I am conducting a research study on the experiences of students with disabilities in alternative education settings, and I am currently recruiting young people ages 13-25 in the New York City Metropolitan Area. I am looking for students and recent graduates or participants ages 13-25 who participate in group programming for self-directed learning such as unschooling cooperatives, homeschooling resource centers, democratic free schools, Sudbury Valley schools, and other alternative education programs. This research study is focused on learning about students with disabilities and their experiences in alternative education programs with inclusion, accessibility, interactions, and disability identity. For more information, please email me at emily.brooks@spsmail.cuny.edu.
Year: 2017
Brooklyn Free School Seeks Volunteers
Our volunteer program is a great way to learn about the schoolʼs unique philosophy and participate in the school community. Volunteers have the opportunity to observe and participate directly in the daily life of the school, share their interests and passions with a community of learners, and form deep and meaningful relationships with students of all ages.
Successful volunteers are dependable, reliable, flexible, organized, creative, supportive of the schoolʼs mission, and interested in children/education; they have had previous experience with children, relate well to children of all ages, and are excited about learning for themselves and others. Communication skills, punctuality, consistency, and commitment are essential to being a volunteer at Brooklyn Free School.
Apply to this program if you can commit to volunteering for a full day each week, for a minimum of a semester or if you can offer a class at a regular time each week. Applicants are encouraged to participate in the program for the full experience of a complete year at a free school.
SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS – ONE FULL DAY PER WEEK
Under supervision of a staff Advisor:
- Participate in academic activities and informal play
- Help chaperone school trips
- Observe conflict resolution and peer mediation with young students
- Participate in school meetings and other forms of the schoolʼs democratic process
- Assist students at lunchtime
- Help with general school maintenance and upkeep
Occasionally individuals with specific skills or subject expertise volunteer for the specific period of time required to teach a class in that skill or subject. Student interest must first be determined, as well as scheduling and resource availability. Examples of past classes taught by volunteer teachers include animation, improv, philosophy, and video game design.
ADMINISTRATIVE VOLUNTEERS
Under supervision of our administrative staff:
Observe and aid in different aspects of running a nonprofit organization and alternative school
Past volunteers have earned college credit when their specific program accepts BFS as a program placement.
Direct your inquiries to Kathy at volunteering@brooklynfreeschool.org or 718-499-2707.
Report from Nuestra Escuela On Puerto Rico Recovery
Dear Friends:
Today I want to share with you a recount of the efforts our school has been implementing to contribute to the recovery of Puerto Rico following the passage of Hurricane Maria.
Status of our Staff
Immediately after the passing of Hurricane Maria, we generated an official chat so that each member of our staff could report how it was. It was a challenge due to problems with telecommunications, but in the end, we all were able to communicate our status after the hurricane. In this way, coordinators, principals, and directors of the organization were summoned to a meeting scheduled for the 26th of September in which the plan of action to be followed was presented. There we decided to go out to find the people who still did not know anything (both staff and students) to accompany us at the official meeting of the community on October 3, 2017, in the new headquarters of our school in Caguas.
Community meeting of our school
On October 3 Our community met almost entirely in order to know the personal and family situation of each one, to share experiences and to determine the alternatives that existed to begin to provide service, in addition to what would be the position of the Organization after this atmospheric event that inevitably changed our situation as a country. The decisions resulting from this meeting were:
-Start work on Wednesday 4 October in our centers of Caguas and Loíza.
-To assemble a communal canteen to offer food to students and their families as well as to our staff, making it extensive to neighbors in the area who need it.
-Restructure the transportation service that we usually offer to our students, adapting it to the new reality and their particular needs.
-Going out to find the staff and students we still had no information about.
After the meeting, I moved to Guayama with two members of the NE staff to go to the house of the last companion of whom we had no news. For us it was very important to know that he was well and to support him in need of some help.
“I was surprised because I had not had any communication with the school. I had searched the radio to see if I was hearing information … I did not expect it. I was playing cards with my family and suddenly Ana Yris arrived. They risked and arrived at my house in Guayama, that is very valuable. It’s an act of love that I value very much. ”
~ Fitzroy McGregor, Agriculture Facilitator at Nuestra Escuela.
Likewise, both teachers and social workers from Caguas and Loíza went in search of students of whom we still did not know anything, as was the case of Limarie Roldán, science facilitator and mentor at our center in Caguas, who visited the house of his student Anthony Santana and spoke with his dad, who was surprised to see it and thanked him for getting there.
“He told me that Anthony wants to stay in Puerto Rico. They do not want to go to the United States like they had planned after the hurricane. He wants to stay in Nuestra Escuela. Dad was very happy to see me. “Let Anthony know that you came here!” He said.
~ Limarie Roldán, Science Facilitator and Mentor at Nuestra Escuela.
For an educational organization like ours is very important the welfare of our and our students. It gives us great joy to know that you are pleased to be part of this community and that you feel loved and respected. It is our greatest reward.
“I was happy when I learned that Limarie went to my house and that we would start classes again … It is that in Nuestra Escuela they attach great importance to the student. I would be here every day. I have many friends and I do not want to go to the United States because I would feel as if I would abandon them. ”
~ Anthony Santana, Student at Our Caguas School.
A new beginning
Upon restarting work, the students met with their mentors to resume and adapt their different projects to the new reality of the school and the country. It was they who decided what they are going to be doing in the next 3 weeks. Their efforts are focused on the recovery of their communities and the well-being of their neighbors. They are:
At Nuestra Escuela, we are very grateful for all the approaches and support we have received. At the moment the main need is to sustain our community dining room that allows us to bring happiness to our young people and their families by offering a hot meal a day and that serves as support in these critical moments that our island lives. If you want to help with food or drinking water do not hesitate to contact us at:info@nuestraescuela.org. Every donation is well received!
With your help, we will raise this country, one day at a time.
Big hug!
Ana Yris Guzmán Torres
Executive President
Nuestra Escuela
Donations to support the work of AERO sustaining member Nuestra Escuela can be sent here. We will send 100% to the school.
SelfDesign Graduate Institute Fall 2017 Webinars
October 8, 4-5 PM PDT
Josette Luvmour: How Adults Grow Together with Children
Josette’s presentation will draw on her new book, Grow Together: Parenting as a Path to Well-Being, Wisdom, and Joy (https://luvmourconsulting.com/new-page/).
Please register here.
October 15, 4-5 PM PDT
David Marshak: Evolutionary Parenting
In this webinar David will explore the concept of evolutionary parenting, in particular how the consciousness that parents bring to their parenting can enhance the evolution of consciousness in their children as their children grow through childhood and adolescence.
Please register here.
October 22, 4-5 PM PDT
Michael Carberry: Whole Life Learning
The Whole Life Learning Center is education outside the box. Now in its 7th year, the Center serves more than 100 families in Austin, Texas. Michael will describe the Center’s model of Whole Life Learning.
Please register here.
October 29, 4-5 PM PDT
Laurel Tien: Illuminating Transformational Learning through a Transdisciplinary Methodology
How can a transdisciplinary world view illuminate a transformational approach to teaching and learning that acknowledges contemporary threads of transpersonal, integral, holistic, contemplative, spiritual and evolutionary approaches?
Please register here.
November 12 , 4-5 PM PST
Tracey Huguley: Oppression and Integral Consciousness: One Way to Move Beyond Polarization and Towards that Which is Beautiful, True, and Good!
How might we share intercultural spaces with one another as allies and utilize integral consciousness as a tool for evolving consciously in these spaces?
Please register here.
November 19, 4-5 PM PST
Elaine Decker: Making Sense with the Sense of Humour
Borrowing the joker’s topsy-turvy perspective, we strengthen the funny bone, embrace the contraries themselves, strengthen the imagination, consider alternatives, look again and askance, and keep a humble and hopeful stance. We grow into this peculiar form of wisdom by locating and developing our natural capacities for flexibility, imagination, and courage.
Please register here.
