Re: results

["Linda Pall" <lpall@moscow.com>]

Dear ALL,

 

Thank you 'yes' voters! Well done, all you workers! My thanks to everyone who stood shivering on street corners yesterday with those cheerful yellow and red messages, my thanks to all of you who put endless hours of effort into organization, community building and just plain grunt work, and my thanks to all the teachers, district staff and students who made a difference in their homes, schools and neighborhoods.

 

Now: the future. Here's a possible format for civic conversation about school reform that we ought to take a look at: Study Circles. For more information, take a look at their website: www.studycircles.org

 

My son, Zach, works with the Study Circles model in New Haven in his Interracial Dialogue Program, a division of Community Mediation, Inc. He has also worked with the Association of Idaho Cities and the City of Kuna on presentations about the effectiveness of the Study Circles model. His particular project works with faith based groups, Yale University, neighborhood groups and schools, corporations and businesses in the New Haven area, and now the City of New Haven police department to deal with interracial conversation, healing and projects for the future. We might be able to prevail on him to share some of the wealth if this program is of interest to Moscow citizens and the District...

 

All the best,

Linda

 

Here's some information from the Study Circles Webpage:

What is a study circle?

A study circle is a group of 8-12 people from different backgrounds and viewpoints who meet several times to talk about an issue. In a study circle, everyone has an equal voice, and people try to understand each other's views. They do not have to agree with each other. The idea is to share concerns and look for ways to make things better. A facilitator helps the group focus on different views and makes sure the discussion goes well.

How study circle programs work

In a large-scale study circle program, people all over a neighborhood, city, county, school district, or region meet in diverse study circles over the same period of time. All the study circles work on the same issue and seek solutions for the whole community. At the end of the round of study circles, people from all the study circles come together in a large community meeting to work together on the action ideas that came out the study circles. Study circle programs lead to a wide range of action and change efforts.

No single organization or person can create an effective program like this without help – though most large-scale programs start with the vision of just a few people. To ensure diverse large-scale participation, the program organizing must be driven by a group of community leaders and organizations that represents the diversity of the whole community, not just one sector, constituency or group.

The Topsfield Foundation created the Study Circles Resource Center in 1989 to help all kinds of people engage in dialogue and problem solving on critical social issues. Since then, SCRC has worked with many kinds of communities, on many different issues, to develop a process for bringing people together for creative community change.

Hundreds of communities across the country have organized study circle programs. SCRC works directly with these communities, to refine and improve the process for organizing large-scale community dialogue that leads to action and change.

From neighborhoods to large cities, broad coalitions of community groups are bringing together hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of people from all walks of life to deal with important issues like these:

racism and race relations

education reform

crime and violence

immigration

diversity

youth concerns

growth and sprawl

police-community relations

building strong neighborhoods

neighborhoods supporting families with children

and more

In addition, many colleges and high schools are organizing study circles to engage young people in dialogue and problem solving.

As SCRC staff and associates work with regional, state, and national organizations interested in active citizenship, study circles are becoming a more widely known and well-tested process for large-scale citizen involvement. Throughout the country, study circles are increasingly recognized as a dynamic part of what many are heralding as a new movement for strengthening democracy and community building

----- Original Message -----

From: Kinkeade

To: cqe@topica.com

Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2002 11:40 PM

Subject: results

According to a call I just received from Chuck Harris the levy passed with 64%  of the votes.

Nicely done CQE!

Tim

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