Woolman Blog

Global Issues Trip: The Canticle Farm...A Quirky Utopia

Jenny Davis, Student
April 20, 2012

Our visit to Canticle farms began on a drizzling Wednesday morning. Kristin, the intern driving the Suburban in which we rode, parked on the street and we ambled out, meeting up with the other groups in front of a quaint white house. Number 1966, a plaque next to the front door read. I wasn’t sure what to expect; I knew that gangs had once dominated these streets, and there was the faint ticking of nerves in my chest. But then we were ushered inside by a smiling, grey-haired woman who introduced herself as Annie, and her house put me at ease immediately. I instantly took to the shelves teeming with books, the brightly colored carpet, the pictures of Annie’s five children propped on every available counter, and the comfortable chairs arranged in a circle in the living room. We introduced ourselves and, as part of the introduction, named one thing that we would like to protect. Annie described her involvement with the Canticle Farm and its mission: to break down the barriers that her neighbors had set up over the years and establish a loving and giving community on a street once considered to be dangerous and unsavory.

After introductions came a tour of the grounds and then a silent meditation with Pancho, a Mexican immigrant (“I’m from the part of the world called Mexico,” was the way he introduced himself) who lives intentionally without papers. The meditation took place in the attic the Casa de Paz, where Pancho and a couple of others live under a set of guidelines outlined on a piece of paper pinned in the entrance. Next came a couple of rounds of questioning, during which an outer circle and inner circle were established. The members of the inner circle rotated so that we were given the chance to speak with a variety of people. We were asked to listen in silence to our partners, and the same courtesy was extended to us. Questions included: what do you love about being a citizen of the earth?, what are you grateful for?, and who are you really?

Throughout our visit—amidst the tour of the expansive outside area and the crumbling old house Annie had recently purchased—the theme of interconnectedness and oneness emerged. It became apparent that a major component of Canticle Farm was its belief that all humans are figuratively one; we are also one, though, with the streams, rivers, rocks, and sky. This idea was refreshing to me, as it set up a mentality that allowed for spiritual connections to each other’s humanity and also the natural world. All of the other visits up until then had stressed their purpose of defeating something, be it corporations, the one percent, or even climate change. Canticle Farm, though, recognized the importance of seeing the world as all connected, becoming cognizant of the inherent humanity and kindness in the brutal police officer as well as the beautiful stream. I was intrigued by this mentality, which I defined as “us with us” as opposed to “us vs. them.” The idea that we are all one first seemed far-fetched, but after some contemplation I decided that I would like to subscribe to the “we are all one” doctrine to combat the frustration I had felt during some of the other workshops.

We ate lunch on the floor of Sister Kimberly and Brother David’s house (at Canticle Farm everybody is called “Sister” or “Brother”), and then Adelaja, who lives in a tent in Sister Annie’s backyard, told his story. He spoke candidly of the struggles he faced while trying to become a massage therapist, and then of his early life, confessing that as a child he strove to live in the most violent neighborhood possible. Adelaja and Kimberly fielded questions about their philosophies and involvement in Canticle Farm, and then it was time to leave. It was still drizzling when we returned to the Suburban, but this time as I looked up at the sky I felt instead of resentment—we had planned to work outside, but the weather had not permitted it—a certain affinity for the drops

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What a month!

Emily Zionts, Global Issues and Peace Studies Teacher
April 20, 2012

What a month! This last month has been one of the most inspirational times that I have experienced since coming to work at Woolman. Three unforgettable events helped to shape a wonderful month!

Climbing Poetree

The action started in late March with a visit to my Peace Studies class from two heroines of mine, Alixa and Naima, from the spoken word group: Climbing Poetree.

 The following description is taken from their website:

Climbing PoeTree is the combined force of two boundary-breaking soul-sisters who have sharpened their art as a tool for popular education, community organizing, and personal transformation. With roots in Haiti and Colombia, Alixa and Naima reside in Brooklyn and track footprints across the country and globe on a mission to make a better future visible, immediate, and irresistible.

Soul-stirring and heart-opening, the poetry Alixa and Naima deliver challenges its listeners to remember their humanity, dissolves apathy with hope, exposes injustice, and helps heal our inner trauma so that we may begin to cope with the issues facing our communities.

Alixa and Naima have traveled over 10,000 miles with an all-women crew in a recycled vegetable oil-powered bus, delivering their latest production, Hurricane Season: the hidden messages in water, to over 9,000 people across the nation, and featuring 150 community-based organizations. They are currently translating this award-winning production into a multi-media curriculum that employs art and culture to help learners analyze systems of oppression and resistance, and uses a popular education model to build new leadership essential for fundamental social change.

For nearly 3 hours, these incredibly powerful women had us with our jaws dropped. One student later said that he kept forgetting to breathe because he was so moved by their captivating energy. Other students mentioned that they left the workshop feeling a whole new appreciation for art activism as a medium for getting a message out and inspiring others to do the same. Their words were both wise, eloquent, touching, and funny and wove a tapestry of images of social and environmental justice issues, some of which we had touched upon and others that were new to the youth. I, for one, will never forget that day!

The Economics of Happiness Conference

There I am next to two new role models of mine in an education workshop at the conference. Photo Credits: Becky White. Taken from ISEC website.

One year ago, I stumbled upon a documentary called, “The Economics of Happiness” and have been showing it to each semester ever since. The two-part film is strikingly similar to the way that I have organized my Global Issues class. The first half is a series of criticisms of the current form of globalization that is ruling our economic system, namely through top-down politics and giant multinational corporations. The movie strives to debunk several myths about this system, from the environmental perspective to the inner personal.

Just as Global Issues takes a turn towards actions and alternatives by mid-semester, so does “The Economics of Happiness”. As passionately as the ills of our current system are described, so then are the benefits of community building, local food systems, local energy, and more.

When I heard that the organization who created the film, The International Society for Ecology and Culture, were putting on a conference I was excited. When I heard that almost half of the presenters were folks that I use in my curriculum: Joanna Macy (writes prolifically about The Great Turning), Helen Norberg-Hodge (the creator of the Economics of Happiness film), Annie Leonard (creator of The Story of Stuff), Michael Shuman (local economies expert), Manish Jain (co-creator of Shikshantar, a learning community that we read about in “Walk Out, Walk On”), Charles Eisenstein (who writes about gift economies), Jon Symes (from the Pachamama Alliance), and so many more!

I am blessed with a very supportive staff and community at Woolman. I was feeling overwhelmed with work in the weeks leading up to the conference and friends at school both gave me the encouragement that I needed and took care of some chores that I had, in order to allow me to go. Woolman also helped pay my way as professional development. The rest of the cost was covered by a scholarship that I received from the organization.

My experience at the conference was so positive. I beamed (to myself) with pride about how aligned all of the innovative and inspirational work that was presented was with this crazy class that I have created from scratch and have poured my heart into over the last three years. It was so validating to know that what the youth and I were experiencing back at Woolman was what was being talked about in the frontlines of one of the most important movements today.

I also really appreciated that the conference had such an uplifting and empowering way of approaching the topic. All of us who attended know the scary facts and figures. When you only have a weekend, there is not enough time to dwell in the destruction and despair that we are well aware of. Because, the flip side of it, is that there is also not enough time to cover all of the beautiful and successful initiatives popping up worldwide that are effectively recreating connections between humans and also between humans and the natural world. There are so very many of these communities and organizations! And goodness knows, you aren’t hearing about them in the mainstream media or mainstream education systems!

There are a great many ideas that I took home with me and immediately began emphasizing more strongly in the classroom. One that I would like to write about now is the power of community. Over and over again, speakers drilled home the importance of human connections—not just as a warm and fuzzy way to feel good in your neighborhood, but as a survival mechanism.

It was very interesting to me when I first began teaching Global Issues. I noticed from the kids what I call the “localization movement backlash.” Students who had been raised in eco-friendly, liberal communities were well aware of these ideas. I think that for the most part, that is wonderful! However, one of the effects that this had on the youth is that some were completely fixated on only “acting locally” or were hyper-focused on the power of individual choices to create change. I am a huge proponent of acting locally and living the change that we want to see, but I also see a world that is increasingly interconnected. No longer can we just live our peaceful lives and feel proud to not be taking part in oppressive systems. We can diminish those negative affects through our personal choices, but those communities that are bearing the brunt of globalization, environmentally and socially, are nearly invisible to the mainstream American. It is my firm belief that it is the responsibility of privileged folks living in relative peace to examine the roots and then work to dismantle unhealthy economic institutions.

The Economics of Happiness Conference brought community ties back into the forefront of my mind. The challenges that the global community faces are insurmountable without strong local community connections. Repeatedly, it was said that part of the problem is that we have replaced our dependence on each other for monetized goods and services. Why should I go out of my way to get to know my neighbors? I don’t need them. I can pay people to fill my all of my needs. When I teach about The Earth Charter in class, we spend time talking about how the ways in which so many of our activities and relationships are facilitated through material goods. We use our foundations of Nonviolent Communication to examine what real human needs are being met through the use of our iPods, cell phones, and video games. Finally, we ask ourselves (me, too!) how we can work to meet those needs without those “things” that have unintended consequences such as child slavery and environmental injustice in other parts of the world.

These are hard questions to ask and can be overwhelming for some who have lived immersed in the culture of unquestioned consumption up until now. What I learned about strengthening local economies at the conference brought new energy and a wider context to these conversations that I was already having.

Another theme that was repeated throughout that weekend and absolutely emerged again in The Great Turning Trip was the importance of joy in our social movements. Yes, this work is hard. Yes, these crises are scary. But no, we don’t have to be gloomy doomsday naysayers in our approaches to recreating the world! We can laugh, we can sing, we can play…in fact, we might have to! Doing all of those things helps empower others to join along with us, instead of grieving alone, feeling overwhelmed and disempowered. And the best part about it is that all of that hilarious, dorky, silly play is also creating those very community bonds that we so direly need as we move into the future.

The Great Turning Trip

The capstone event of this month of inspiration was the first ever Great Turning Trip, but you can see the other blog below about that!

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The Great Turning Trip...From Every Angle: Global Exchange

Chelsi Torres, Woolman Semester Student Spring '12
April 20, 2012

The first day of the Great Turning trip started off with a stop a Global Exchange. Walking into the first nice city building of the week was a bit overwhelming until I stepped into the offices at Global Exchange. I was greeted by smiling faces and art of all different kinds promoting every peace, justice, and sustainability cause out there. This was definitely a place for the Woolman students.


Our group settled into a large conference room and began an activity defining words like justice and collectively understanding why much of our society is set up to benefit only 1% of the population. That introduction really helped to get in the mindset of why Global Exchange was there in the first place. They saw how our world has all of these issues and are answering the question: How do we create a world where everyone and everything has a high quality of life?


When two women began talking about all that Global Exchange does, I felt overwhelmed again. One part of their work is to work with communities to create a specialized way of living in order to create community rights. They also sent people to many different areas of the world on reality tours to show how different life is in areas like North Korea. Some of their staff helps organize other groups that want to create justice. There is even a Global Exchange store that sells fairly traded goods. They seemed to hit from all angles, and even though it was confusing to understand how it all fit together I realized that was exactly what the world needed. One of the greatest things I have learned from my education so far at Woolman is that no issue stands alone. Everything is connected and that’s how Global Exchange creates change. Working through issues through each branch of their influence. 
 

Part of our time at the Global Exchange office was with a woman named Chie who previously worked in a sweatshop and is now working with Global Exchange to end sweatshops. Her story was heartbreaking, but also extremely inspiring. Through realizing that this kind of labor needed to end, she eventually managed to create a documentary on the horrible conditions in this sweatshop and have it shown on ABC’s 20/20 with Barbara Walters. Such a huge exposure of the GAP company and their use of sweatshops was not tolerated, and to this day Chie cannot go into any GAP store without being asked to leave. Chie introduced me to one of the most important lessons that I learned on this trip: do not simply ask, “Please change this.” Instead, assert your rights as if you have them, because you do.  


   

After leaving those offices with motivation and possibility I held onto that one large lesson that Chie taught me through the entire trip and realized that it applied to every group and organization that we visited. I realized that this is the way to make change. Did the civil rights movement make strides by asking, or demanding that their rights be respected? Maybe, but what really shook people up was when those oppressed people acted how they wanted to be treated and demanded by action. This is one of the most fundamental concepts of activism, and I thank Global Exchange and everyone at Woolman who made this trip possible for teaching me how to make our world a more just place.

If you are interested in learning more about Global Exchange's community rights work, please check this out:http://www.globalexchange.org/communityrights/actnow

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The Great Turning Trip: Center for the Elderly and the Youth in the Arts

Lucy Labadie, Spring '12 Student
April 19, 2012

 

 

CEYA: Institute on Aging

On Friday afternoon we visited the Center for the Elderly and Youth in the Arts (CEYA), which is a program of the Institute on Aging in San Francisco. It provides the elderly a nurturing daycare environment alongside an opportunity to engage in creativity through the arts and intergenerational sharing with youth volunteers. It is an inspiring place, with warm old folks and smiling volunteers. But you can’t help but wonder at the end of the day, where and who they go home to. Or who doesn’t get this opportunity at all. It struck me to pay attention to the generation gap within our society. It is now an emerging worldview to give respect and acknowledgement to the ancient knowledge that we used to harbor – to pay attention to the wealth of knowledge that humans have accumulated over millennia. Yet to a large extent we are systemically divided from the elderly of our society, from the old wisdom that presently exists. They live alone in their old age, and usually in a home specifically for senior citizens. Personally, I felt a rekindled awareness of who is in this generation we’re talking about when it comes to a generation waking up, which we talked about earlier that morning.

 Jessie McCracken, the program director, showed us around and talked about the power of storytelling, and of creative engagement. This seemed to be a theme of the visit. Through their art, the elderly at the daycare were able to express themselves, share, and ultimately feel a sense of connection and purpose each day. One intergenerational workshop that the program does is an interview project between a youth and an elder, through which the elder shares their story and the youth interviews, takes note, and shares the story back to the whole group. It is empowering for them to be heard and to be given such respect, acknowledgement, and worth. One statistic that sank me was that the people most prone to suicide in America are the senior citizens of our society. They are marginalized in our culture. Little of what we consider productive they are able to contribute to. Much of the week during this trip we spent with new organizations promoting youth engagement, ‘a generation waking up’, and our 15 billion year old existence. It was not until this last visit that things came together for me, that bringing the elderly population and their care into the picture is so necessary if we are moving to create sustainability, social and environmental justice, and peace in this time. We are here, said one well-known monk, to awaken from the illusion of our separateness. I think this means recognizing that we have much to learn from the stories and creativity that our grandparents can contribute.

FOLLOW THIS LINK TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CEYA: http://ceya.ioaging.org/artists/artists_senior_programs.html

 

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Who Has Power? (in 100 words!)

Jenny Davis, Student
April 19, 2012

We have the power in our community, a body that I define as the world. Because we as people have the power to dehumanize and harm each other, we too have the power to give each other hope and dignity: I, like my hero Elie Wiesel, believe in the inherent power of humanity over ourselves and over each other. We have power-over in that we have structured governments and legal systems; power-with in that movements that promote cohesion (such as the communist ones) have been executed; and power-from-within in that our society has nurtured very many creative and soulful people. 

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Introducing: The Great Turning Trip

Emily Zionts, Global Issues and Peace Studies Teacher
April 19, 2012

“By what name will future generations know our time?

Will they speak in anger and frustration of the time of the Great Unraveling, when profligate consumption exceeded Earth's capacity to sustain and led to an accelerating wave of collapsing environmental systems, violent competition for what remained of the planet's resources, and a dramatic dieback of the human population?

 Or will they look back in joyful celebration on the time of the Great Turning, when their forebears embraced the higher-order potential of their human nature, turned crisis into opportunity, and learned to live in creative partnership with one another and Earth?”

-David Korten

Activists, authors, indigenous elders, and philosophers from many countries and backgrounds describe this point in human and natural history as The Great Turning. It is a term that recognizes that we are at a crossroads and if we are to continue the path that we have been on for the last 100 years, the result will be unmatched devastation of human and natural life. However, there are actions, alternatives, and solutions springing up in the intersections of human rights, economics, and ecology that are actively combating these crises. The best part is that the folks participating in them are even having fun in the meanwhile!

Adios Mexico Trip

In mid-February, I was informed that the Department of State raised the security alert specifically for the area surrounding where we travel to Mexico. The warning said to "defer all non-essential travel". It was the notification that I knew was coming, given that the conditions on the border seem to giving little sign of improving. It was the notification that caused us to cancel the Mexico trip.

This was an emotional decision for me. I’ve made that trek 5 times now, with nearly 50 different students and 20 interns. I truly believe that all who attended were profoundly affected on some level by experiences that went straight to the heart of the immigration debate and turned people who had known very little about the issue before the class into lifelong allies.

Students of Fall 2011 at the border fence in Mexico

 

No matter how amazing our trip was, this loss is nothing compared to what the Mexican people are experiencing at home. Please hold our friends to the south, and their family members here in the states, in the light. Not only that, but I urge you to continue to take action to support a healthy local Mexican economy and immigration reform in the U.S.

As for The Global Issues trip, when one door closes, another opens, and as I came out of my sadness for the loss, I was able to open my heart to the new opportunity in front of me!

And so, from April 9thto the 13th, staff and students ventured out on our first ever Great Turning Trip. This experiential learning journey’s goals were two-fold. Part of the trip included a tour of innovative and inspirational organizations located in the San Francisco Bay. But much of the time was also be spent in interactive workshops with leading activists using internationally acclaimed methodology for helping us to get in touch with our own individual roles in The Great Turning.

On the trip, we were able to see with our own eyes that being an activist means something different to each of us. Through experiencing and being introduced to a range of activism methodologies and alternative systems, it became easier to envision how we might each use what makes us happy in life to make the world a better place!

Activities from the week included: meeting with a former GAP sweatshop worker at Global Exchange, having our very own panel of Occupy Oakland activists, visiting an intentional community based on the principles of The Great Turning in a gang ridden area of Oakland, taking an activist mural tour through the Mission District in San Francisco, and so much more! Please visit our blog next week to read about the visits in the students’ words: http://blog.woolman.org

Finally, it is necessary to express my gratitude for those who helped this trip happen. Each of the organizations were incredibly generous with their time and spirit. Thanks to Bob and Kathy Runyan (and Keith for organizing a song circle and labyrinth walk) at The Quaker Center for hosting us on our mini-vacation the weekend before. And an enormous and heartfelt THANK YOU to Cindy, Peter, and Matthew Trueblood for so kindly hosting our entire group of 22 staff and students from Sunday through Friday at their house!

Thanks for your support!

Emily Zionts

Global Issues

Peace Studies teacher

During the "Wake Up" Experience with Generation Waking Up

 

 On the Activist Mural Tour in the Mission District

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Sustainability update 5

Ariel Fisher, Jenny Davis
April 17, 2012

This week, we seeded about 95% of the plants we are going to use in our English Cottage Garden. We also did an enormous amount of weeding. Finally, we finished our powerpoint presentation, which we will show in class on Wednesday. The presentation will discuss the history of English cottage gardens, our process of seeding, planting, and weeding, and our plans for the garden.

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Garden Update #4

Jenny Davis and Ariel Fisher, Students
April 15, 2012

This weekend, we accomplished an enormous amount of work: we weeded and laid down compost and mulch in almost half of the garden. We had to be careful about whatwe pulled up, as we are keeping many smaller plants where they currently are. As well, we placed the antique-looking wheelbarrow in the corner by the gate. It definitely adds to the general feeling of our English cottage garden. We also finished seeding and finalizing a list of what we will plant. Overall, it was an eventful and very productive week!

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Close to the Garden

Chelsi Torres, Woolman Semester Student Spring '12
April 15, 2012

Although not much physical work has been made on the land that will soon house the native plant garden, we are very close to getting our first plants in the soil. Research is finished on the best ways to propagate or transplant each species that we want in our garden. Today an area of the garden was weedwacked, but what else is going to become of the area is still a mystery. This weekend Jacob Holzberg-Pill and I will forage on BML land for plants and hopefully bring home some great plants to transplant. I've also seen two species of mushrooms growing on the forest floor and some flowers including Purple Dead-nettle (Lamium purpureum) that I am going to keep and plant around. There are many features to the space where the garden is going to occupy that are inspiring creative gardening in me!

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Vermicompost Tumbler Update #4

Lulu Dewey, student
April 15, 2012

This week has been an extremely productive one!  With a bit of drilling and lots of resourcefulness I converted an abandoned sawhorse into a frame to hold up the barrel.  I also found a wire grate to affix to the access hole so that the worms will be retained and the worm castings tumbled out.  My next step is to drill holes in the flat side of each barrel to insert a PVC pipe that will serve as an axle.

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Bike Cycle Revolution Update

Devin Cruz, student
April 15, 2012

 

Today B.C.R (BIKE CYCLE REVOLUTION) fixed a few bikes and had fun doing it before the rain came in. We got about 3 bikes done today and took many pictures in the process. We fixed a derailleur that has given us problems for a few days now. Also we got a couple of flats fixed. Devin really couldn’t stand on his ankles so he got to work on the floor fixing seats. We’re at about 20% done with fixing all the bikes. Little by little we’ll get it done. The best part of all this is that we are learning as we go along and we’re having fun with it. 

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Trail Progress

Maria Doerr, Max Paris, and Greg Terry
April 15, 2012

Over the weekend, our group went out to reflag the proposed trail. The areas in question were areas that went perpendicular to the contours of the land and were too steep—in other words, they were parts that went straight down a gently rolling hill. We have to be careful to avoid areas with a gradient larger than 10%. While working, we made the rerouting changes as well as placed survey marker flags every 12 or so feet to more clearly see the trail. Next we hope to start clearing the trail and begin working on the bridge.

 

 

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Trail Work Continued!

Maria Doerr, Greg Terry and Max Paris
April 15, 2012

This week we have started clearing the sides of the trail. Many trail building websites have suggested that the trail channel be cleared 6 or so feet. We have started with removing the logs, small bushes and tree limbs that make the going difficult. To protect the aesthetics of the trail, we remove all the brush from the sight and move it to more obscure and concealed areas. There is a good deal of poison oak along the route that we’ve begun to take out by hand with gloves (yikes!). For the bridge, we have selected two black locust trees that have about five inches in diameter. These will be cut down in the near future and used as the main beams for the bridge. With our plans in place, the trail and bridge system is making good headway.

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My first Woolman break (^___^)

Hannah Banana Durant, student
April 15, 2012

During my first break at Woolman, home seemed to be on my mind a lot.  But also, whenever I would see chocolate, I would think about what Emily taught us about the child slavery. It had a big influence on the way, I hought about the chocolate and where it came from. So,on my last day when Iwas hungry, waiting to be picked up, I saw a Hershey's chocolate  bar in the vending machine and walked away from it because I thought about the readings and movies that Emily had shown us. They were about  kids in Africa being tricked and taken away from their families to be worked in cocoa fields as slaves for no pay, or food and for the rest of the lives of those involved with harvesting the cacao.Just having an understanding of what I'm eating, where it comes from, and the how its being made also made me feel less blind to the world. So THANK YOU WOOLMAN :) 

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I have a voice

Ariel Fisher, Student, Spring 2012
April 15, 2012

During break I felt a huge amount of guilt about shopping at stores and purchasing things I knew where controversial. I took great notice about how the entire candy aisle at the grocery store was filled with corporations using slaves.

I also realized other various things like not having direct access to nature. My house is in the middle of the suburbs, where as at Woolman I can simply walk outside and go for a hike or go exploring. At home I have to drive to wherever it is I want to hike or explore or be somewhere away from all the concrete and technology. There seems to be no way to escape the grasp corporations.

Another very large portion of my skepticism was about how unaware and unaccepting people were of new ideas. Even in some cases looking only at a portion of an issue and choosing to support the “rights” of that portion but not accept the entire concept. They look from a naïve view point view point and refuse to accept that what they are supporting is bad.

All in all though it may be difficult to live in places like this I am none the less a Woolmanite in some cases it makes me even more so. Seeing these things ( and living them ) strikes a place in my heart and I know that in my own way I can make a difference. I still have hope and most importantly I have a voice. A voice that I will use to educate those around me. That is one thing no one can take away.

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The Myth of Redemptive Violence

Ariel Fisher, Student, Spring 2012
April 15, 2012

Redemptive violence is not only prominent in the media in some ways it is the media. It seems to set the guidelines for what is and isn’t shown. What people watch and enjoy is the concurring of the hero, good rising above evil. What they don’t realize is that they create the villain in their minds. They form their judgments and the act of watching them only cements these judgments even more. Proving that they are acceptable.

Politics is also riddled with redemptive violence. Our very country is run by it. Campaigns are based on problems. Though this isn’t all bad, the problem with this is the selectiveness that fuels these “solutions”. Problems addressed are often only those which directly affect those involved with the solution maker. Meaning will this make me money or will this lose me money? Not caring to look at more prominent issues happening in the rest of the American community.

Regarding my life in particular redemptive violence is a very important part in my siblings lives. My brother and sister constantly bicker flinging desperate insult after each other constantly trying to “one up” the last. I’ve heard appalling phrases come out of my little brother’s mouth making me wonder where he’s seen such horribly violent acts that would make him resort to such things. My sister even younger than him, is equally as .03defensive. Believing the only way to solve any problem is with violence. Stating “but he did it to me.” or “well why is ok for him to do it?”. Making me wonder whether we resort to violence out of habit or self defense.

All in all I believe violence, redemptive or not, runs our live constantly. It’s everywhere: the news, your kids, your parents, the ad on a website, even your childhood. There is no way to get away from it, the only solution is to change it. We have to break away from “society” and educate others on the myth of redemptive violence. We must strive for solutions not problems. It starts with you.

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Choclate Cake vs. Lemon Bars

Greg Terry, student Spring 2012
April 15, 2012

While I was on my break, my family wanted to have a post-birthday birthday celebration so we went to the store to get some cake mix. I was given free reign to choose the flavor, and I was about to reach for a box of chocolate cake mix when I remembered our lessons on the use of child slaves in almost all chocolate production. I informed my parents and aunt of what I had learned an went for some lemon bars instead. Unfortunately, my parents also wanted chocolate cake, and bought it anyways. I have always considered my parents to be “conscious consumers” but it seems that the taste of chocolate can overwhelm even the strictest moral guidelines.

The lemon bars were delicious.

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Sustainability Project: Drying Racks for the A-Frame Cabins

Brooke Lyons-Justus, spring 2012 student
April 12, 2012

 Late last week I talked with Doug and made a plan for ordering my materials. We went over how much and what type of wood I would need. We also made a list of the other items like rope, pulleys, and eyelets. Once we got the wood, I worked with Doug using the table saw to split the wood in half. Later this week we are going to cut it to length and then sand it. 

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What do you want in a Head of School?

Head Search Committee
April 5, 2012

Dear Friends,

As Woolman has changed and evolved over time, the community has benefited from the skills and insights of men and women who have taken on the role of Head of School. It is time once again to find the unique individual who will step into that role, bringing Woolman to the next level.

Here is the job announcement for the position. Please feel free to circulate it widely.

Please email us with prospective names and contact information, questions, or ideas. We welcome your feedback.

If you have not already filled out the on line survey for what qualities we are searching for in the next Head, please do so -
The link is http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/23VK9VS.

Thank you,

CPFEA Head of School Search Committee
headsearch@woolman.org
Amy Cooke, Kelsey Crowe, Caleb Buckley, Jacob Holzberg-Pill

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Disspelling the Myths

Maria Doerr, Spring 2012
April 1, 2012

During spring break I visited my cousin in San Francisco with my mother. When we were out exploring the city, I was so amazed and almost frightened by all the big signs and brands that consumed the buildings and surrounded me. I was struck by the globalized world of stuff –and no one else seemed very aware of it—even in my own extended family.

My cousin’s husband works in the Banana Republic headquarters in marketing and sales. Banana Republic is a part of the parent company GAP. In Global Issues, GAP Inc. was brought up when we were discussing the tragedy of sweatshops. Many brands and large clothing corporations such as GAP get their products from third world countries where good working conditions and workers’ rights are nonexistent. Workers start as children and must work long hours without break or overtime compensation. I brought the subject up with my cousin-in-law—to which he responded that GAP takes workers’ rights very seriously and only purchases goods from clean, healthy and monitored facilities. I respectfully shared my doubts with him and gave him several links to articles that contradicted his views. He became noticeably quiet and a bit uneasy as he read the stories of underpaid, suffering GAP workers.

I felt privileged to have shared a new point of view with him. Maybe it will encourage him to read more into the issue and take action at his work. If nothing else, I hope he has at least been somewhat disillusioned about the company and the globalized, capitalistic system in which we live.

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