You can see my latest community events piece, on New York’s First Annual Kids’ Food Festival,at http://www.dnainfo.com/20120123/midtown/kids-learn-about-healthy-eating-bryant-park
More from NYC soon…
Author: Mechanical Dolphin
Matt’s Review of 2011
12 months ago, I couldn’t imagine that 2011 could top a year that included a speech at the House of Commons and two half-marathons, one of them raising funds for the literacy volunteers at Volunteer Reading Help.
As it turned out, January 2011 marked the beginning of even more travel and adventures than I’d expected.
Have yourselves a science fiction Christmas…
2011 has been an incredible year, taking me from New York schools to the mountains of Peru and the snowy streets of Helsinki. I’ve been privileged to work with Australia’s great early literacy scheme Paint the Town REaD, and meet incredible writers, performers, storytellers, literacy and education professionals from around the world.
There’ll be a full review of the year closer to the end of this month, but in the meantime here’s two great Christmas stories about hope in the face of entropy.
We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are: Community Outreach and Australia’s Mining Boom
“We think we are the lucky country, but what we really have is…too much luck, more luck than we know what to do with.”
-Paul Cleary
The first thing an overseas visitor notices on arriving in Australia today is the relative prosperity which its citizens enjoy. While the British government preaches austerity and American protestors Occupy Wall Street in response to the global financial crisis, the café culture on Sydney’s sidewalks bears testament to the boom Australians are currently experiencing. Though Manhattan itself now struggles to fill its shopfronts, even Australia’s smallest service businesses seem to thrive despite the GFC.
Much of the current boom can be ascribed to Australia’s mining sector, which plays a vital part in national life. Whole towns exist to service the resource industry and mines, as major employers and resource users, bear a substantial community responsibility.
New York Harbor School: Interview with Founding Principal Nate Dudley
Back in October, I got in touch with the folks at New York Harbor School on the eve of their First Annual Regatta, a nautical event to celebrate the school’s work bringing a unique brand of maritime education to the city’s students.
I discovered the Harbor School while auditing a course for Special Education leaders at New York’s Bank Street College back in February. I was impressed to encounter a US institution which brought together public education with a strong community commitment and a fearsome range of practical training including marine technology, commercial diving and aquaculture!
In my teens I was keener to skive off kayaking lessons and sneak out to Birmingham for shopping and pizza than get on the water. Now, at 31, I can only dream of the kind of maritime opportunities the Harbor School offers its students.
Nate Dudley, the founding principal, got in touch with me by e-mail to discuss the educational adventure currently taking place on Governor’s Island in New York.
New tumblr at matthewfinch.tumblr.com
At the prompting of various friends and colleagues, I’ve launched a tumblr at matthewfinch.tumblr.com, where you can see photos and other media from recent adventures on the road in literacy, outreach and community education.
After this: more on my Antipodean experiences, Hong Kong visit and the long-awaited Scandinavian project. Stay tuned…
We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are: Updating Myths for Today’s Culture
As I leave Australia and New Zealand for a while, graphic designer and former newspaper cartoonist Hugh Todd pointed me to John Clarke’s song, ‘We Don’t Know How Lucky We Are’, and got me thinking about the power of myth and storytelling.
New York Harbor School: First Annual Regatta after 8 Years Leading Maritime Public Education
Thursday 6th October sees a unique school in the heart of New York launch a special celebration after eight years delivering teaching and learning from the city’s harbour.
New York Harbor School’s First Annual Regatta will take place at Governors Island, attended by guests from the city’s business and media.
Funds raised will support New York City’s only public maritime high school, which delivers an innovative curriculum blending environmental awareness, practical sea skills and hands-on learning.
We’ll be looking deeper into the work of New York Harbor School in a forthcoming feature on Books and Adventures. In the meantime, you can find out more from the school’s own site, nyharborschool.org
Comics in NZ Education: Kiwi Batman and his good-humoured NZ Commissioner Gordon
After my discussion with New Zealand Educational Gazette and our recent features on NZ’s use of comics in education, it pleased me to see one Kiwi don the Caped Crusader’s cowl for a light-hearted prank during the Rugby World Cup.
TVNZ reports that a man in full Batman regalia visited a Christchurch police station demanding to see the commissioner and know why the “Bat-signal” – the White Lights of Hope commemorating the recent earthquake – had been lit. He’s not even the first Kiwi Batman, as the name has apparently already been applied to a 91-year-old community patrol volunteer in Waipawa.
The quakes’ impact on the Christchurch community is discussed from a literacy and outreach perspective in the recent Books and Adventures interview with Carolyn Robertson of the city’s library services.
Wonderfully, the Kiwi police appear to have responded to the Batman prankster with good humour. I’ve no idea if it’s deserved, but they’ve been building a reputation for tolerance and light-heartedness ever since an officer appeared on TV reminding a suspected carjacker to “always blow on the pie” when eating hot food from a late night convenience store.
You can find all the recent Books and Adventures posts on Comics in New Zealand Education here:
https://booksadventures.wordpress.com/category/nz-comics-education/
Comics in NZ Education: Auckland Libraries’ Comic Book Month 2011
As September comes to an end, Auckland sees the grand finale of Comic Book Month, a celebration of graphic literature across the 55 public libraries of New Zealand’s Super City. Books and Adventures joins them for another in our current series on comic book education in New Zealand. You can find my original piece for the New Zealand Education Gazette here.
Auckland’s Comic Book Month events have ranged from dress-as-a-character days to a city-wide prize draw for readers borrowing 6 comic book items in September. Libraries ran illustrator workshops, comic-book-themed performances, dress-up storytimes for younger readers and cosplay contests for older participants. Local businesses including comic stores Heroes For Sale and Gotham Comics became partners with the scheme and New Zealand’s major comic convention, Armageddon, also got on board with organiser Bill Geradts providing free passes as prizes.
Comic Book Month co-ordinator Pip Henderson from Auckland Libraries’ Youth Service Development explained why she and her colleagues chose to focus on comics for this month-long celebration:
“Our customers like to immerse themselves in stories in different ways other than purely print; there are many ways to tell a story!
“Comics were once thought of as an easy read with little substance. Parents, especially, were keen to move their kids away from them but many are now seeing the value. Comics can be just as challenging for young readers, and just as beneficial in terms of concept comprehension and vocabulary extension as a chapter book.
matt finch / mechanical dolphin 