Next Step Adventure » Leadership & Community http://nextstepadventure.com Martha helps you do, what you do, better then you did it before… Wed, 18 Apr 2012 21:03:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Get Healthy http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/11/05/get-healthy/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/11/05/get-healthy/#comments Sun, 06 Nov 2011 03:08:07 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=2604 Driving to Florida for vacation, we listened to three books—Connected, Thrive, and Switch. I learned about all of them when I worked with Healthy Polk 2020 last summer. My task was to gather a group of experts around the priority, “Empower more people to take more responsibility for maintaining their health.”

My team thought the wording of the priority judgmental. They took out “responsibility” and raised the bar from “maintaining” to enhancing. Their proposed priority reads, “Empower more people to enhance their health.” By building on strengths, people can leave stymied life roles behind, and move forward through trust-based relationships.

Of the ten Healthy Polk 2020 goals identified in 2009, this is the broadest, and the only one that addresses lifestyle and behavior. That’s where Switch comes in. It’s by Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made to Stick, a book I’ve loved, shared, and used as reference for several years. Switch frames research about how change happens around a metaphor of elephant and rider.

All that Priority #8 of Healthy Polk 2020 seeks to change is, well, just the way we take care of our health, not just our physical health. My expert team defined health in broad terms, not just metabolic risk factors or healthy weight, but in terms of mental, spiritual, cultural and financial health. That’s where Thrive comes in.

Dan Buettner has conducted research all over the world, traveling to communities where people live the longest, happiest lives. One result is Thrive. Another is the Blue Zones Web site where it’s easy to spend a chunk of time, learning about yourself, and the things you can do to be healthier and happier. The Expert Team aligned their definition of health with the research of the Blue Zones project, addressing community, flow, meaningful work and other life style choices.

One of the cool things that happened with my Healthy Polk work is that about the same time we were wrapping up our work, Governor Branstad launched the Healthiest State initiative, and Wellmark announced funding for the Iowa BlueZones Project, through which ten Iowa communities will be able to develop tools and programs to live longer, happier lives.

Another gap my team identified was that neighborhoods and communities are not empowered to support and promote health. The action needed to close this gap needs further definition, but the vision is for churches, schools and neighborhood associations to develop networks that support healthy habits. Which is where the third book comes in. Connected explores the profound effect that our friends have on us. The research that caught my eye first is that people who hang out with obese people tend to gain weight. It makes sense, but surprised me nonetheless.

As my team discussed what “more people” meant, they envisioned a ripple effect, beginning with us, and spreading through our community organizations and friends. What do YOU think we need to do to start that ripple? Do you want to be a part of it? Let’s do it!

]]> http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/11/05/get-healthy/feed/ 3 Honor Your Mother http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/04/08/honor-your-mother/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/04/08/honor-your-mother/#comments Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:27:50 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=2436 Procrastination? Grandiosity? Too many balls in the air? I had the idea at one point to post on “woman in history” each day last month. Now we are 8 days into April, and I am finishing this post that I started more than 2 weeks ago. Hence, instead of celebrating Women’s History Month (each March), we are preparing to honor our mothers (a weekend in May).

We lost two women who made history last month–Elizabeth Taylor and Geraldine Ferraro. Two women on very different ends of the spectrum. I think their deaths and their lives give a glimpse of the breadth and depth of the contributions of women, even over the last 60 years.

Years ago, we co-sponsored a Women’s History Month contest for people to celebrate a woman important to them. It was pretty cool. I still have the tee shirt. I think my daughter was about 10 years old. Now she IS a woman of history. She is a teacher at Scattergood Friends School, a little known place where women have made Iowa history.

We have good reason to celebrate the heroic mothers and women who have taken charge. So, here are some women to celebrate this month. How about making every month, not just March, Women’s History Month.

  • Amiya Alexander, Social Entrepreneur
  • Aviators Amelia Earhart, Elinor Smith and Elisabeth Thible
  • Joanne Schafer, philanthropist
  • Katie Spotz, Athlete, philanthropist
  • Kiri Davis, Filmmaker, Actress, Entrepreneur
  • Lilly Ledbetter, Activist
  • Margaret Mead, Anthropologist and pioneering woman
  • Salina Kosgel, Runner
  • Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court Justice
  • Talia Lehman, who founded RandomKid.org
  • http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=2439 I recently purchased a Community Action Poverty Simulation Kit from Missouri Association for Community Action, and I’m doing my first program with it tomorrow. It took me about six months to make the decision to embrace this program. I helped out with poverty simulations in their early years at Iowa State University, and recognized some of their power for changing the way we view those who face each month without sufficient resources to make it through.

    This morning I had a flash of realization as I wrote the marketing brochure for the program. This new program does have the capacity for system change. Perhaps we can stop blaming the victims, and take steps to “provide a decent standard of living for all mankind,” in Norman Borlaug‘s words.

    I’ve spent a little time in Zambia, where I stayed with a family much poorer than any I know here. Their generosity touched my heart deeply, but they are not my neighbors. There is a limit to how much I can help them. Here in Iowa, within a few miles of my home, there are thousands of people barely getting by day to day in the richest country in history. Yet, we show little generosity to them. In fact, we often hold them in contempt. John F. Kennedy said, “The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty, and all forms of human life.” Even nearly 50 years after his death, we have made little progress toward abolishing poverty. Indeed, we have gone backward.

    I offer this post as a resource for connecting with knowledge and research, opportunities to help, and opportunities to advocate. Please help me build it, with links and ideas I have missed.

     

    ]]> http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/03/28/fight-poverty/feed/ 3 Push the Edge http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/02/17/push-the-edge/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/02/17/push-the-edge/#comments Fri, 18 Feb 2011 00:33:57 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=2400 We just did our fifth, Internet-based radio show–We’re Entrepreneurs. We Can Help–Women on the Edge. For several months, I played around with the idea of a weekly radio show. Then last fall I asked my friends Anne Larson and Bruce Lehnertz if they were interested in collaborating with me on it. They both trust me way more than they should, and said “sure!”

    Well, two months and a lot of gray hairs later (not mine, mind you. at least i’m not admitting it), we’ve got a few not-so-great, and two very good shows under our belt and on Des Moines Amplified. The concept is to facilitate a discussion with local folks who are stepping out on the edge–starting businesses, hatching new idea, solving problems, offering resources. In short, doing the deal. I described the concept to a friend at lunch yesterday, and she said, “It sounds progressive.” That’s what we’re going for.

    Progressive. Creative. Upbeat. Fun.

    Today I visited with two women entrepreneurs in areas traditionally dominated by males–LeAnn Ely owns Terre d’Esprit Farm, where she raises meat goats. One of her mentors told her not to do it, and that just made her want to prove she could. She said the challenges often come from unexpected sources–her customers, who may not be accustomed to dealing with businesswomen. And the government, which often insists on talking to her husband! In addition to her goat farm, LeAnn is raising a family and working a full time job. Talk about multi-tasking!

    Kenna Neighbors recently opened Seed, an urban garden shop in the Des Moines’ East Village. It’s her second business, and she is wildly successful! She started her landscape business a while ago, and now has 27 employees (LeAnn has about 27 goats. hmmmmm) After trying jobs in retail, Kenna decided, “I’m just not a pantyhose kind of girl.” Like many women, she started her company after fleeing a wreck of a marriage and wondering, “How am I going to feed my kids?” along with a love for digging in the dirt. She blew a horse manure source’s mind by lifting a handful up to her nose. “This is what I want!”

    Talking with Kenna and LeAnn made me even more excited about doing the show, and about my own business. I’m still not sure what radio has to do with Next Step, but I’m pretty sure that more will be revealed. I think I was a frustrated entrepreneur for all those years I worked for Iowa State University, and I’m grateful they put up with me. But I was always on the edge of the organization, and now I’m learning why. In yoga, we talk about pushing the edge. Women start about twice as many businesses as men; maybe we’re just more compelled to go out on that edge.

    ]]>     http://nextstepadventure.com/2011/02/17/push-the-edge/feed/ 1     Be Inspired http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/12/12/be-inspired/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/12/12/be-inspired/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2010 04:59:25 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=2343 I’m on a news break right now. All the bad news from around the world and around the nation was getting me down. It’s overwhelming when you are just one person, and you don’t see how the little bit you can do will make any difference at all. But then I found Amiya. She is changing the world, one dance step at a time!

    When she was ten, Amiya Alexander woke her mother at 1 in the morning–”I need a pink bus!” She already had a business plan and a design for her mobile dance studio. Her single mom found a way to give her that bus for Christmas, and she has been providing affordable dance lessons in it ever since. Her motivation–attacking the obesity epidemic.

    This morning’s Des Moines Register ran a story about Joanne Schafer and her trips to Haiti. She has traveled there more than 100 times since 1991. Along with antibiotics and education, she is giving “A Little Piece of [Her] Heart” to the people of Haiti.

    A few weeks ago I wrote about Katie Spotz, the young woman who rowed her boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Now she is riding her bike amazing distances. Having her bike stolen didn’t stop her either. She is raising money for clean water in developing countries. Rachel Naomi Remen says, “What if the small things that you can do are exactly what is needed to heal the world?”

    If you are inspired to heal the world, here are some possible places to start–

    ]]>     http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/12/12/be-inspired/feed/ 1     Clean and Green Your Second Grade Class http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/10/24/clean-and-green-your-second-grade-class/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/10/24/clean-and-green-your-second-grade-class/#comments Mon, 25 Oct 2010 04:33:50 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=2204 With this Clean and Green Second Grade Program Guide, the first phase of the Keep Iowa Beautiful service learning, litter-free schools, environmental education, character building program is officially ready for piloting! With help from the Waste Commission of Scott County, Character Counts! in Iowa, Davenport Public and parochial schools, we are ready to send teachers and kids out to the playground and community to find ways to make them better while they are learning the essential concepts of the Common Core Second Grade State Standards for Mathematics, Life Science, Social Studies, Literacy and 21st Century Skills. The Second Grade Matrix of 20 activities is based on the Core and the Four Keys of Character Education–safe, challenging community, self study, other study and public performance–to assure that we help teachers incorporate best practice in their classrooms.

    The guide is flexible; it has engaging activities for the classroom, afterschool and summer programs. Each of the activities can stand on its own, but it will be more powerful if used as a comprehensive unit. During this pilot year, we’ll collect feedback from as many of you as possible, and change the program guide in response to that feedback. Watch this Web Site for online surveys, send feedback to Martha McCormick, or add your comments to this post itself.

    Please check out the Second Grade Table of Contents and download the lesson plans–

    Math–

    Life Science–

    Social Studies–

    Literacy

    21st Century Skills

    ]]>     http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/10/24/clean-and-green-your-second-grade-class/feed/ 0     Celebrate Service http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/06/26/celebrate-service/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/06/26/celebrate-service/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 19:06:02 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=1869 I grew up in southern California, and have often been asked what I’m doing in Iowa. But I’m proud to live in a state with such a strong history of  civil rights, fairness and equality. Iowa again blazed this trail through extending the right to marry to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. This controversial Iowa Supreme Court decision follows a pattern established many years ago.

    The Fort Des Moines Museum celebrates the heroes who brought gender and racial equality to the United States Army during World War I and World War II. The Museum honors the U.S. Army’s first officer candidate class for African American men in 1917, and the establishment of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC’s) in 1942. Videos show an African American soldier and a WAC (Women’s Army Ausiliary Corps) telling about their training at the Fort and their lives overseas.

    It is a great place to go to celebrate one chapter of this history, and to learn more about the history of civil rights. The Museum has age-based learning programs and exhibits for students and adults. Museum programs focus on kids in Kindergarten through 12th grades. The Museum sets up scavenger hunts that help you try out antique record players, typewriters and horseback riding. You can even try on a World War I backpack.

    Schedule tours by contacting Michael Kates or at 515-280-8060. The Museum hosts meetings, parties and offers educational programs. During the summer, they offer a number of day camps–Fun at the Fort. You can download the brochure and registration form here.

    ]]>     http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/06/26/celebrate-service/feed/ 1     Help Evaluate Chrysalis After-School http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/05/02/help-evaluate-chrysalis-after-school/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/05/02/help-evaluate-chrysalis-after-school/#comments Mon, 03 May 2010 00:27:05 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=1844 As it always does, the school year has somehow disappeared, with May catching me unprepared! It’s time to collect information about your work with the Chrysalis Foundation’s after-school girls’ groups so that we can report to the Board and the community this summer.

    On this post you’ll find the Evaluation Tools for Chrysalis After-School Programs for Spring 2010

    1. Brody Middle School
    2. Carlisle Middle School
    3. Children and Families Urban Ministries
    4. GEEZ Louise!
    5. Goodrell Middle School
    6. Harding Middle School
    7. Hiatt Middle School
    8. Holy Family School
    9. Hoyt Middle School
    10. McCombs Middle School
    11. Merrill Middle School
    12. Moulton Whyld Girls
    13. Southeast Polk Junior High School
    14. Woodside Middle School
    15. Young Women’s Resource Center

    Evaluation Tools for Elementary School Groups–

    CAS Data Collection Template Elementary 09 to complete before June 10, 2010.

    CAS Year-End Elementary School Group Facilitators Survey to complete before June 10, 2010.

    I hope this will make it easy for you all to provide honest feedback about the program. Please leave your comments as well as completing surveys and spreadsheets. I appreciate all of your hard work.

    ]]>     http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/05/02/help-evaluate-chrysalis-after-school/feed/ 0     Join the Movement http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/03/07/join-the-movement/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/03/07/join-the-movement/#comments Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:07:47 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=1721 Go outside! It’s spring, and Iowa is joining a broad based movement to renew a close, personal relationship with the out of doors.

    ]]>     http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/03/07/join-the-movement/feed/ 0     Cross a Chocolate River http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/02/25/cross-a-chocolate-river/ http://nextstepadventure.com/2010/02/25/cross-a-chocolate-river/#comments Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:25:35 +0000 Martha http://nextstepadventure.com/?p=1685 This is a great team building activity I’ve used for many years. Once at a 4-H Camp, we used 4-H Box Lids as the “marshmallows.” When I facilitated a program based on the Wizard of Oz, I challenged the group to cross the field of poppies instead of a chocolate river. Creating a powerful story or metaphor is key to the activity’s success. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory can be loosely interpreted, or a field trip to a chocolate factory work well.

    Procedure–

    Set up boundaries such as two ropes with a wide space between (this is the river); the space varies with the size of the group. Make sure the space is wider than the group would be in a straight line.

    Have the participants line up on the outside of one  rope, and tell them that they have spent the day in a chocolate factory, eating as much chocolate as they want but now they can’t wait to get home and have some healthy food. However, the chocolate vats have sprung a leak and they are now looking at a giant chocolate river they must cross before they get home.

    They must get the entire team across the chocolate river, but it is too hot to swim across, and too deep to walk across. (Obviously, they cannot walk around the river, since it does not end just because the ropes do).

    The only way to get across is by using the large, fluffy marshmallows that you provide (use felt, carpet or cardboard squares, as long as they’re not too big. Give the participants about one square per person.

    Unfortunately, the current in the river is so strong that it actually sweeps the marshmallows away if no one is touching them (with a hand, foot, or other safe appendage) If the marshmallows are left without human contact, take them away immediately.

    It will take a good 45 minutes for the group members to solve the initiative, and you will probably need another set of eyes to make sure that all the marshmallows are being anchored.

    Possible processing questions include:

    • How did your group work together?
    • How did you feel when you lost your marshmallow?
    • How did you feel when you got across the Chocolate River?
    • How is school/group/life like the river?
    • What if only a few of you made it across the river?
    • What did you need to do as you crossed the river?
    • How well did you do it?
    • What were the strengths and weaknesses of different individuals in the group?
    • What tools do the marshmallows represent to you?
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