Create West Virginia

Healing Through Creativity

Trauma Survivors and Supporters of Survivors of Trauma are invited to share art, music, writing,
poetry and other creative forms at the Healing Through Creativity Festival.

When:  October 10 -19, 2008
Where:  West Virginia State University, WV, USA

http://www.healingthroughcreativity.org/

The experience helps trauma survivors and promotes community understanding.

We open our hearts to support those who are making their way through the various stages of recovery from physical and psychological trauma.  The event is inspired for the need in the community to support survivors and to seek additional resources and contacts to help in recovery.  Once aware of supportive resources, individuals may follow up with any of the fine contacts from this event for more in-depth help, education and support.  You know what you would give to keep just one person from suffering.  Healing through Creativity promises to be a life changing experience.

Healing through Creativity features positive-focused expressions that will help trauma survivors and promote understanding. Survivors and supporters share the fun and excitement of creativity without the fears of judgment or undeserved guilt and shame. The event promotes community awareness about the needs of survivors of trauma to the body, mind and spirit.  Workshops, speakers and displays promote prevention of assault and abuse.

Healing through Creativity helps to end the need for silence, the feelings of abandonment and the undeserved guilt often felt by survivors.  The event recognizes organizations that educate, serve and protect the community.   Healing through Creativity July 2006 was a breakthrough for all survivors and in July 2007, Healing through Creativity returned to serve even more.  Planning is underway for Healing through Creativity 2008. Visit the recap of the Festival in the Survivor's News Section and in the photograph section for an idea of what the Festival is like.  Workshops and entry are free.

Artistic works include: creative writing, poetry, painting, music, drama and other works.  See workshops, hear speakers and develop your own creative talents. 

We  invite trauma survivors and their supporters to enter their original heart felt artistic works in this event.   We are currently calling for participants and presenters who wish to join in the fun.  Please use the forms on this site or contact us for further information.

Thank you

The Healing through Creativity July 2008 Team

Disrupting Class-Chapter 7- Improving Education Research

Why include a chapter on research?  "Rather than compare the average performance of one set of schools, students, or methods against others, our approach is to examine the state of education through the lenses of (our) theories of innovation in order...to describe the process by which education research can become capable of predicting which innovations will improve our schools, which will not, and why?" 

Meredith Honig's wrote about the deficiencies in education research in her book, New Directions in Education Policy Implementation: Confronting Complexity.  "(O)ptimistically, she says, we see that some policies get implemented and are 'successful some of the places some of the time...The essential implementation question then becomes not simply what's implementable and what works, but what s implementable and what works for whom,where,when and why."

"Education research must move toward understanding what works from the perspective of individual students in different circumstances as opposed to what works best on average for groups of students or groups of schools." 

This is a big deal.  This is as big a disruption in the field of education research as the innovations we have been discussing are to learning and schooling. 

Equipping Kids with 21st Century Learning Tools

West Liberty State University made news last week regarding their provision of a laptop for each incoming freshman. In today's multi-disciplined, team-oriented, task-centric learning environment, a laptop is what a pencil and paper were in prior generations.

It's important to note that technology doesn't necessarily make kids smarter, but technology facilitates the kind of learning that is a requirement in today's connected world.

Last year at the first Create WV Conference, we heard about the "High Tech High" School in Philadelphia. It's a public school run by the Philadelphia School District with consulting and learning technology support from Microsoft. Every student is provided with a laptop, and there is no traditional "textbook" approach to learning. Students form small teams and work together to solve problems and complete projects. The school has been in operation for two years now.

Is it time for West Virginia to pilot our own "High Tech High" school to demonstrate how rural students could embrace 21st century learning methods? What can we learn from the handful of urban experiments that we could apply and modify for our small county/rural environments?

Resources for Creative Projects

Mary Hunt-Lieving of the Benedum Foundation wanted to share the following opportunities for organizations seeking financial support for their creative inititiaves. Thank you Mary!

Seed Money for Innovative Projects

Sparkplug Foundation
The Sparkplug Foundation primarily supports nonprofit organizations that are proposing start-up projects in the fields of music, education, and grassroots organizing. In the Music category, the Foundation supports emerging professional musicians or music-development programs. In Education and Teaching, the Foundation funds projects that deal with "the whole student" and with learning as a community activity. Through Grassroots Organizing, the Foundation encourages activist strategies for addressing institutional injustices and for building a reasoned, just society. In addition to these three categories, the Foundation is currently interested in supporting communities working on sustainable energy and

Gulf

Coast

reconstruction democracy. The Foundation also provides limited support for projects in

Israel

that involve Palestinian communities. The next application deadline is

October 31, 2008

. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications. A telephone conversation to determine eligibility must be scheduled in order to initiate the application process. Prospective applicants are strongly urged to read the Foundation's website listed above carefully before requesting a telephone interview.

Support for Progressive Artists

Puffin Foundation
The Puffin Foundation seeks to open the doors of artistic expression by providing grants to art organizations and artists who are often excluded from mainstream opportunities due to their race, gender, or social philosophy. The Foundation makes grants averaging $1,000 to $2,500 to encourage emerging artists in the fields of fine arts, film and video, music, photography, theater, and public interest. The Foundation is particularly interested in supporting creative and innovative initiatives that will advance progressive social change. Proposals for 2009 grants will be accepted from September 1 until

December 30, 2008

. Visit the website listed above for application instructions.