels credit for enhancing the region’s travel business and particularly for making the view along the interstate much more inviting. Without them, thousands every year would pass by but not stop.

The Capital, Peabody and Doubletree hotels are great facilities. With the later addition of the Marriott Courtyard and the Hampton Inn and Suites in Little Rock’s River Market District, the city has some excellent hotel properties within walking distance of the Clinton School.

Lesson learned: always appreciate the importance of good and accessible hotel partnerships. As we commemorate the Clinton School’s 5th year anniversary, I thank them all.

June 23rd, 2009 by admin

Posted by student ASHLEY DAVIS - Greetings from Sweden! As many of you know, I left in April (about a month earlier than my classmates) for my International Public Service Project with the Tällberg Foundation in Stockholm. Because I left early, I will also be done early. My project culminates with the Tällberg Forum, a gathering of more than 450 leaders from around the world in the village of Tällberg, about 3.5 hours northwest of Stockholm. The forum is next week: June 24 - 28.

For my project, I am working with the forum team to plan and implement the workshops which will take place throughout the week. We are planning more than 50 workshop sessions. The workshops are actually quite important to the overall result of Tällberg because it is in these smaller settings that new thinking and ideas are cultivated, innovative partnerships are formed and difficult questions are asked. CLICK HERE to download a copy of the programme.

Some of the topics that are being covered include forestry, regional governance in the Nile Basin, human and ecological regeneration, petro-politics in the Middle East and how to create climate-conscious citizens. These are just five of the issues that will be addressed in the workshop program at the Forum. I have learned so much already during my time working with the Tallberg Foundation, and I am so excited to see the team’s hard work pay off next week.

I am incredibly grateful to both the Clinton School and the Tällberg Foundation for giving me the opportunity to come to Sweden and work on this important event. Additionally, the staff of the Tällberg Foundation has gone above and beyond to make me feel at home in Sweden. I truly feel like part of the team and part of the community.

You can follow the Forum yourself with streaming video on www.tallbergfoundation.org or follow @tallberg on Twitter for updates during the Forum or #tallberg.

June 19th, 2009 by admin

By Peter D. Marshall - When a first time Director steps on a set, blocking a scene can be one of the most frustrating and terrifying parts of their job.

If a director doesn’t understand the concept of blocking and staging, and they also don’t know how to speak the actor’s language, they could end up wasting valuable shooting time.

Every film shoot is divided into five parts:

1. Block - determining where the actors will be on the set and the first camera position

2. Light - time for the DOP to light the set and position the camera for the first shot

3. Rehearse - camera rehearsal of the first set-up with the actors and crew

4. Adjustments - making lighting and other adjustments

5. Shoot - shooting the first scene (then repeat the process)

Blocking a scene is simply “working out the details of an actor’s moves in relation to the camera.”

You can also think of blocking as the choreography of a dance or a ballet: all the elements on the set (actors, extras, vehicles, crew, equipment) should move in perfect harmony with each other.

Here are 5 important blocking tips:

1. Having a shot list will help you during the blocking process. The shot list is like a map: it gives you a path to your destination but you don’t always have to follow it

2. Let the actors show you what they want to do first, then, when you make a suggestion, it is based on something you have already seen

3. Where the camera is placed is determined primarily by what is important in the scene.

4. Blocking is like a puzzle: directors need to keep working at it until the whole scene works.

5. In Television and low budget films, speed is essential, story and block some scenes so that your action takes place in one direction (to avoid turning the camera around for reverses.)

For a more detailed explanation about blocking a scene, check out Filmmaking Article

Peter D. Marshall has worked in the Film and Television Industry for over 35 years. He also publishes the free monthly filmmaking ezine “The Director’s Chair. You can check out his website at: Action Cut Print and his film directing blog at Film Directing Tips

June 19th, 2009 by admin

The New York Film Academy announced today partnership with drop.io, a CNET 2009 Webware winner that has developed an innovative file-sharing and real-time collaboration service that has gained traction with film production professionals.

“We at the New York Film Academy are thrilled to partner with drop.io, which provides the simplest way for our students to share video, audio files and documents while collaborating in real time from anywhere in the world. drop.io saves students time and money…both of which independent filmmakers need a lot more of!” - David Klien, NYFA Provost

This service will help film students and alumni share with thier community because it provides a superior user experience to FTP and gives filmmakers the simplest and fastest way to do the following:

• Share video clips, scripts, and any other production information
• Collaborate via chat and conference call with teams and clients anywhere, instantly
• Present with screen-sharing functionality and custom-branding options

These offerings are provided at a fraction the cost of the alternatives with no hardware to buy, no software to download and no IT support necessary.

Create 100 MB ‘drops’ for free to discover how drop.io can help your film-making efforts and gain special access to this exclusive NYFA-community 25% off offer that includes ability to manage multiple ‘drops’ of several GBs from a single interface, with enhances privacy, administrative, and customization capabilities.

Visit drop.io

June 19th, 2009 by admin

“In Peter’s case, I saw an extreme emotional vulnerability, which, in fact, was the reason he was teased. Peter didn’t play by the codes of boys. He wasn’t a big athlete. He wasn’t tough. He was sensitive. And difference is not always respected – particularly when you’re a teenager. Adolescence is about fitting in, not standing out.”— Nineteen Minutes
When you hear the mention of Columbine or Virginia Tech, what are the first two words that pop into your head?  School shooting.  It is a sad reality that all schools, no matter size or location, must take safety precautions against the threat of a school shooting.  Jodi Picoult, an author famous for writing about controversial and prevalent issues in society, writes about a high school shooting that takes place in a small New Hampshire town in her novel, Nineteen Minutes.  By writing from the perspective of the shooter, the victims, and other members of the community, Picoult goes beyond the statistics and offers a complete picture of the events that lead up to the shooting and its aftermath.  Interestingly enough, Picoult presents the story so that the reader sympathizes with the shooter, Peter, who is bullied terribly from kindergarten through high school and is driven to seek revenge.  It leaves the reader pondering, who is really the victim? “In Peter’s case, I saw an extreme emotional vulnerability, which, in fact, was the reason he was teased. Peter didn’t play by the codes of boys. He wasn’t a big athlete. He wasn’t tough. He was sensitive. And difference is not always respected – particularly when you’re a teenager. Adolescence is about fitting in, not standing out.”    -Nineteen Minutes
When you hear the mention of Columbine or Virginia Tech, what are the first two words that pop into your head?  School shooting.  It is a sad reality that all schools, no matter size or location, must take safety precautions against the threat of a school shooting.  Jodi Picoult, an author famous for writing about controversial and prevalent issues in society, writes about a high school shooting that takes place in a small New Hampshire town in her novel, Nineteen Minutes.  By writing from the perspective of the shooter, the victims, and other members of the community, Picoult goes beyond the statistics and offers a complete picture of the events that lead up to the shooting and its aftermath.  Interestingly enough, Picoult presents the story so that the reader sympathizes with the shooter, Peter, who is bullied terribly from kindergarten through high school and is driven to seek revenge.  It leaves the reader pondering, who is really the victim? 
Picoult’s portrayal of how a lifetime of bullying can lead someone to commit such a violent act is a written testimony of the harmful effects of bullying.  Rightfully so, Picoult also uses this story to call attention to the social issues that children and adolescents deal with in school, as well as point out how bullying is often ignored by teachers and parents, allowing the problem to worsen over time.  Nineteen Minutes is an emotional and riveting book that can be read by both adolescents and adults to get a look into the life of a bullied teenager and the lengths he is willing to go to make it all stop.
It is important to teach kids, from a young age, that bullying has detrimental and lifelong effects, and can result in violence.  I think that Nineteen Minutes would be a great addition to any high school classroom or library in order to open up discussion about sensitive subjects such as social cliques, bullying, and school violence.  To further address the issue of bullying and violence in schools, there are great resources available through Jodi Picoult and the recently launched Bully Bust 2009 campaign.  In Nineteen Minutes, no one is willing to take responsibility for causing Peter’s actions.  What responsibility do you have, as a student, teacher, or parent, to reach out and help a struggling student who is bullied?

June 19th, 2009 by admin

In this recent article based in the UK, the basic question is voiced: who do you want your children to grow into? Roger Weissberg, professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois and President of the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), posed this question to panels of UK legislators, policy makers, and practitioners and found the answer to be situated on top of a solid foundation: that of social and emotional well-being.
The impact of social and emotional stability is staggeringly vital. Completed by Weissberg and Joseph Durlak last year, their meta-analysis examined 700 experimental studies and discovered significant findings. Both the percentage of conduct and emotional disorders dropped with the children in these studies. Furthermore, academic performances improved.
In this recent article based in the UK, the basic question is voiced: who do you want your children to grow into? Roger Weissberg, professor of Psychology and Education at the University of Illinois and President of the Collaborative for Academic and Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), posed this question to panels of UK legislators, policy makers, and practitioners and found the answer to be situated on top of a solid foundation: that of social and emotional well-being.
The impact of social and emotional stability is staggeringly vital. Completed by Weissberg and Joseph Durlak last year, their meta-analysis examined 700 experimental studies and discovered significant findings. Both the percentage of conduct and emotional disorders dropped with the children in these studies. Furthermore, academic performances improved.  Additionally, as Dr. Jonathan Cohen, President of CSEE, mentioned as the keynote speaker at Fordham University last Wednesday afternoon, high-level coping mechanisms attained through social abilities (in contrast to low-level coping mechanisms, such as denial and repression), are considered to be the single most important marker in overall life satisfaction, according to a 68-year longitudinal study (the Grant Study).
In sum, children are happier and performing better in school, due to social and emotional education. A clear relationship exists between what educators are currently teaching their children (math, reading, etc.) and what many are still hesitant to teach (social and emotional awareness).
Born as “blank slates,” (if you agree with the philosopher, John Locke), I believe teachers need to be concerned with more than just academic progress for their students. Children may be acquiring the skills necessary for proper writing and mathematical computations, and as important as these skills are, they might be worthless if children do not acquire the relationship skills to become socially responsible adults, or one may even say, “good people.”How much time, though, is being devoted to teaching children to be “good people” in schools? Some may argue that educators have the responsibility to teach academics, while it is the parents’ responsibility to teach proper values and character development. To this point, I would like to reference Cohen’s statement about infants’ transition from crawling to walking: although physical maturation plays an important role in this transition, so too does the support and encouragement received from outside sources like their guardians, family members, etc. Like infants during that important phase, today’s youth still need extra support, both from parents and their schools. We cannot expect them to learn it all on their own.
This can be taught at schools, but many of these imperative life lessons are glossed over or not handled correctly in schools. Cohen mentions at the Fordham lecture: “An eight-session program in Health class is not enough.” Weissberg, similarly, thinks many schools need to “pull the weeds before planting the flowers.” Some schools do implement programs with social and emotional focus, but the programs don’t take off and the schools never really stop to consider why or what modifications can be made. (The perfect way to pull the weeds or “examine the landscape” is through school climate measurement. The most comprehensive and empirically-validated of these tools is the Comprehensive School Climate Inventory (CSCI), which has been used across extensive schools and districts to effectively gauge total school climate.)
Like Cohen, I agree that there needs to be a change in the school system. It is clear that issues outside of not understanding the academic material affect a child’s grades. At the lecture, Cohen specifically referred to the issue of bullying and how when teachers become frustrated and angry, even they can sometimes inadvertently bully students and impede their learning. Certainly, things like this need to be addressed immediately, through collaboration among educators, parents, and students.
Despite the continuous rush to teach our students the necessary curriculum before the end of the school and to prepare them for statewide and national exams, we need to stop and think if they have the skills necessary to perform well on the social and emotional exams they will face throughout their entire lives.

June 19th, 2009 by admin

This summer we have a packed house of visiting fellows and interns who will be helping us realize our mission. Please join us in welcoming the newest additions to the CSEE team:
Ana Kalaydzhieva is a visiting fellow at CSEE. She graduated from New Jersey City University in 2008, where she received a BA in Psychology.  She has experience as a counselor assistant in Jersey City Public Schools where she helped students with problems in anger management and impulsive behavior.
Jennifer Morton is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Swarthmore College where she teaches introduction to philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy. She is interested in the relationship between the development of social and emotional skills and social justice. Currently, she is working on various research projects for CSEE.
Lauren Featherston, a rising senior at Lafayette College, is a psychology major with an interest in pursuing a career working with special needs children.  At CSEE, she is enthusiastically working on the Bully Bust campaign and our annual Summer Institute.
Maria Cardone is a senior at Fordham University who is majoring in Psychology, minoring in Business, and is interested in pursuing a career in education. She is working with the CSEE team to help with Bully Bust campaign and other communication initiatives.
Rachel Sarnoff is entering her second year at Dartmouth College. While she is still undecided in her course of study, she is dedicated to improving the lives of children everywhere, and returns to CSEE this summer to work on the Breaking the Bully-Victim-Bystander Cycle toolkit.This summer we have a packed house of visiting fellows and interns who will be helping us realize our mission. Please join us in welcoming the newest additions to the CSEE team:
Ana Kalaydzhieva is a visiting fellow at CSEE. She graduated from New Jersey City University in 2008, where she received a BA in Psychology.  She has experience as a counselor assistant in Jersey City Public Schools where she helped students with problems in anger management and impulsive behavior. At CSEE, Ana is helping organize our annual Summer Institute.
Jennifer Morton is a visiting assistant professor of philosophy at Swarthmore College where she teaches introduction to philosophy, ethics, and political philosophy. She is interested in the relationship between the development of social and emotional skills and social justice. Currently, she is working on various research projects for CSEE.
Lauren Featherston, a rising senior at Lafayette College, is a psychology major with an interest in pursuing a career working with special needs children.  At CSEE, she is enthusiastically working on the Bully Bust campaign and our annual Summer Institute.
Maria Cardone is a senior at Fordham University who is majoring in Psychology, minoring in Business, and is interested in pursuing a career in education. She is working with the CSEE team to help with Bully Bust campaign and other communication initiatives.
Rachel Sarnoff is entering her second year at Dartmouth College. While she is still undecided in her course of study, she is dedicated to improving the lives of children everywhere, and returns to CSEE this summer to work on the Breaking the Bully-Victim-Bystander Cycle toolkit.