A Distance Widens and Then It Is Crossed
“But the most magical moments in reading occur not when I encounter something unknown but when I happen upon myself, when I read a sentence that perfectly describes something I have known or felt all along. I am reminded then that I am really no different from anyone else. . Perhaps that is the secret motive behind every library: to stumble upon ourselves in the lives and lands and tongues of others. And the more foreign the setting, the more poignant the event seems. For a strange thing occurs then: A distance widens and then it is...
read moreNegativity in Schools on the Rise
Teaching Tolerance, founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is and organization dedicated to reducing prejudice, improving intergroup relations and supporting equitable school experiences for our nation’s children. In the first days after the 2016 presidential election, Teaching Tolerance administered an online survey to K–12 educators from across the country. Over 10,000 teachers, counselors, administrators and others who work in schools have responded. The survey data indicate that the results of the election are having a...
read moreEmpathy Drive Featured on Vermont Radio
Kirsten Cappy of Curious City (aka The Empathy Driver) was interviewed by Chris Lenois of WKVT’s Green Mountain Mornings for their radio show and podcast.
read moreRead & Engage: I’m New Here
Being “new” and being “different” are universal experiences. Then why do some find it hard to feel empathetic to the experience of immigrants and refugees? How can learning to be empathetic teach us to also be welcoming? With a companion dialogue and activity kit, educators, librarians, parents and community leaders can use the book I’m New Here to support empathy and welcoming. Watch one classroom’s reaction to the book and activities: ENGAGE Explore the Welcoming Kit for classrooms and communities...
read moreRead & Engage: Step Right Up
It is hard to know where to begin with describing this award-winning non-fiction picture book. Every part of the story of William “Doc” Key and his horse Jim Key is astonishing. That Doc raised the colt Jim to recognize letters, then to read, write, add, and subtract is more than compelling. That formerly enslaved Doc Key used his stage show to teach post-war American lessons of kindness is doubly so. Performing from Broadway stages to Spelling Bees in schools, Doc and Jim showed that with kindness and education anything was...
read moreParent Starts ‘Local Love Brigade’ in VT
From the article “‘Local Love Brigade’ aims to console targets of hate” article by Kevin O’Connor in VTDigger. Ann Braden, founder of the advocacy group Gun Sense Vermont, can erase hateful emails with a tap of her computer’s delete key. But the Brattleboro mother couldn’t so easily dismiss news of a recent anonymous letter telling the Islamic Society of Vermont it wasn’t welcome in the state. Such words can’t be papered over, she thought. Or can they? Braden, aiming to supplement Valentine’s Day...
read morePediatricians on Teaching Kindness
Excerpted from the article for “Are Your Children Learning? If You Teach Kindness Like MLK, They Pick It Up” (Salon.com) by Nia Heard-Garris, Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at University of Michigan Medical School and Danielle Erkoboni, National Clinician Scholar and General Pediatrician. “Children are listening.” Children are listening to the unkind political and public rhetoric and absorbing the messages whether you want them to or not. Dr. Heard-Garris and Dr. Erkoboni suggest four...
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