Alternative Education Resource Organization

Benefit Silent Auction

We will be holding a silent auction to benefit the continued work of AERO. Your support will enable us to start more schools, help families find alternatives, and provide invaluable resource to countless individuals worldwide.

The auction items will be available for viewing and bidding Friday from 9am-9pm, and Saturday 9am-4pm. We will stop the bidding and announce winners shortly thereafter.

If you would like to donate an item to the auction, please download and fill out our donation form by Clicking Here for the PDF (26kb) or Clicking Here for the Word document. (124kb)
Item suggestions include gift baskets, new and collectible books, unique items from your part of the country/world, memorabilia, free home stays, personal services, and much more!

With your help in donating items and bidding, we will be able to further the reach of AERO, alternative education, and more!

Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde

Taina Asili brings songs filled with a voice of profound passion and uncompromising spirit seeking to inspire personal and social transformation. Backed by La Banda Rebelde, musicians with cultural roots from around the world, this group bravely infuses genres including, rock, reggae, neo-soul, hip hop, flamenco and Afro-Caribbean sounds, exciting audiences to contagious movement.

Taina Asili y La Banda Rebelde combine the soul of Lila Downs, the freedom of Ojos de Brujo and the rebellion of Rage Against the Machine, creating a unique and unforgettable soundscape. Listen to music from the band on http://www.myspace.com/tainapoet or http://www.tainapoet.com

Talent Show

The title is self descriptive, but for those that have not participated in an AERO conference talent show before you'll be in for quite a treat! The last night of the conference is always an entertainment evening, which you'll find is much needed after every last muscle in your brain has been tapped! Attendees have brought the house down with applause after sharing some of their talent, which include music, comedy, theater, poetry and spoken word, and so much more! Come to this event to remember!

This year’s talent show will be held at St. Anthony’s, the venue for Grand Street Community Arts—a local non-profit community organization. You can view pictures of the facility and learn more about the organization at http://www.grandarts.org

Yoga

Yoga will be lead each morning of the conference by local instructor and alternative school teacher, Mara Afzali.

Childcare & Kids Program

Free child care will be available throughout the AERO conference. We have a dedicated staff of seven which have been with us for most if not all of our conferences. All of the staff is intimately familiar with alternative education and the level of care our attendees expect for their children. Children ages three* to eleven (3-11) will have a private room near all of the workshops and keynotes along with access to many amenities our new location provides. Special workshops for children, field trips to local parks and museums, games, arts and crafts, and so much more will be available! It’s like summer camp, but they’ll always be close by! While there will be plenty of activities, parents are encouraged to bring toys, art supplies, and activities that they wouldn't mind getting used and potentially destroyed. Those with children under five (5) are strongly encouraged to bring anything that will help make their child's time at the conference better. Some snacks will be provided, but please bring extra if possible. We also suggest sending your child with a change of clothes each day during child care. Parents are free to drop and pick their children up as many times as they see fit during the child care hours. Last year we had forty (40) children take part in our free child care throughout the 4-day conference. The feedback we received truly showed us what the heart of the conference is: the children. We strongly encourage families and those with children to bring them to the conference. If the comments made by parents this past year are any indication, your children will have an amazing time:

"We really appreciated having the free child care available...My son spent his time in childcare, mostly making airplanes and rockets with Corina, who was absolutely fantastic with him."

"The child care was wonderful - really made the conference work for us."

"The child care was exceptional and really well organized. I was really impressed"

"Although I enjoyed meeting others who were interested in educational alternatives, it was the joy on my daughter's face (and her reluctance to leave!) that pleased me most."

Child Care Hours During Conference:

Thursday:
6:30pm - 9:30pm

Friday:
8:30am - 12:00pm
1:00pm - 5:30pm
6:30pm - 9:30pm

Saturday:
8:30am - 12:00pm
1:00pm - 5:30pm

Sunday:
8:30am - 12:00pm

*Contact us if you’re looking for care for a child under three

Teen Program

Information coming soon!

Austin Willacy

Rootsy. Soulful. Hypnotic. Lush. Groovy. Intense… “From ecstasy to eloquence and at once edgy and elegant, willacy has arrived” “an edgy adult contemporary sound that goes down easily and speaks to the heart”… these are just some of the ways critics are describing austin willacy and his music. Raised on blues, soul, old school r&b and 70’s era rock, willacy fuses the genres unlike others before him. His lyrics and his voice alternately soothe and savage their way through a myriad of emotional landscapes with breathtaking ease and efficacy. Listen to Austin Willacy's music and find out more at: www.myspace.com/austinwillacy

J-Live

J-Live is a world-renowned hip hop recording artist and performer. As an emcee, dee jay, producer and CEO of his aptly named company Triple Threat Productions, J-Live’s music has been a staple of inspiration for listeners of underground hip hop from New York to Cali and around the world. His discography spans over 10 years and includes four full length albums “The Best Part,” “All of the Above”, “The Hear After” and “Then What Happened?” as well as EPs “Always Will Be” “Reveal The Secret”, a collection of earlier singles “Always Has Been” and countless guest appearances and features. In support of these records J-Live has toured around the country as well as Canada, the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. You can find out more about J-Live at: www.myspace.com/jlive

The War on Kids Documentary Screening, Q&A, & Panel Discussion

The War on Kids (see below for details, trailer, and interview with director) will be screened at 7pm on June 25th at the conference. Following the screening, director Cevin Soling will answer Q&As followed by a panel discussion on public education. Panelists will be announced shortly (check back soon!). You can order and watch the documentary now by clicking here. The War on Kids
A Spectacle Films, Inc. Production Directed by Cevin Soling When victims of oppression are considered inherently inferior, little thought is given to the imposition of psychological abuse or the persistent and often capricious measures of establishing control. Even attitudes regarding physical punishment become morally blurred. In American history, this mentality resulted in atrocities such as slavery and the subjugation of women. What is surprising to many is that the most oppressed class of people in America today is children. The widespread belief that children are the most privileged is used to justify their maltreatment. The War On Kids exposes the ways this oppression manifests itself in the school environment, and how American society has succeeded in creating an underclass comprised of children. While many documentaries have shed light on the chronic educational famine of the inner city-child, there has been no film to date that deals with the inescapable oppressive abuse that all children in America, regardless of race or class, face. Through zero tolerance, the excessive and invasive use of security measures, abuse of prescription drugs, and an educational system that is modeled after the penal system, a war has truly been waged on the kids of America. The intent of this war is to control youth to make them docile, obedient, and powerless; and, to keep them under surveillance at all times so they can never become a threat. Ultimately, the repercussions of this war are seen in the acceleration of the erosion of our democracy. The War on Kids Trailer:
Director Cevin Soling on The Colbert Report:

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Cevin Soling
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

August to June Documentary Screening

August to June: Bringing Life to School A film by Tom & Amy Valens The fine-cut version of the film will be screened Friday, June 25th. More details are forthcoming. Intimately and exuberantly, this feature length documentary brings us into the lives of 26 third and fourth grade students who still look forward to school! Tom and Amy Valens capture a year in a progressive public school willing to go against current trends in order to teach the whole child. Improving public education in America is considered a high priority by most of our leaders. Policymakers associate this almost solely with increased accountability as measured by student performance on standardized tests. But across the community of public educators, many have noted that this focus has led to so-called "basic skills" eclipsing all the other functions of school. Joy in learning, sense of belonging, creative expression, and self-confidence are not easy things to measure, but they are visible and palpable in a vibrant community of learners. About the Filmmakers
Tom Valens has been involved in film and video since the mid 1960's, working as a cameraman and editor for television news and documentary departments, for independent producers, and for himself. As editor, his films have won local and national Emmys as well as an Academy Award nomination. Recent documentary films that he filmed and edited include InSpirit (2001) about quadriplegic activist Aneice Tayler, Leaf and Water (2003) about Chinese teas, and Nuclear Deception (2005). To Make A Difference (1985), winner of a CINE Golden Eagle and a Silver Screen Award, was widely used by schools of education. Amy Valens began her teaching career in 1968 in the public schools of Dayton Ohio. After a brief stint teaching in an independent Summerhill based school in Los Angeles, she returned to public school teaching in Northern California. She joined the Open Classroom of the Lagunitas School District in 1974. Amy is the author of two children's books Jesse's Daycare (Houghton Mifflin, 1990), and Danilo The Fruit Man (Dial, 1993). She retired from full time teaching in June of 2006.

SelfDesign Life Spiral

Our lives unfold as a dance between our desires and the circumstances of the world. Our lives are a journey that unfolds day by day as an organic process of growth and maturation. How we understand our lives is ten percent what happens to us and ninety percent how we respond. Our inner resourcefulness and our degree of both self-awareness and self-understanding shapes how we act, how we live our lives. Although we are awake each day and are walking on our life journey most of us have not experienced this journey as a journey, as a path across a map. Going hiking in the mountains is so much richer when we are tracking our journey on a map. Great adventures in life like vacations to a new and unfamiliar place that involves following our daily adventures on a map take on deep meaning. What if we could map our lives, what if we could see our entire life journey curve around us? The SelfDesign LifeSpiral is a unique map that you can walk on and experience the stages and perspectives of transformation. This workshop is an opportunity to deepen and enrich your life and to put into perspective some of the significant events that have shaped you on your life's journey.