Around Town: Upcoming

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Julia Cain

For those celebrating, have a very good holiday! And here’s a quick look at some upcoming events:

Arias with a Twist at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (April 6 – May 4): Drag chanteuse extraordinaire Joey Arias and master puppeteer Basil Twist invite you on a magical mystery tour through space and time. Nab your tickets right here for this trippy, madcap, musical fantasia.

LearnServe Panels and Venture Fair with LearnServe International (April 12): What would you change in your community? Find out how the next generation answers that question, as LearnServe Fellows — high school students from nearly 30 schools — debut their plans to make a difference in their communities. Picture a science fair for social action projects! More information right here.

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In The News …

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Julia Cain

Social Ethics: A Peek Into 2012 (Huffington Post): “Business as usual is changing. Or at least the way business leaders think about philanthropy is changing. In an era of global connectivity and instant media, companies increasingly view philanthropic campaigns as an intrinsic component of a successful business strategy, rather than an external obligation [...] The field is growing and changing so rapidly that its boundaries are still being drawn.” The article also cites a 2011 report from the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy finds that corporate giving is on the rise again and that 53% of companies gave more in 2010 than they did prior to the recession.

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Necessary Service

Posted on April 4, 2012 by Julia Cain

From “Spring break for seniors: community service” in the Washington Post:

Maryland’s mandate for 75 hours of “student service learning” dates to 1992, a year after the District adopted a 100-hour community service requirement. Across the country, 35 states have policies on service learning, but only Maryland has a state graduation requirement [...] Twenty years after Maryland became the first state to require student service for a diploma, the senior scramble is a rite of spring. In Montgomery, 25 percent of seniors still had hours to turn in this week. In Prince George’s County, 36 percent were not yet done.

In Fairfax County, for example, community service is encouraged, but not required: students with a high number of volunteer hours are recognized at graduation and a number of classes also incorporate service learning. And many Maryland students go above and beyond the required hours. In Montgomery County, over 1,700 members of the class of 2012 have amassed over 260 hours each. Another student from DC has earned “triple or quadruple his obligation, having volunteered for an international service and leadership organization since 10th grade.” While many students would perhaps not engage in service without the requirement, would those who have far exceeded the necessary hours gladly performed them on their own? Or did the state requirement catalyze their commitments?

So what do you think? Should community service be encouraged or required? How can we ensure that students both experience giving back in high school and then want to continue it after graduation?

Rental Rankings

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Julia Cain

Reporting on the National Low Income Housing Coalition‘s 2012 rankings, Elahe Izadi of DCentric writes that “the DC-metro area is an expensive place to live, but it isn’t the priciest of places.” San Francisco tops the list, followed by the Stamford-Norwalk metro area in Connecticut and Honolulu, Hawaii; the greater Washington area is in the 10th spot.

In order to afford a “a fair market, two-bedroom apartment in DC” ($1,506/month), and thus spend only 30% of his or her income on rent, the renter would need to earn $60,240 annually or $28.96 per hour for a 40-hour week. But as Izadi points out, the median income for DC renters is less than two-thirds of that.

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A Spark

Posted on April 2, 2012 by Julia Cain

“There are two men inside the artist, the poet and the craftsman. One is born a poet. One becomes a craftsman.”

– French writer Emile Zola, born today in 1840

“Creativity is that marvelous capacity to grasp mutually distinct realities and draw a spark from their juxtaposition.”

– German artist Max Ernst, born today in 1891

Have a creative month, Greater Washington!

Around Town: March 31-April 1

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Julia Cain

Coming up this weekend …

Limited Visibility, featuring Christopher K. Morgan Artists from CityDance Ensemble (Alden Theatre, 1234 Ingleside Avenue, McLean, VA)

Inviting the dancers to reveal things they might only do in private, the piece will be a suite of dances connected in theme and design. Performances are Friday and Saturday night at 8:00 PM; tickets available right here.

Lemons and Lost Belongings at District of Columbia Arts Center (2438 18th Street NW)

Through Saturday, the Dolce Revolution presents a double feature: Lemons by Barry Eitel is an examination of class struggle through the metaphor of a lemonade stand, while Lost Belongings by Jennifer Berry explores human sexuality, identity and the longing for connection in the era of Facebook. More info this way!

Intermediate Concert from DC Youth Orchestra Program (Eastern High School, 1700 East Capitol Street NE)

All young performers in Concert Orchestra, Concert Wind Ensemble, and more, will after just five weeks of rehearsals on Sunday at 4:00 PM. Learn more about the youth orchestra season right here!

And next week …

FREE Noontime Cantata Series at Washington Bach Consort (Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G Street NW)

At the popular series of fifty-minute concerts presented on the first Tuesday of the month at noon, music director J. Reilly Lewis shares his enthusiasm and love for the music before presenting an organ work and one of Bach’s cantatas. Directions available right this way!

In The News … (more!)

Posted on March 29, 2012 by Julia Cain

Affordable housing means financial incentives, experts tell MontCo (Washington Examiner): “Yet 44 percent of renters in the county spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing, said Michael Bodaken, president of the National Housing Trust. A minimum-wage earner would need to work four full-time jobs to afford a “modest” two-bedroom apartment in the county. The most realistic solution is to try to preserve some of the existing housing where rents are in danger of climbing, because working with existing structures costs one-third as much as building new housing, Bodaken said.” According to Roger Lewis, professor emeritus at the University of Maryland, “it is going to take some public-sector financing, which then gets into the political briar patch.” (We also touched upon the high housing costs in Arlington in yesterday’s In The News)

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In The News …

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Julia Cain

Not Enough Qualified Workers in DC? (Washington Post via DCentric): “Unemployment in some DC neighborhoods is as high as 25 percent. At the same time, cranes fill the skies in pockets of the city, signaling economic activity. So why not encourage hiring unemployed DC residents for those projects? That was the intent behind tightening the District’s hiring rules for projects receiving city money. But now builders and contractors say that the new hiring standards are impossible to meet because the city simply lacks qualified workers.” To learn about a Catalogue nonprofit focused on construction training, head to DC Students Construction Trades Foundation.

3 new private conservation reserves established by communities in Peru (Mongabay: environmental news): “Three new private conservation areas in the Amazon-Andes region of Peru will help buffer the country’s national park system while offering new opportunities for local people to benefit from protecting ecosystems. The new private conservation areas cover 18,882 hectares (46,659 acres) of habitat ranging from high elevation grasslands to cloud forests to rain forests [...] The new reserves are also significant in that they are part of a broader initiative by the Amazon Conservation Association, an NGO with offices in Washington DC and Peru, to support sustainable livelihoods in a region that is traditionally very poor.” A Catalogue nonprofit, ACA preserves miles of wilderness through sustainable use of resources, research, and education.

Housing costs trouble many Arlingtonians (Washington Post: Local): “The biggest problem facing Arlingtonians, by many measures, is the cost of housing. If you don’t have it, and you’re not financially well-off, you can be in for a long, painful search. “Affordable” housing options usually are targeted at those who make 60 to 80 percent of the median income,” which is $110,000 in the county. “Further down the income ladder are those who are already homeless. A-SPAN, the Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network, recently received a $93,000 grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide housing and case management for six chronically homeless adults in Arlington.” Also a Catalogue nonprofit, A-SPAN also operates Opportunity Place, where homeless individuals can take a shower, wash clothes, secure a health-care referral, and obtain an address.

Second Chances

Posted on March 27, 2012 by Julia Cain

If you have not yet checked out the American Graduate series on WAMU 88.5, certainly do so. Education reporter Kavitha Cardoza examines the “causes and consequences” of the drop-out crisis in our region and the country.

This week, WAMU highlights several dropout recovery schools (specialized programs that provide a second chance to students who have not succeeded in traditional schools), including Catalogue nonprofit YouthBuild Public Charter School. Through YouthBuild, students ages 16-24 move among the classroom (focusing on reading, science, math), a construction site (building affordable housing units), and service learning opportunities (creating community gardens and cleaning up local rivers).

Here’s a glimpse into the life of a YouthBuild student:

Students in overalls and hard hats saw and sand boards for new trim at the construction site where they’re currently working. They attend a dropout recovery school in the District, and they use the construction skills they’ve learned at school to renovate low-income housing. One of the students, 22-year-old Omar Mobley, measures a plank of wood.

“You gotta know math if you wanna do construction. You gotta read a measuring tape,” he says. “It ain’t as easy as it looks … Basically you gotta know your division.”

Mobley dropped out of school a few years ago after his twin brother was shot and killed. His is just one of dozens of rough stories of students at YouthBuild Public Charter School in Northwest DC. [...] He felt his life was spiraling out of control. Going to school just made it worse; he couldn’t concentrate because classes were so chaotic, he says. He missed a lot of days, and eventually stopped going back.

Now at YouthBuild, Mobley has perfect attendance. He likes the small classes and feels the teachers there are different.

As Executive Director Arthur Dade explains, “We ask them when did they drop out of school, but it’s really when did they check out of school.” So the challenge is re-engagement as much as re-enrollment.

The Right Place

Posted on March 26, 2012 by Julia Cain

[...] I’d like to get away from earth awhile
And then come back to it and begin over.
May no fate wilfully misunderstand me
And half grant what I wish and snatch me away
Not to return. Earth’s the right place for love:
I don’t know where it’s likely to go better.

I’d like to go by climbing a birch tree,
And climb black branches up a snow-white trunk
Toward heaven, till the tree could bear no more,
But dipped its top and set me down again.
That would be good both going and coming back.
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.

– “Birches,” American poet Robert Frost, born today in 1874

In this spirit, learn more about DC SCORES — which combines physical activity (soccer) with a Power of Poetry program to inspire young people to lead healthy lives and be engaged students.

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