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Catalogue Blog

In The News … (More!)

Expanding upon yesterday’s post, check out more news coverage for our non-profits!

What do women really want? — Earlier in April, Joan Kuriansky, executive director of Wider Opportunities for Women, contributed this opinion piece to Politico, addressing the unique concerns of women voters in this election cycle. She points out that “female voters, like men, are focused on the economy. But women care about kitchen-table issues — investments in public education, affordable health insurance, protecting Social Security, equal pay enforcement, minimum wage increases and job training … Polling shows women are more concerned than men that family income will not be enough to meet basic expenses.” But has either party addressed those concerns directly?

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In The News …

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which “killed 11 workers and sent more than 200 million gallons of oil spewing into the Gulf waters:”

BP oil spill: The environmental impact one year on — As the BBC asked yesterday afternoon, “what environmental impact did one of world’s largest accidental oil spills have on the region’s wildlife and habitats, and has it been as bad as it was feared at the time?” At this point, scientists still cannot say for sure: it is still “too soon for long-term impacts to manifest themselves, such as disruptions to ecosystems’ food chains.”

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7 Questions – Charles Phaneuf (Joe’s Movement Emporium)

Good morning! We’re pleased to introduce … Charles Phaneuf, managing director of Joe’s Movement Emporium/World Arts Focus in Mount Rainier. Open 7 days a week and 12 hours a day, Joe’s is home to 25 regional artists and performance groups, offers 3-4 hours of after-school programs daily, and hosts an intensive summer arts camp for low and moderate-income families. Learn even more right here …

1. What was your most interesting recent project, initiative, partnership, or event?

Working on creative ways to build our audience and generate revenue. In the past, Joe’s has been funded largely by foundation and government partners but resources are not what they used to be. We have to grow individual giving and devise creative ways to partner with businesses beyond traditional sponsorships. In the last few months, we did a percentage sale at a restaurant (Hank’s Tavern in Hyattsville) that was also a preview event for shows in our season, so it brought artistic content out to the community and had an audience development goal. We’re working with Hank’s, our local framing shop (Fountain Framing) and hopefully some other businesses to create offers for Deals for Deeds, which we won two weeks ago. We hope that these efforts and others will help build a deeper relationship with our partners and audiences while also funding programs so that we don’t have to cut services and can continue to grow.

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Quote for the Day

Young people can learn from my example that something can come from nothing. What I have become is the result of my hard efforts.”

– Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

Music is a higher relevation than all wisdom and philosophy.”

– Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.”

– Victor Hugo (1802-1885)

Around Town: April 15-17

Welcome to a pleasant spring weekend, Washington! Why not spend it with one (or more) of our non-profits? Such as …

The Theatre Lab School of the Dramatic Arts (733 8th Street NW)

Rags, the dynamic Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz, Charles Strouse, and Joseph Stein, opens this Friday at 8:00 PM with an extremely talented young cast. Performances continue on Saturday & Sunday and you can nab tickets here.

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia (at the James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church)

Interested in becoming an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) tutor and spreading literacy in the Northern Virginia area? Sign up for a training session, starting this Saturday from 9:30 – 3:30 PM.

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Dr. Sidney Harman

Industrialist, audio pioneer, dedicated philanthropist, and founder of the Catalogue, Dr. Sidney Harman died on April 12 in Washington, following a battle with acute myeloid leukemia. He was Executive Chairman of Newsweek and Chairman of the Academy for Polymathic Study at the University of Southern California. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Catalogue in Dr. Harman’s honor. Continue reading

In The News …

Good morning, folks. Here comes Wednesday’s bundle of news items …

Finalists for the Washington Post Award for Excellence in Non-profit Management – Many congratulations to Horton’s Kids, Prince George’s Child Resource Center, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, all of whom were announced as finalists by the Center for Non-Profit Advancement this past Monday. According to their press release, “The Award Selection Committee judges applicant organizations in the areas of fiscal management, information and communication, organizational development, people development, planning, resource development, risk management, and use of technology.” The winning non-profit will “receive a $10,000 grant and a scholarship for one person to attend the Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership?s Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate Program.”

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Question for the Day (cont)

Rereading yesterday’s post just now, the following statistic kept leaping out at me:

Studies dating to the 1960s have suggested that children’s experiences inside the classroom are responsible for as little as 20 percent of their overall educational development.

20 percent. For all the focus placed upon on test scores and grading and ranking, the success of a particular student relies (by 80 percent) on factors that their school never sees — of which they might not even be aware. Catalogue Executive Director Barbara Harman made a key point in her response to the NY Times article yesterday:

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Question for the Day

From the “The Fragile Success of School Reform in the Bronx,” NY Times, April 6, 2011:

Upon arrival at 223, students pass through a gantlet of smiling teachers. Gonzalez requires that faculty members stand outside their doors at the start of the school day, part of his effort to set the school off from the grim streets surrounding it. “In our location, kids have to want to come to school,” he says. “This is a very sick district. Tuberculosis, AIDS, asthma rates, homeless shelters, mental-health needs — you name the physical or social ill, and we’re near the top for the city. Which means that when our kids come to school in the morning, when they come through that door, we have to welcome them.”

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Around Town: April 9-10

TGIF! So where are you in the mood to go this weekend?

Into the outdoors …

You actually have two great opportunities to beautify our nearby rivers: Potomac Conservancy hosts the 23rd Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup, organized by the Alice Ferguson Foundation, on Saturday at 9:00 AM in Cabin John. Up in Poolesville, Potomac Riverkeeper will hold Riley’s Lock Cleanup, also at 9:00 AM on Saturday.

And for the speed demons among you, the interactive Art & Go Seek Scaveger Hunt begins at CHAW at 8:30 AM on Saturday; teams of two to six people will race around the neighborhood in search of answers to questions about art, history, and notorious people. Sign up here! Similarly, Cakes for Cause‘s Sweetest Race in Town 5K begins at 8:00 AM on Sunday in downtown Frederick, MD. There will be cupcakes at the finish — enough said.

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