Posts tagged as:

Creativity /

Who’s At Risk?

by Christina Lengyel

Before reading Venturing Together, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.  I had familiarized myself with Merge and its mission, and I was eager to learn more.  The introductory chapters, however, described the state of our society and the dire level of need for community in our communities.  I was, of course, expecting this background, [...]

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Creative Expression — a light at the end of the tunnel

by Christina Lengyel

It is my belief that we are most proud of the work we do when we express our humanity.  The process of expression is deeply cathartic, and outside appreciation for our art also serves as an affirmation of our humanness.  Merge seems to be linked intrinsically to the oppression that produced some of our greatest [...]

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Mentoring as a Shared Experience

by Christina Lengyel

It is very plain that Western culture suffers some serious wounds.  In my undergraduate studies, I became much more attuned to the specific nature of our societal dysfunction.  I studied African culture heavily in my anthropology program, and I began to see that on a psychological level the advantages of living in a collective society [...]

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What doesn’t kill us ... can make us creative

by Dawn Mehan

As the season is changing, one can notice how the shorter days and cooler temperatures affect behavior. Our clothing changes. We may go inside more often because we are sensitive to cold. Some of us prepare to leave for the winter for a sunnier and warmer place. Some may surrender to seasonal depression and find [...]

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My Experience with Strengths-based Mentoring

by Dawn Mehan

As I was saying in last week’s post, when I started teaching it quickly seemed that really enjoying teaching would at best be a far off destination and that I, too, would join the other martyrs to tiredly serve the deserving but uncooperative youth. But much has changed for me since then. When I started [...]

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The Value of a Creative Educational Environment

by William Rossi

Perhaps we need to broaden the current perspective of what constitutes an educational environment. Actually, since children and youth are constantly learning, everything that goes on around them is an educational environment—adults and peers are their teachers, for better or worse. Unfortunately today’s environment contains many negatives. Hopefully in time we’ll realize the meaning of [...]

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The Basics of Teaching through Mentoring

by William Rossi

A kingpin of a creative, dynamic teaching relationship is that students are at the center of positive attention from a caring adult who appreciates and facilitates their natural creative tendencies and encourages their individual voice. If this relationship contains the components that are necessary for real growth to occur – if it’s long term, consistent, [...]

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After-School Programs: An Important Educational Environment

by William Rossi

Research has shown that youth engage in the riskiest behaviors in the afternoon or early evening when they are most likely to be unsupervised. This is also the time when most adolescent suicides occur. This would be an ideal time to offer young people a variety of substantial artistic activities. Many at risk people are [...]

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