HAPPY NEW YEAR

"Happy happy new year / Another opportunity is there / To just believe in what we can be / And see our dreams become reality"
The Fantastikids & Monsieur Nô are an english children choir made up 20 pupils from Ermitage, International School of France and they sing to help Plan International France.

You don't really care for music, do you?

Kaylee Rogers, a pupil at Killard House School in Donaghadee, was chosen to sing a special biblical version of the Leonard Cohen classic for the school’s festive end-of-year shows. The primary seven pupil, who has moderate learning difficulties, gave an emotional performance of the song at three Christmas concerts, supported by Killard’s middle school choir.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.

The Chance to Create

Young Audiences Arts for Learning is an association of affiliated organizations that are each dedicated to local education and community development. The YA network collectively works together to impact arts in education practices and policies on a national level. They are serving over 5 million children and youth each year in 8,984 schools and community centers across the country through its diverse network of 30 local affiliates. Their mission is to inspire young people and expand their learning through the arts.
-- Visit Young Audiences New York

Let's teach for mastery — not test scores

Would you choose to build a house on top of an unfinished foundation? Of course not. Why, then, do we rush students through education when they haven't always grasped the basics? Yes, it's complicated, but educator Sal Khan shares his plan to turn struggling students into scholars by helping them master concepts at their own pace.
In 2004, Sal Khan, a hedge fund analyst, began posting math tutorials on YouTube. Twelve years later, Khan Academy has more than 42 million registered users from 190 countries, with tutorials on subjects from basic math through economics, art history, computer science, health, medicine and more.

Music and Memory

MUSIC & MEMORY℠ is a non-profit organization that brings personalized music into the lives of the elderly or infirm through digital music technology, vastly improving quality of life. They train nursing home staff and other elder care professionals, as well as family caregivers, how to create and provide personalized playlists using iPods and related digital audio systems that enable those struggling with Alzheimer’s, dementia and other cognitive and physical challenges to reconnect with the world through music-triggered memories. In the video below you can watch and listen as John Jay High School student volunteers describe what it means to help residents of the Blue Skies of Texas nursing facility in San Antonio.
“It makes you feel good. And it makes you feel like you’re doing something to change the world. It’s an experience that every young person should go through.”

Embracing Failure

At New Mexico School for the Arts (NMSA) -- a dual arts and academic curriculum -- failure is taught as an important part of the journey toward success. Understanding that mistakes are indicators for areas of growth, freshmen learn to give and receive feedback. By senior year, students welcome tough, critical feedback -- and even insist on it.
"Students have to take risks," says Cristina Gonzalez, the former chair of NMSA's visual arts department. "That’s something that is so unique to learning in the arts. Great art comes from risk taking, from being willing to fail. Maybe it will work. Maybe I'll discover something about myself, something about my capacity that I wasn't even aware of, and that's so exciting for a student."
-- Read "Embracing Failure: Building a Growth Mindset Through the Arts" on Edutopia

There once was a WALL

"..If you painted, or performed, or wrote, or engaged in any form of creativity, the very nature of the wall could change, and change you."
Creative Aging brings the arts to older adults where they live or gather. To do that, they hire professional musicians and other artists to perform and teach in nursing homes, retirement communities, senior centers and daycare facilities. Arts-related programs have a significant and measurable impact on seniors’ cognitive, emotional and physical well-being. Older adults who participate in arts programs report a higher overall rating of physical health, fewer doctor visits, less medication use, fewer instances of falls, and fewer other health problems than those who do not participate. Please watch this short but inspiring video.

The Wall with Credits from Spoke on Vimeo.

ARTS ED NOW

"The arts tap into your soul, your love and your passion, and all those things that make you a well rounded human being"
ArtsEdNow is a a statewide campaign to increase active participation in arts education at all schools in New Jersey. Their campaign goals for 2020 include extend the access to arts education to all NJ students, increase the number of schools providing more than two art forms, increase arts participation in all schools and school engagement with community cultural groups.

ArtsEdNow Video from rosanna sanchez on Vimeo.

ArtsEdNow Voices from NJAEP on Vimeo.

Finding your Voice through the Arts

"I think music is gonna help me achieve my dream"
Based in Paterson, New Jersey, the Paterson Music Project (PMP) is an El Sistema-inspired program of the Wharton Institute for the Performing Arts that uses music as a vehicle for social change by empowering and inspiring children through the community experience of ensemble learning and playing. PMP provides intensive, low-tuition musical training to students throughout Paterson after school. Students study a primary instrument (violin, cello, viola, bass, clarinet, flute, or trumpet) and participate in ensemble practice and instrumental sectionals. Students also study music theory, music history, aural training, and singing. Students perform frequently for the school and community.
-- Read "Keeping the Promise, Arts Education for Every Child"

Studio Schools

"We feel we're on the beginning of a journey of experiment and improvement to turn the Studio School idea into something which is present, not as a universal answer for every child, but at least as an answer for some children in every part of the world."
Studio Schools are a new type of government-funded state school for 14-19 year olds of all abilities. It is a relatively new educational concept in the UK, which seeks to address the growing gap between the skills and knowledge that young people require to succeed, and those that the current education system provides. Studio Schools pioneer a bold new approach to learning which includes teaching through enterprise projects and real work. This approach ensures students' learning in is rooted in the real world and helps them to develop the skills they need to flourish in life.
-- Go to GOV.UK website
-- Watch "Nurture Your Talents! UK's Studio Schools" on the Learning World / Wise Channel

My Dream, My Right

Voices of the Children is a nonprofit organization based in the United States. They believe every child should have a platform for self-expression. All children should have access to resources that develop creativity and promote collaboration. They pair teens around the world in collaborative arts projects to shine a spotlight on humanitarian crisis, promote social advocacy and inspire positive change. Their mission is to empower future generations to realize that a voice, when inspired from within and echoed by others, is a powerful agent to create change in the local and global community. CONNECTIONS THROUGH THE ARTS CAN TEAR DOWN WALLS, ENCOURAGE TOLERANCE AND FOSTER CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING.
-- Go to Luc and the Lovingtons
-- Explore the Goodness Tour

"The world is hungry for action, not words"

About 1,000 people are known to have been killed by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti, with aid officials saying up to 90% of some areas have been destroyed. The World Health Organization is now sending a million cholera vaccine doses to Haiti, amid concerns over the rising number of cases in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ) is a non-profit organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world. Their immediate goal is to serve the poorest communities in Haiti with programs in education, healthcare, and dignity through the arts. They are committed to long-term, sustainable development in direct partnership with the Haitian people. Their model is simple: They believe in empowering local communities, fostering economic growth, and the power of education to change a nation. Luckily their students, staff and schools are all safe, but much work needs to be done in the communities worst affected by the hurricane.
>> Read how to support Haiti

The Work from APJ Now on Vimeo.

Together We Will Go Far - Vhernier from APJ Now on Vimeo.

How to change the world

Please listen to Charles...it is as SIMPLE as that.

Nakuru Children's Project is dedicated to relieving poverty and improving education for children in Nakuru, Kenya. They believe that through education, children can build better futures for themselves and their families.
-- Read "4 children explain how education has changed their lives"



Join us #belowtheline to change the futures of 200 children from Nakuru Children's Project on Vimeo.

Aging creatively

Music and art can also enrich the lives of people with Alzheimer's disease. Both allow for self-expression and engagement, even after dementia has progressed (read more on alz.org website).
The Creative Ageing project was first established in 2010 by the Courtyard, an arts centre with a dedicated team engaging older people with the arts, be that in their vibrant city centre venue, out in the community as part of their collaborative projects with groups like Alzheimer’s Society, or delivering specialist arts sessions in care homes across the county.
-- Learn about the Remember me project

The arts keep us alive

"As you get older you don’t often think about chances or potential. The potential in someone who is getting older is there and that is a lovely thing.”
New research shows how arts and culture can help to improve health, wellbeing and quality of life for older people aged 65 and upwards (read more on Arts Council England website).
Equal Arts a leading creative ageing charity supporting older people in Newcastle, Gateshead and across the UK. They strongly believe in the health benefits of the arts and support care staff and artists to deliver musical, visual and movement-based creative activities with active older people and those living with dementia.



Creativity Matters - How volunteering and creativity can support us as we age from Equal Arts on Vimeo.

Music inspires...

"Music unlocks creativity. It develops children's social skills and their self-confidence." - Carolyn Baxendale, Head of Bolton Music Service and the GM Music Hub
Music Education Hubs were established in 2012, in response to the British government’s 2011 National Plan for Music Education (NPME), to provide access, opportunities and excellence in music education for all children and young people.
Arts Council England think that all children and young people across England should have access to the highest quality music education. Their network of 123 Music Education Hubs are working hard to achieve this aim - in partnership with schools and further education institutions, they run all kinds of projects to inspire young people through music.

The Learning Generation

The world faces three fundamental and urgent challenges: prosperity, security and health. Every day we are inundated with stories of poverty-stricken countries, bloodied children becoming the victims of conflict and the many lives lost to preventable diseases. The magnitude of such suffering leaves many feeling helpless. The #LearningGeneration report proposes one central answer to these challenges: educate future generations in order to alleviate the global problems we face.
The Education Commission is challenging the international community to rally behind a bold vision to create the Learning Generation: getting all young people into school and learning within a generation.
-- Watch The #LearningGeneration: A Global Wake-Up Call

Peace is not enough

We have just celebrated Peace Day and it is such a shame that already more than 90 people are reported dead from recent bombardments in Aleppo Syria, including a lot of children.
We also should not forget that peace can be achieved only as part of a much bigger project. The Sustainable Development Goals, unanimously adopted by the 193 Member States of the United Nations in 2015, are integral to achieving peace in our time, as development and peace are interdependent and mutually reinforcing. Every single goal is a building block in the global architecture of peace. It is critical that we mobilise means of implementation, including financial resources, technology development and transfer, and capacity-building, as well as the role of partnerships. Everyone has a stake and everyone has a contribution to make.

LET US ALL PLAY OUR PART

TODAY IS PEACE DAY. WHO WILL YOU MAKE PEACE WITH?
"On International Peace Day, let’s remind ourselves that we can each play our part, every day." (Glen Furbler)
- Read opinion on Bernews or the Royal Gazette
- Listen to "I wish", official song for Peace One Day 2016
- Watch live broadcast here

Peace is the Way

Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots is the Jane Goodall Institute’s (JGI) global youth-led community action program, comprised of thousands of young people inspired by Jane to make the world a better place. Each September, Roots & Shoots groups from around the world celebrate Peace Day and honour the UN International Day of Peace. Jane has been a UN Messenger of Peace since 2002 and she inspires us all to live in harmony with nature and each other. Each project is a step towards a future in which humans can live in peace in an environmentally sustainable way—a step towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
DON'T FORGET PEACE DAY IS TOMORROW SEPTEMBER 21 !!!

Building Blocks for Peace

Every year on the International Day of Peace (September 21), the United Nations calls on warring parties to lay down their arms and observe a 24-hour global ceasefire. The symbolism of a day without fighting is a crucial reminder that conflict can and must come to an end. But peace is about much more than putting weapons aside. It is about building a global society in which people live free from poverty and share the benefits of prosperity. It is about growing together and supporting each other as a universal family. The theme of this year’s Peace Day highlights the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – the SDGs – as Building Blocks for Peace. Conflict often starts when people compete over limited resources. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is our blueprint to prevent such conflicts from arising by making sure no one is left behind. When the 193 Member States of the United Nations unanimously adopted the 17 Sustainable Development Goals last September, their message was clear. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IS ESSENTIAL FOR LASTING PEACE, AND BOTH DEPEND ON RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. We need to protect our planet. And only by working together can we make our common home safe for future generations. All of us can be sustainable development advocates and spread the word about the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs. And we can all hold our governments to account for keeping their pledge to the future. Let us all work together to help all human beings achieve dignity and equality; to build a greener planet; and to make sure no one is left behind. On this International Day of Peace, express your commitment to peace by becoming a champion of the Sustainable Development Goals.
— UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

Let's Make the World a Better Place

Kidnected World is connecting a new generation of young global citizens who understand, explore and reimagine the world together in powerful, unprecedented ways. By connecting kids all over the world in ways that have never been possible before, they set a new point from which kids can understand other people, other cultures and themselves—and together create new possibilities for good. The Wonderment is their first initiative — and it’s the first app of its kind. In the Wonderment, kids participate in collaborative creative experiences with other kids across the globe and turn their shared imagination and interaction into a currency backed by brands and donors to support social good projects benefitting kids around the world. It’s a place where kids can find their creative voice, connect it to others and use it to make a difference.
- Explore videos on Youtube or VIMEO

Kidnected World Connects Kids to Explore and Reimagine the World Together from The Wonderment on Vimeo.

Kids Voices - Global Leadership Summit 2016 from The Wonderment on Vimeo.


The Wonderment: Guatemala Library Bus from The Wonderment on Vimeo.

Music brings us closer together

"You don’t play the music, the music kind of plays you – because the music goes into your head, and once you have the music in your head, you just want to dance and be free" ~ Sistema England Young Leader, In Harmony Lambeth.
Sistema England is a charity, founded by Julian Lloyd Webber, that seeks to transform the lives of children, young people and their communities through the power of music making, as part of the international El Sistema movement. The Sistema England Young Leaders are the most skilled and committed young musicians from In Harmony Lambeth, Liverpool, Newcastle and Telford, Sistema in Norwich and The Nucleo Project, coming together to create a vibrant new orchestra while developing leadership and life skills. This is so inspiring.

Dream Peace

"If you could make any wish, what would it be?"
Jubilee Project is an innovative platform that harnesses the power of Internet videos and the spirit of philanthropy, making videos for a good cause, telling stories that inspire change. JP makes short films, PSAs and documentaries in collaboration with non-profits to increase awareness and inspire action. In partnership with Team Kids, they created "Dream Peace" to learn more about the hope and wishes of todays children.
DON'T FORGET PEACE DAY COMING ON SEPTEMBER 21st!!
- Visit Peace One Day

Protect Music Education

"Music should be a birth right for all children"
- J.L. Webber, British cellist, conductor and founder of Sistema England
The Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) is the UK's professional body for musicians. The ISM was set up in 1882 to promote the importance of music and protect the rights of those working within music. It is an independent, not-for-profit membership organisation with 7,500 individual musicians in its membership. ISM actively lobbies Government on behalf of its members to create a united voice for music. They have conducted several campaigns, including a recent one to protect music education.

Literacy Day - September 8

"The world has changed since 1966 – but our determination to provide every woman and man with the skills, capacities and opportunities to become everything they wish, in dignity and respect, remains as firm as ever. Literacy is a foundation to build a more sustainable future for all." ~ UNESCO Director-General
This year marks the 50th anniversary of International Literacy Day and UNESCO is celebrating it under the banner “Reading the Past, Writing the Future”. International Literacy Day 2016 celebrates and honours the past five decades of national and international engagement, efforts and progress made to increase literacy rates around the world. It also addresses current challenges and looks to innovative solutions to further boost literacy in the future. Fifty years ago, UNESCO officially proclaimed 8 September International Literacy Day to actively mobilize the international community and to promote literacy as an instrument to empower individuals, communities and societies. Now International Literacy Day is celebrated worldwide, bringing together governments, multi- and bilateral organizations, NGOs, private sectors, communities, teachers, learners and experts in the field.

The Secret Chord..

We have featured the PS22 Chorus many times on this blog. It is just the essence of why music (and the arts) should always be taught in school and given at least the same status of other subjects.
The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island (New York). It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders, and is directed by Gregg Breinberg.  PS22 is the largest elementary school in Staten Island which draws students from a wide cross section of ethnic groups and socio-economic levels.

Stand For The Arts

Stand For The Arts, a project of Ovation, is a national initiative to raise awareness, protect access, and encourage action on behalf of the arts. Ovation is an independent television and digital media company dedicated to celebrating and supporting all forms of arts and culture.

Creative thinking is in the Arts

Musician David Byrne and Neil deGrasse Tyson discuss the vital importance of arts education.

Where is the Love?

Warming up for Peace Day...coming soon on September 21!!!
PEACE TO ALL.

Lennon's legacy still inspiring music in children

The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is a non-profit state-of-the-art mobile audio and HD video recording and production facility. In its 19th year, with the very newest technology and gear, the Bus continues to be dedicated to providing young people with tours of the studios and participation in free digital media production workshops. Assisted by three on-board engineers, students can learn how to write, record, and produce original songs, music videos, documentaries, and live multi-camera video productions streamed to the web in real-time – all in one day! The Bus travels the country visiting schools, music and technology conferences and events, and partners with communities and media outlets to call attention to the importance of arts and digital media education.

Going natural in education

Finding conformity to be exhausting, Lora Smothers went natural. With her passion for education, she believes that going natural is the secret to teaching children to explore and develop their unique interests and curiosities.
Very interesting TED talk...food for thought.

Are schools built for learning?

"It’s an absolutely amazing time to be a learner.”
Will Richardson has spent the last dozen years developing an international reputation as a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks and education and has authored four books, including "Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere", now the #1 best-selling TED book ever. A former public school educator of 22 years, Will is also co-founder of Modern Learner Media and co-publisher of ModernLearners.com, which is a site dedicated to helping educational leaders and policy makers develop new contexts for new conversations around education. Will believes that there is a real disconnect between our beliefs about schooling and the practices that we embrace in schools. For meaningful change to occur in education, we must start with what be believe about how kids learn and what’s important about education.
-- Read My Pedagogic Creed by John Dewey

What the Arts Teach Us

P.S. ARTS is dedicated to improving the lives of children by providing high-quality arts education to California’s underserved public schools and communities. It is the only organization in Southern and Central California that provides yearlong arts education in dance, music, theater, and visual arts to every child in a school during the regular school day. Without their programs, children in these underfunded school districts would not have access to the arts. Dr. Kristen Paglia is the CEO of P.S. ARTS, and has worked to keep educational equity and excellence for all children at the center of their mission.

Connect the World through the Arts

"The clearest reason for music and culture is that it gives us meaning" - Yo-Yo Ma
"The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble" tells the extraordinary story of the renowned international musical collective created by legendary cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The new feature-length documentary follows this group of diverse instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers as they explore the power of music to preserve tradition, shape cultural evolution and inspire hope. Inspired by the exchange of ideas and traditions along the historical Silk Road, cellist Yo-Yo Ma established Silkroad in 1998 to explore how the arts can advance global understanding. Silkroad works to connect the world through the arts, focusing its efforts in three areas: musical performance, learning programs, and cultural entrepreneurship.

I Deserve To Be Heard

“The future is uncertain, but like a phoenix, the community can empower Chewstick to rise from the ashes.” -- Gavin Djata Smith

Chewstick is a community arts organization, born out of Bermuda, dedicated to breaking down social barriers by empowering storytelling, creative expression and social justice to enrich youth, arts, culture and community, so to change the world for the better. The Chewstick Culture Hub at 81 Front Street was impacted by the fire that began on Thursday, July 21, 2016 in a nearby alleyway. All equipment, furnishings, instruments, art, and cultural items have been destroyed by fire, heat, smoke, water or structural collapse. The Hub was the primary revenue line to help underwrite general operations of The Chewstick Foundation, subsidize its programming and cover the significant costs incurred with creating a custom-built, multi-purpose performing arts community centre. With the primary revenue stream lost to the fire, and renovation costs that remain outstanding, the Foundation's future will completely depend on the support of the community. We urge all members of the community to donate to this charity that has worked tirelessly over the last 13 years to empower one, and to enrich all.
Please consider donating using one of the below links. You can also stop by Dangelini’s Cafe or Rock Island Coffee to make a donation.
Donate Online: chewstick.org/online-donation/ 
Donate by Bank Transfer: chewstick.org/donate-by-bank-transfer/
For more information visit chewstick.org and social media pages.
-- Read Chewstick to ‘rise from ashes’ on the Royal Gazette
-- Watch What's New With The Chewstick Foundation on PinkSandBermuda

Arts for All

Turnaround Arts presents “Everyday People,” produced by Playing For Change. Thousands of Turnaround Arts students from across the country perform alongside Turnaround Artist mentors including Jack Johnson, Chad Smith, Jason Mraz, Elizabeth Banks, Tim Robbins, Yo-Yo Ma, Keb’ Mo’, Josh Groban, Bernie Williams, Misty Copeland, Paula Abdul, Trombone Shorty, Alfre Woodard, Citizen Cope, Doc Shaw, Frank Gehry, John Lloyd Young, Carla Dirlikov and more. In the video, produced by Playing For Change, students and their artist mentors sing, play and dance to Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People,” making the case that all people deserve to experience the power of arts and music in school. Turnaround Arts, the signature program of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities, empowers high-need, low performing schools with innovative arts, dance, theater and music programs, arts integration across subject areas, arts resources, musical instruments, and high-profile artist mentors, as a proven strategy to help address broader school challenges and close the achievement gap. AWESOME.

Let Girls Learn

In March 2015, the President and First Lady Michelle Obama launched Let Girls Learn, a United States government initiative to ensure adolescent girls get the education they deserve. Around the world, girls face complex physical, cultural, and financial barriers in accessing education. Yet educating girls can transform lives, families, communities, and entire countries. When girls are educated, they lead healthier and more productive lives. They gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to break the cycle of poverty and help strengthen their societies. Unfortunately today, more than 62 million girls around the world are not in school—half of whom are adolescents.
-- Watch First Lady Michelle Obama on Girls' Education

Lead fearlessly, love hard

On Linda Cliatt-Wayman’s first day as principal at a failing high school in North Philadelphia, she was determined to lay down the law. But she soon realized the job was more complex than she thought. With palpable passion, she shares the three principles that helped her turn around three schools labeled “low-performing and persistently dangerous.” Her fearless determination to lead — and to love the students, no matter what — is a model for leaders in all fields.
Linda has been a special education teacher working in low-performing, impoverished Philadelphia schools for years. She has encountered too many neglected children who endured abuse or were left to raise themselves and she has spent her decades-long career demanding that students fight for their future. She strongly believes in the potential of all children.
Her leadership as a high school principal at Strawberry Mansion High School has been featured by TED, ABC World News Tonight, and Nightline.
-- Watch ABC News Report on Strawberry Mansion HS Philadelphia

Learning Through the Arts

The mission of The Royal Conservatory of Music (Canada) – to develop human potential through leadership in music and the arts – is based on the conviction that the arts are humanity's greatest means to achieve personal growth and social cohesion. Advancing the transformative effect that music and the arts have on society lies at the heart of everything The Royal Conservatory does.
Learning Through the Arts® (LTTA) is a proven transformative educational program developed by the RCM that uses arts-based activities to teach the core curriculum by providing teachers with creative tools to engage all students in math, science, language arts, social studies, and more. LTTA brings specially trained artists, certified to help teach curricular requirements, into the classroom to work creatively in partnership with classroom teachers. Together they create lessons that make the core curriculum exciting and relevant to all students and learner types.

The Transformative Power of Music

Founded in 1956 during the height of the Civil Rights Movement, Chicago Children's Choir is a nonprofit organization committed to peacefully uniting a diverse world through education, musical expression and excellence. Serving more than 4,300 children annually, it empowers singers to bridge cultural divides and become ambassadors of peace in their communities. The Choir has programs in 79 Chicago schools, 10 after-school neighborhood programs, and under President and Artistic Director Josephine Lee, the Choir has undertaken many highly successful national and international tours.
-- Watch them perform "Freedom Train"

Art Ignites Change

"Life tried to bury us but we are the root and the seed"
The City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program is the nation’s largest public art program, dedicated to the belief that ART IGNITES CHANGE. For 30 years, Mural Arts has united artists and communities through a collaborative process, rooted in the traditions of mural-making, to create art that transforms public spaces and individual lives.They believe that their process empowers artists to be change agents, stimulates dialogue about critical issues, and builds bridges of connection and understanding. Their work is created in service of a larger movement that values equity, fairness and progress across all of society.
-- Watch TED talk about Philadelphia Mural Arts Program

Fighting Poverty With Classical Music

Music has always provided a back bone to the community of Soweto, South Africa. It was an escape during apartheid, and an outlet for joy when freedom came. As Mathapelo Matabane says, "We sing when we happy, we sing when we sad". But now music is providing liberation in a different way. Started in 1991, Buskaid has been providing underprivileged children with the chance to learn classical music for over 20 years. It has seen it's orchestra travel around the world from New York to Syria and fired many musicians into Classical Music stardom. But for it's founder, Rosemary Nalden, it is more than just a charity project: "There is something going on, and it's sort of much bigger than all of us. It's been hard work, but it just feels literally at a particular point in my life and in their lives and in the life of this country."
-- Watch Rosemary Nalden at TEDxObserver - The stories and songs of the Townships

Education Through Music

Education Through Music partners with New York inner-city schools to provide music education as a core subject for all students in the school. Studies have proven that kids who are involved with the arts have higher grades and are less likely to drop out of school. Similarly kids who play musical instruments are likely to have higher self-esteem, confidence, discipline, concentration, and emotional intelligence than kids who don’t play instruments. Since 1991, Education Through Music has grown into an organization that is reaching thousands of children, giving them the high-quality music education they deserve.

The Future of Learning

Can ICT redefine the way we learn in the Networked Society? Technology has enabled us to interact, innovate and share in whole new ways. This dynamic shift in mindset is creating profound change throughout our society. This short documentary looks at one part of that change, the potential to redefine how we learn and educate. Watch as world renowned experts and educators talk about its potential to shift away from traditional methods of learning based on memorization and repetition to more holistic approaches that focus on individual students' needs and self expression.

The New Vision for Education

The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. It was established in 1971 as a not-for-profit foundation and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. It is independent, impartial and not tied to any special interests. The Forum strives in all its efforts to demonstrate entrepreneurship in the global public interest while upholding the highest standards of governance. Moral and intellectual integrity is at the heart of everything it does. They believe that progress happens by bringing together people from all walks of life who have the drive and the influence to make positive change.

Who Owns the Learning?

Alan November is an international leader in education technology. His areas of expertise include planning across curriculum, staff development, new school design, community building and leadership development. He has delivered keynotes and workshops across Canada and throughout the UK, Europe, Asia, Australia, and Central America. Alan was also co-founder of the Stanford Institute for Educational Leadership Through Technology. Each summer Alan leads the Building Learning Communities summer conference with world-class presenters and international participants.
-- Watch Alan at TEDxNYED
-- Watch "21st Century Learning -- a Deep Dive into the Future of Education"

Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age

Mitchel Resnick, LEGO Papert Professor of Learning Research and head of the Lifelong Kindergarten group at the MIT Media Lab, explores how new technologies can engage people in creative learning experiences. Resnick's research group developed the "programmable brick" technology that inspired the LEGO Mindstorms robotics kit. He co-founded the Computer Clubhouse project, a worldwide network of after-school centers where youth from low-income communities learn to express themselves creatively with new technologies. Resnick's group also developed Scratch, an online community where children program and share interactive stories, games, and animations.





For the past 30 years, the LEGO Group and the MIT Media Lab have collaborated on projects based on a shared passion for learning through play. Today, the LEGO Foundation and MIT's Lifelong Kindergarten group continue this tradition, exploring new ways to engage children in creative, playful learning experiences.

Music Heals

"Music to me is like a sacred weapon for the planet" - Nils
E Street Band members Nils Lofgren and Charlie Giordano play for patients at the Children's Medical Center of Dallas in Dallas Wednesday April 6, 2016. Lofgren and Giordano played as part of the nonprofit organization called "Musicians On Call," whose mission is to bring live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. Dallas is the 18th city where "Musicians On Call" has played for patients.
-- Visit Nils Lofgren page on Lennon Bermuda

The Earth Guardians

The Earth Guardians are "are a tribe of young activists, artists and musicians from across the globe stepping up as leaders and co-creating the future they know is possible". They started RYSE (rising youth for a sustainable earth), a diverse movement of young climate leaders who are taking action and empowering youth around the world to do the same.
Xiuhtezcatl Tonatiuh is a 15-year-old indigenous change agent, environmental activist, public speaker, eco hip-hop artist, and the Youth Director of Earth Guardians. He performs internationally at music festivals, organizes demonstrations, and has spoken at over 100 high-impact rallies, events and conferences around the globe. He and his brother, Itzcuauhtli, regularly give school presentations to ignite and inspire youth to step up as leaders and take action on behalf of the planet In 2013, Xiuhtezcatl received the 2013 United States Community Service Award from President Obama, and was the youngest of 24 national change-makers chosen to serve on the President's youth council.
-- Watch Xiuhtezcatl on Climate Change at the United Nations
-- Watch Xiuhtezcatl Ted talk
-- Watch Xiuhtezcatl Youth Leadership Bioneers

Engaging students

The educational reforms of the last 100 years are predicated on information scarcity. Today, not unlike the early 1900s, children go to schools where they download facts that administrators then ask them to regurgitate, sometimes using computers. The world children live in now is information dense. We no longer need fact-distribution centers. We need spaces where children learn to identify, access, and utilize information from various knowledge systems in order to create change. What does it mean to be educated? Do we still need factory schools? Are we memorizing the past or imagining new futures? Dr. Kovacs is a high school English teacher turned university professor, and his research focuses on higher order thinking and intelligent behaviour. Excellent talk.
-- Read "An Open Letter to My Son’s Kindergarten Teacher"

What does it mean to be a citizen of the world?

Hugh Evans started a movement that mobilizes "global citizens," people who self-identify first and foremost not as members of a state, nation or tribe but as members of the human race. In this uplifting and personal TED talk, learn more about how this new understanding of our place in the world is galvanizing people to take action in the fights against extreme poverty, climate change, gender inequality and more. "These are ultimately global issues," Evans says, "and they can only be solved by global citizens demanding global solutions from their leaders." - Very inspiring
WATCH FULL TED TALK HERE

Creativity takes courage

For over 15 years, Julie Tamashiro has been a multiple-subject elementary school teacher. From Title 1 to the US highest performing schools, Julie has taught every grade level in settings that represent the diversity of the american public education system. Throughout her career, art has been the framework used to facilitate various learning experiences in her classroom. Her art curriculum has motivated students to tap into their creativity, challenge self-limiting beliefs, problem solve, and express themselves in extraordinary ways. Through the process of creating their own artwork, her students have learned to find their individual voices and have focus, determination, and courage. During the 2012-2013 school year, Julie and her students were the subject of the inspiring documentary, Room 19. The documentary followed the students on a journey of learning through art, and captured their unique personal transformations as they moved beyond their own expectations.



ROOM 19 - a short documentary from HOLLYWOOD SHORTS on Vimeo.

Educating the Heart

During the Dalai Lama Center's Educating the Heart Series, Sir Ken Robinson discusses the importance of an education that educates not just the mind, but also the heart. Sir Ken warned the audience that we are approaching a new climate crisis. As the world’s natural resources continue to be depleted by humankind, there is also the danger of losing our human resources. While the world’s population reaches closer and closer to seven billion people, fewer and fewer are realizing their true potential. And the evidence is everywhere. Dropout rates and disaffection rates in school are on the rise. Education is not engaging. Why is this? Sir Ken argued that we have entered the fast food era of education. “I think that as education becomes more and more standardized, it’s become more like the fast food model,” he said. A child essentially receives the same education as every other child even though it may not be what that child needs, let alone prefers. “Education should be built on diversity not conformity,” Sir Ken said. And when children don’t conform, they shouldn’t necessarily be deemed to be the problem, rather than model of education. Along with a focus on conformity, Sir Ken argued that education also has an unhealthy focus on the external. We are taught so much about the outside world, yet are encouraged so rarely to engage in our own inner world. “What children desperately need is time to look inward and to explore their inner space,” Sir Ken said. This leads to children connecting with themselves and in turn, through empathy, being able to connect with others. And while learning about the external world is certainly important, Sir Ken argues there needs to be a “balance between knowing and feeling.” “All of these things get lost in an industrialized, homogenized, atomized system of education," he said. "And the price couldn’t be higher.”
-- Go to the Dalai Lama Center for Peace and Education

Toxic Culture of Education

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” - Albert Einstein
"We must change the public narrative on education. We must fight our Toxic Culture! We must end high stakes testing for the sake of “accountability”. Let’s have education policy that builds up our students with sensible human standards instead of fitting them into robotic boxes for “college readiness”. Let’s focus on getting students out there in the evolving global economy. Let’s focus on teaching them the important things: how to read, how to think, how to research, how to reason, how to master basic skills, and how to be good citizens. Let’s talk about the Non-Cognitive factors that are the true measures of student achievement: persistence, integrity, character. Let’s teach them how to learn and how to innovate, NOT how to take tests. We must change the focus of our Toxic Culture away from curriculum, teachers, and schools, and WE MUST focus on our students! Let’s stop measuring fish by how well they climb trees."
Joshua Katz is an inspiring math teacher who has worked with students who fall in the bottom 25 percent in math. Those students are at risk of failing or dropping out, he says. They believe if they don’t go to college, they have no worth, which means their only alternatives are to be underemployed, find illegal work, or to abuse the social welfare system, he says. “It doesn’t matter if a student is a gifted artist, a loving caretaker, talented musician, or poetic writer, those students are the fish being judged on how they climb trees because we say the end-all, be-all is college,” Katz says. “Those students are marginalized by what I call a toxic culture of education.”
We have posted this talk early on, but it is worth watching this again. So powerful.

The Flat World and Education

Linda Darling-Hammond is Professor of Education at Stanford University where she has launched the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education and the School Redesign Network. She is a former president of the American Educational Research Association and member of the National Academy of Education. Her research, teaching, and policy work focus on issues of school restructuring, teacher quality and educational equity. From 1994-2001, she served as executive director of a panel whose 1996 report, What Matters Most: Teaching for America's Future, led to sweeping policy changes affecting teaching and teacher education. In 2006, this report was named one of the most influential affecting U.S. education and Darling-Hammond was named one of the nation's ten most influential people affecting educational policy over the last decade. She recently served as the leader of President Barack Obama's education policy transition team.
In her book "The flat world and education", Darling-Hammond examines the roots of the U.S. modern education system and shows how the skills required for our 21st-century global economy cannot be learned in traditional education systems, which have been in place since the early 1900s. She identifies an "opportunity gap" that has evolved as new kinds of learning have become necessary - a gap where low-income students, students of colour, and English language learners often do not have the same access as others to qualified teachers, high-quality curriculum, and well-resourced classrooms. After setting the stage on current conditions in the U.S., Darling-Hammond offers a coherent approach for effective reform that focusses on creating successful systems, inducting and supporting quality teachers, designing effecting schools, establishing strong professional practice, and providing equitable and sufficient resources. The Flat World and Education lays out what the U.S. needs to do in order to build a system of high-achieving and equitable schools that ensures every child the right to learn.
-- Watch Dan Rather's interview with Linda Darling-Hammond on Finland
-- Watch Linda on Becoming Internationally Competitive

World Peace and other 4th-Grade Achievements

World Peace...and other 4th-grade achievements interweaves the story of John Hunter, a teacher in Charlottesville, Virginia, with his students' participation in an exercise called the World Peace Game.
The World Peace Game is a hands-on political simulation that gives players the opportunity to explore the connectedness of the global community through the lens of the economic, social, and environmental crises and the imminent threat of war. The goal is to extricate each country from dangerous circumstances and achieve global prosperity with the least amount of military intervention. The game triggers an eight-week transformation of the children from students of a neighborhood public school to citizens of the world. The film reveals how a wise, loving teacher can unleash students' full potential. The film traces how Hunter's unique teaching career emerges from his own diverse background. An African-American educated in the segregated schools of rural Virginia, where his mother was his 4th grade teacher, he was selected by his community to be one of seven students to integrate a previously all-white middle school. After graduation, he traveled extensively to China, Japan, and India, and his exposure to the Ghandian principles of non-violence led him to ask what he could do as a teacher to work toward a more peaceful world. Hunter teaches the concept of peace not as a utopian dream but as an attainable goal to strive for, and he provides his students with the tools for this effort. The children learn to collaborate and communicate with each other as they work to resolve the Game's conflicts. They learn how to compromise while accommodating different perspectives and interests. Most importantly, the students discover that they share a deep and abiding interest in taking care of each other.
We have posted this before, but today it felt right reposting it.
-- Watch John Hunter's TED talk "Teaching with the World Peace Game"
-- Watch "Steps toward World Peace"

Most Likely to Succeed

“Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing Our Kids for the Innovation Era” is a book by Tony Wagner, Expert In Residence at Harvard University’s new Innovation Lab and Senior Research Fellow at the Learning Policy Institute, and Ted Dintersmith, a leading venture capitalist passionate about innovation. In the book they argue that the only way to ensure any kind of future security for our children is to totally upend the education system and rethink what school is for. The book was made into a documentary directed by Greg Whiteley and produced by Dintersmith. Starting from the premise that nowadays more than half of America's new college graduates are unable to find employment, Whiteley locates the source of the problem not in the economy but in US educational system, which was developed at the dawn of the Industrial Age to train obedient workers and has changed little since, despite radical changes in the marketplace wrought by technology and the outsourcing of labor. With a world of information available a click away, and the modern workplace valuing skills like collaboration and critical thinking, the current rote-based system of learning has become outdated and ineffective. Charter schools like San Diego's High Tech High, which replaces standardized tests and compartmentalized subjects with project-based learning and a student-focused curriculum, may offer an alternative. The film follows students, teachers, and parents to see if this different model can reawaken the love of learning and offer the potential for a paradigmatic shift in education (source here)
-- Watch Tony Wagner introduction to "Most Likely to Succeed"
-- Watch Tony Wagner presentation "When knowledge is a free commodity, we need to innovate"
-- Read book review on The New York Times
-- Read "Most Likely To Succeed: A Film About What School Could Be" on Education Week

Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up

“The fact is that given the challenges we face, education doesn't need to be reformed -- it needs to be transformed. The key to this transformation is not to standardize education, but to personalize it, to build achievement on discovering the individual talents of each child, to put students in an environment where they want to learn and where they can naturally discover their true passions.”
Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of creativity, innovation and human resources in education and in business. He is also one of the world’s leading speakers on these topics, with a profound impact on audiences everywhere. His 2006 talk is the most viewed in TED’s history. In his new book Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education, he focuses on one of the most critical issues of our time: how to transform US troubled educational system. At a time when standardized testing businesses are raking in huge profits, when many schools are struggling, and students and educators everywhere are suffering under the strain, Robinson points the way forward. He argues for an end to our outmoded industrial educational system and proposes a highly personalized, organic approach that draws on today’s unprecedented technological and professional resources to engage all students, develop their love of learning, and enable them to face the real challenges of the twenty-first century.

LETTER TO THE NEXT GENERATION OF ARTISTS

"We are not alone. We do not exist alone and we cannot create alone. What this world needs is a humanistic awakening of the desire to raise one’s life condition to a place where our actions are rooted in altruism and compassion. You cannot hide behind a profession or instrument; you have to be human. Focus your energy on becoming the best human you can be. Focus on developing empathy and compassion. Through the process you’ll tap into a wealth of inspiration rooted in the complexity and curiosity of what it means to simply exist on this planet. Music is but a drop in the ocean of life"
Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock have been friends for over forty years. In the pursuit of their art, they’ve shattered boundaries previously believed unbreakable, they’ve revolutionized the concept of innovation, and have chosen to make the endeavor of living compassionately and courageously the center of their lives.
PLEASE TAKE TIME TO READ THEIR OPEN LETTER

The Purpose of Education

"The first kind of education is related to the Enlightenment - highest goal in life to inquire and create; search the riches of the past; try to internalize; carry the quest --- help people how to learn on their own; it's you the learner; it's up to you what you will master. The second kind of education is related to Indoctrination - from childhood young people have to be placed into a framework where they will follow orders that are quite explicit".
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, logician, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as "the father of modern linguistics," Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy, and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He has spent more than half a century at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is Institute Professor Emeritus, and is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism. In the videos below Noam Chomsky discusses the purpose of education, impact of technology, whether education should be perceived as a cost or an investment and the value of standardised assessment.

How would you design a school

Graham Brown-Martin is the founder of Learning Without Frontiers, a global platform for thinkers and practitioners from the education, digital media, technology and entertainment sectors to share provocative and challenging ideas about the future of learning and explore how affordable disruptive technologies are radically improving learning and equality of access. He left LWF in 2013 to pursue new programmes and ideas to transform the way we learn, teach and live. His book, Learning {Re}imagined was recently published by Bloomsbury/WISE.
-- Watch Educating creative innovators on the WISE Channel

What if Schools Taught Us How to Learn

Why is it that schools teach us WHAT we need to learn, without ever teaching us HOW? Memory and Speed Reading expert Jonathan Levi takes us through his personal journey from a failing student to a SuperLearner in this provocative and inspiring talk. Jonathan is an experienced entrepreneur and angel investor from the Silicon Valley. Since 2014, he has been one of the top-performing instructors on Udemy and has launched a rapidly growing information products company, SuperHuman Enterprises. Interesting talk.
-- Go to "Become a SuperLearner: Learn Speed Reading & Advanced Memorization"

Change through Music

"When we understand that we’re all human beings then forever and ever we will be able to live. We will be able to live!"
HEARTBEAT unites Israeli and Palestinian youth musicians to build critical understanding, develop creative nonviolent tools for social change.
Respect - Heartbeat unites people who are committed to seeing and treating each other with full respect as equals. They seek to employ the transformative power of music to build a safe, free, and equitable life for all.
Listening - Heartbeat unites in the belief that each person’s voice has an equal right to be heard.
Responsibility - Heartbeat unites the power of many individuals to amplify each other’s voices towards the establishment of a fair, free and safe future for all. As such, Heartbeat community members are dedicated to human rights, nonviolence, and civic responsibility.
-- Read "Young Israeli and Palestinian musicians band together to promote peace" on CBS News
-- Watch more videos | Go to Youtube channel

IF

"If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, 
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, 
But make allowance for their doubting too; 
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, 
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, 
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating, 
 And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise..."
British actor Michael Caine reads "If" by Rudyard Kipling and explains what peace means to him...
-- Read Kipling poem here
-- Go to Peace One Day

How great leaders inspire action

"There are leaders and there are those who lead. Leaders hold a position of power or authority, but those who lead inspire us. Whether they're individuals or organizations, we follow those who lead, not because we have to, but because we want to. We follow those who lead, not for them, but for ourselves. And it's those who start with "why" that have the ability to inspire those around them or find others who inspire them".
An ethnographer by training, Simon Sinek is an adjunct of the RAND Corporation. He writes and comments regularly for major publications and teaches graduate-level strategic communications at Columbia University.
A bit off topic but truly an inspiring talk. If all leaders started with WHY our world would be a much better place...

Schools are not built for learning

Will Richardson is internationally known as a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks and education. He has authored four books, including "Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere" (2012) published by TED books. A former public school educator of 22 years, Will is also co-founder of Modern Learner Media and co-publisher of ModernLearners.com which is a site dedicated to helping educational leaders and policy makers develop new contexts for new conversations around education.
 In this TED talk he argues that we know how to help kids develop into powerful learners, we just need to make that happen in schools.

Invest in Culture

"And someone heard the shepherd singing, and again I heard nothing. Such incidents brought me to the verge of despair..and I would have put an end to my life. But art it was that withheld me. It seemed impossible to leave this world without producing all that I have been called upon to produce, and so I endured this dreadful existence" (L.W.Beethoven). "And so Beethoven broke through the barrier of his deafness, went on to write his most joyful Second Symphony, and like the Youth National Orchestra of Iraq, used Hell as a spring board to get to Heaven" (Paul MacAlindin)
One day, whilst eating fish and chips in an Edinburgh pub, music conductor Paul MacAlindin came across a call for help from Zuhal Sultan in a newspaper lying on the table. This 17 year old pianist in Baghdad wanted to start a National Youth Orchestra of Iraq and needed a conductor. In the coming months of 2009, they worked tirelessly online with British Council Iraq and Musicians for Harmony between Cologne, New York and Baghdad, to produce their first summer course in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, with young musicians from across the whole country. Since then, the orchestra has survived logistical, funding, cultural and visa cliffhangers alongside enormous musical challenges to transform itself into a high profile cultural diplomat, performing in Beethovenfest in 2011, Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2012 and this August in Provence, Cultural Capital of Europe.
Paul not only rehearses and conducts the orchestra, but helps them to foster the skills to create their own ensembles and teach in Iraq. Behind the scenes, he has innovated around the countless obstacles required for building a national youth orchestra in a war-torn country. His commitment and the  generosity and faith of many supporters has allowed these musicians to continue their epic journey of reconnecting each other, Iraq and the international community, through the power of music.
-- National Youth Orchestra of Iraq on VIMEO
-- Read The ‘Bravest Orchestra in the World’
-- Read "'We Need To Be Human': Zuhal Sultan On Starting The Iraqi Youth Orchestra"

How do you want to learn?

Lemond "IMAG" Brown is an educator, producer, songwriter, and engineer. Engaging in music has been his passion for over 15 years, and a gift he has shared with people in many different places from South Africa to Australia. In 2012 he founded the Swaliga Foundation that continues to use creative outlets to steer at-risk youth toward future success. Lemond believes that by using music and the arts, he can tap into the passion of young people to teach them science, technology, engineering and math. He argues that US antiquated education system is failing the kids so we need to rethink how we teach and ask the youth how *they* want to learn.

Why Aren't We Teaching You Mindfulness

"Everyone of you have all experienced pain. Pain is inevitable. Suffering? Well, that is a choice...We can choose not to be victims to our circumstances, because we can choose our reactions" 
In this inspiring talk, AnneMarie Rossi, an instructor bringing mindfulness to shelters, shares her research into how mindfulness can set us up for success and break cycles of transgenerational trauma. AnneMarie is the founder and director of Be Mindful, a non-profit whose mission is to provide individuals, particularly those in underserved communities, with access to qualified instructor-led courses in mindfulness; encourage diversity and inclusion while mentoring teachers within these communities; and continue to contribute valuable research to the study of mindfulness. They currently teach in Denver Public Schools, St. Vrain Public Schools, Urban Peak Youth Homeless Center, and through the Red Cross.
A MUST WATCH.

When Meds Fail: A Case for Music Therapy

"Nothing lights up the brain than music. But on a spiritual level, we let music into places we don't let anybody else." - Tim
Music Therapy is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music therapy program (American Music Therapy Association). It is being used in the medical and rehab settings to address physical, emotional, psycho-social, cognitive, and spiritual needs of patients from pre-term infants to the elderly.
Can there truly be an intersection in life where one can fulfill a lifelong passion and contribute to others' happiness? Tim Ringgold proves that you can indeed. In his inspiring talk, viewers are invited to witness how Music can truly be a transformational bridge to many divides. Tim Ringgold is Director of Sonic Divinity, which provides music therapy services in Orange County, CA.

It's Kind of a Music Therapy...

The cast from "It's Kind of a Funny Story" performing Under Pressure by David Bowie and Freddy Mercury. Kind of cool.
-- Watch Queen and David Bowie performance

3 Keys for rethinking education

"If we want people to change the world and inspire others, we must first inspire them"
Rafael Parente, Brazilian educator and researcher, tells the story of launching a new open education platform, Educopédia, in Rio de Janiero. The challenges and successes of the program, and how it changed one boy's life. According to Rafael innovation, inspiration, and infrastructure are the 3 keys for rethinking education. Interesting ideas, in particular that inspiration is absolutely crucial in achieving or pursuing any goal. We believe that without inspiration there is no sense of belonging, and without sense of belonging there is no sense of community or sense of self, both required to add a fundamental layer of meaning and motivation to all we do.