Make HerStory
Posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2010
Here’s the story that KCCI ran on the Chrysalis HerStory event May 27. Shawn Johnson, Olympic gymnast from West Des Moines, was the featured speaker.
Each year the Chrysalis Foundation sponsors a spring event for the [...]
Learn through Service
Posted on Saturday, February 6th, 2010
Service learning is more than picking up litter and cutting down trees. Kids and adults can have fun and learn a lot from doing such activities together. But to have a bigger impact, service learning [...]
continue readingTear Down the Walls
Posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009
My brother and I agree that our trip to central Europe last May made the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall more meaningful than I remember it being even when it happened. One Prague memory I [...]
continue readingFind Refuge
Posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2009
I just applied to make my yard a certified wildlife habitat. I figured I might as well, since the deer have plucked my rosebuds one by one this summer and fall. Really, it’s a small [...]
continue readingTie a Knot
Posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Yesterday I visited the Junior Bridges Chrysalis After-School Group at Southeast Polk Junior High School. It was really fun to see the girls surfing my Web site and then using some of the ideas they [...]
continue readingSleep Out for Reggie
Posted on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
As the weather gets colder, I feel more and more sympathy for the homeless people I see on the street. A few years ago, a young homeless man named Reggie died in Des Moines, bringing [...]
continue readingShuffle Power
Posted on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
Sexual harassment has touched many women and men; I have dealt with it personally only a year ago. We can only hope that instances of such insensitive, bullying behavior will decrease as our society evolves [...]
continue readingGive Feedback
Posted on Sunday, September 20th, 2009
The Chrysalis Foundation works very hard to collect accurate information about its work with girls in after-school groups. On this post you’ll find the Evaluation Tools for the Chrysalis After-School Programs for 2009-2010. I will [...]
continue readingBreak the Ice
Posted on Monday, August 31st, 2009
Eric Martin and Beth Mensing are masters at this icebreaker. At Chrysalis After-School Facilitator Training, Beth pulled HANDSHAKES (download it here) out of her fertile mind at a moment’s notice and taught it to the [...]
continue readingChange the World
Posted on Monday, August 24th, 2009
Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” I believe those words wholeheartedly and see evidence that those [...]
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