Village Green/Town²

Greetings from Twitter-Land this morning. As a part of my quest to promote school music programs on social media for HCPSM , I spend time daily reading all tweets mentioning “hcpss”. There’s probably a way to set up a system to do this. I pride myself on doing it “by hand”. It doesn’t take all that long, and I learn quite a bit about what’s happening in our schools. During the past four years or so, the message coming from Central Office and individual schools was full of educational buzz words. There were daily, if not hourly, references to World Class Education, College and Career Ready, data, rigor, grit, Gallup Strengths Finder, and testing, testing, testing. And let’s not forget Vision 2018. Controlling the message was a hallmark of the previous administration. It was clear the school administrators felt pressure to conform when composing tweets meant to inform their school communities. Day after day the educational gobbledegook flowed from every source. I often wondered if ot...

Once upon a time, back when I was much shyer than I am now, I ventured out to an event at the Columbia Archives. This was back when it was in its old home in the American City Building. I can’t remember the particular exhibit that was being debuted that evening. I do remember being overwhelmed by the number of attendees all of the same generation, who all knew one another, and who, I supposed, had all known Jim Rouse. They clumped together chummily in the small space. They lingered over the photographic display, sharing personal anecdotes. It was easier to back up and out of the way. I left feeling that 1) I hadn’t really done the exhibit justice, and 2) maybe it wasn’t really meant for me, anyway.  I felt defeated. I was intrigued by the archives and had great admiration for its director, Barbara Kellner. But that evening suggested to me that perhaps Columbia history was the property of the Pioneers. At any rate, I came away feeling that my attendance didn’t truly matter. I ...

You may recall I had some serious reservations about the stock photo used to promote the Columbia Association’s newest outreach to Millennials. Not too old, not too young, not too brown, not too white...and yet all in the very same socio-economic range. Hmm... Well, here’s a picture to clear your visual palate, as it were. How’d you like to hang out and discuss Columbia with these folks? I would. Of course I’d want to put some women at the table. But wouldn’t you rather join this bunch? Don’t they look like real people? That’s because they are. They’re in the following post from a relatively new local establishment: Nourishing Journey Wellness Center & Cafe!!  The perfect place to stop by and have a delicious Smoothie,Coffee, Snack or Meal.  After work or school with friends and family!  Our cafe is the perfect place to bring your computer and lounge while enjoying any of our snacks and treats!  Stop by with Co-workers to have a laid back meeting....

The Columbia Association wants YOU. Actually, from what I know about who is reading the blog, probably not you. Or me. And that’s a good thing. Let me try that again. The Columbia Association wants Millennials! We are seeking volunteers between the ages of 17 and 35 to be part of the new Millennials Work Group. This is a unique opportunity for younger Columbians to make their voices heard on the kinds of programs, activities and venues that should be offered in Columbia — and to express their ideas about how to attract younger residents to engage with and serve the community. This is a great idea. I have long been clamoring for more outreach to younger residents.  (Did I miss their outreach to Gen X’ers?) The positive response to the children’s dance parties at the Chrysalis this summer showed how eager young parents were for new local programming. It’s important to include people like them at the table. I had to smile when I saw the age range listed because both of my d...

I’d like to begin by congratulating the Columbia Flier for having only one error page this week. Gives me hope. Howard County is going to be introducing shade areas in parks and I am looking forward to those reliable haters who will jump out and say this is the action of a Nanny State who is taking away parents’ rights and responsibilities. Any minute now. Or maybe not since we have a Republican County Executive. Oh, and a post script: added sugar is still a public health issue. Speaking of health, mine is not so great and I am phoning around trying to get a sub. In the meantime, I am passing along this excellent TED talk which was recommended to me by Elevate Maryland's own Candace Dodson Reed. “Get Comfortable With Being Uncomfortable”  , Luvvie Ajayi When are you willing to take that risk and be the domino? Have you ever done it? How did it turn out? Would you do it again? Any advice for the rest of us who hate being uncomfortable? You know where to leave your comme...

Sooner or later, the Mom instinct takes over.  Welcome to the department of shameless promotion. My daughter’s choir is participating in this contest to win money to support Choral programs at her school. There are a few other local schools participating, so if you already have loyalties, I understand. But just in case you don’t... Here’s an explanation from a very excited high school student:  Vote for River Hill’s 12 Days of Christmas on http://www.mix1073.com/choir/ !! If we win we win $5000 for the entire River Hill Choir department!! This means a lot to us so if you could vote that would be awesome!! You can vote once a day for today, tomorrow and Thursday!! Voting closes at 5pm Thursday! Give it a listen and make sure to vote! Thank you! When you get to the contest website, there will be a gallery of four pages of entrants. Look for: River Hill Twelve Days of Christmas. Make sure you listen to their entry. If you have time, listen to other ones as well. An excelle...

It is hard to believe, but it has been a year. A year since I wrote this: Now We Begin There's  a countdown ticker running over at the Better Board of Ed website. Right now it reads eleven hours, forty six minutes. When the countdown runs its course a new Board of Education will be sworn in and a new era in the Howard County Schools will begin. It has been a long, long slog to get to this day. Those engaged in the work of bringing change to the school system might be forgiven for thinking that today is the long-awaited end to the process. Finally, finally, the majority has changed. The 5-2 voting machine has been broken, and the status has shifted. Finally. It will be time to breathe a collective sigh of relief. But when the counter runs down and the long wait is over we will be not at the end, but at the beginning. At the risk of sounding like Captain Obvious: we haven't yet begun the journey we have set our sights upon. We didn't elect a better Board of Educatio...