Find Refuge

Martha McCormick on October 18, 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 step toward taking better care of the outdoors.

I started the process about three years ago when a group of friends and I removed an extensive pool, deck and pond structure and opened the space to nature. The huge Pin Oak that anchors the space has flourished since then, putting out new growth. I’ve added a perennial border of native plants and shrubs, allowed redbuds, oaks and maples to grow where they will. I’ve composted for a while, raised a bit of food and most recently installed a rain garden with the help of my friend Anne, the Iowa Garden Coach.

It’s really turned the back yard into a refuge, not just for the critters, but for me and my friends. I hope you’ll take some actions to make the world a little greener; here are some suggestions–

  • Take this “Outdoor Bill of Rights” Survey to help the Iowa Department of Natural Resources develop their agenda for getting children and youth opportunities to spend time outdoors.
  • Parents–Check out “Be Out There” at the National Wildlife Federation’s Web site, especially the resources for taking kids outside including Why kids need to play outside
  • The Next Step team was involved in creating this online resource for exploring Iowa–99 Parks Family Fun Guide
  • See what it would take to create a wildlife refuge at your school.

Tie a Knot

Martha McCormick on October 14, 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 found there.

While they were in the computer lab, they asked me about the game, “Human Knots” and I told them I would put the directions up by today, so here they are–

  • Form a circle of 12 or less people; if you want a real challenge, try it with larger groups.
  • Have everyone put their hands into the middle of the circle and grab hold of the hands of 2 other people.
  • Don’t cross your arms; don’t grab 2 hands of the same person; don’t hold hands with the people next to you.
  • Now the group is in a circle holding hands.
  • Find the new circle without letting go of anyone’s hands. I’ve played where there was a “doctor” that helped the group get untangled.

When I was a kid in California, we played this game all the time on our patio, but we called it Scrambled Eggs. Once a kid fell while we were untangling a particularly difficult circle and broke his tooth. We all worked together to get help and get his tooth fixed and we all lived happily ever after.

Go Outside!

Martha McCormick on October 11, 2009

Last week my friend Anne and I built a “pondless waterfall” in my backyard. I had a great time digging in the dirt, getting muddy from top to toe and watching my little Tater cat explore the waterfall as it came into being. As I built it, I thought about my young friend Isaac playing in it when the weather warms up. Last week I took him to Gray’s Lake to build fairy houses, run in circles and explore a bug with intent wonder. Taking Isaac outside and building a stream are two of the projects I do to get kids outdoors.

Waterfall with Cat

Please complete this survey sponsored by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. The goal is to find out how much young people like being outdoors and what they enjoy doing there.

Fishin'

Environmentalists across the U.S. are concerned about “nature deficit disorder,” a term coined by Richard Louv, to describe what happens to kids when they don’t play outside. Many parents are scared to let their kids play in the park by themselves, but there are real dangers of NOT going outdoors.

  • Join our Facebook Cause–Have Fun Outdoors!
  • Watch this video–Get ’em Outside on YouTube, to get a better understanding of the problem and some solutions.
  • Next April for Global Youth Service Day we are organizing a summit where adults will ask young people to create an outdoor agenda for Iowans, young and old.
  • Read Richard Louv’s book, Last Child in the Woods to find out what “nature deficit disorder” is and learn about what happens to kids when they are cooped up indoors all the time.
  • Learn more about the very real dangers of the childhood obesity epidemic and how its roots appear to be embedded in a sedentary lifestyle.
  • Check out the Nature Literacy Series by David Sobel available from Orion Publishing These books help adults overcome fear of the outdoors.
  • Classroom Earth is an online resource designed to help high school teachers include environmental education in their daily lesson plans. It has some great stuff on–
  • Student-led efforts to save energy in schools

Sleep Out for Reggie

Martha McCormick on October 7, 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 much needed attention to the problem of youth homelessness. Searching for more information about the problem, I found these three shocking statistics–

  • More than 1.3 million children are homeless at some time each year in the United States.
  • 1 of every 8 kids under 18 in the U.S. will become homeless.
  • 12-17 year olds are at more risk of becoming homeless than adults are.

The Iowa Homeless Youth Centers have sponsored Reggie’s Sleepout to raise awareness and funds for homeless youth for about four years. The 2009 event will be held October 24-25 at Drake Stadium. They need volunteers of all kinds to make the event a success and raise money to help kids who don’t have a place to live. Your group can volunteer to help organize or can get pledges and sleep out. Download more information about how Chrysalis After-School groups can help–Volunteer Opps Reggies Sleepout.

Participants at the sleepout make boxes into temporary shelters, listen to live music, play games and eat. If you’re interested in finding out more and volunteering, go to ReggiesSleepout.org.

Break the Ice

Martha McCormick on August 31, 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 rest of the mentors. It works in any size group and is a great way to get your group to mingle and get to know other people.

Make sure you use the guidelines for introductions and have partners introduce each other to the group for some serious, or not so serious, beginning team building. You can tailor the instructions to your theme or audience. I’m using it next month at customer service trainings to focus on how we greet people when they walk in the door.

Go Outdoors!

Martha McCormick on August 24, 2009

The naturalists at Polk County Conservation are some of my favorite people to work with. I’ve facilitated adventure education programs with them, canoed, and learned to use GPS in parks throughout Polk County. Some of the parks make you say, “I can’t believe this place is only 20 minutes from my house!” They work to make kids and adults more comfortable in the outdoors.

The Polk County Conservation staff has facilitated service learning with Chrysalis After-School groups for years–kids like to cut out invasive species. They have taken girls snow shoeing, canoeing, fishing, hiking, geocaching, snow shoeing, winter survival….

You can count on them for innovative programming that involves active learning. They bring all their own stuff for programming like fishing poles and snow shoes, and their programs are FREE all year round but spring and fall are the best times for programs.

Schedule your group by emailing Patti Petersen-Keys or calling her at 515-323-5359.

Review the Chrysalis Report

Martha McCormick on August 23, 2009

As I finish the 2009 Chrysalis After-School Evaluation Report, I am impressed by the hard work and stellar outcomes of this innovative program. The third year of my evaluation work for Chrysalis documents positive outcomes for young women in:

  • Resilience
  • Economic Empowerment
  • Leadership

Girls, facilitators and parents are seeing positive changes in confidence, communication skills, school attendance and work, and in their leadership qualities, skills and behavior. These outcomes are the result of serious work at the front lines–facilitators have attended training, put it into practice and set goals for continuous improvement. They have involved the girls in planning and leading the groups and the girls have stepped up, led discussions, games and committees, and written applications for funding.

The Chrysalis Foundation Board, under the leadership of Terry Hernandez and the Education Committee, have examined the findings from previous years, made adjustments and committed 2/3 of their grant dollars to the program for each of the next three years.

If you would like to read the entire report, please download it here–

Venture into Social Drama

Martha McCormick on August 23, 2009

Annie Mielke and I met last year and got excited about the potential for working with girls on drama and then training them to work with younger groups as a service project. Annie’s specialty is working with kids with Asperger Syndrome and Autism, so her audiences learn a lot about these mental disorders, the challenges people with these diagnoses face, and how to relate well to them. Adventures in Social Drama visited several Chrysalis After-School groups last year, including McCombs PRIDE.

The goals of Adventures in Social Drama (ASD) are to:

  • establish safe environments in which drama enables individuals to explore creative moments as learning opportunities
  • utilize appropriate forms of social interaction
  • facilitate meaningful participation in a group dynamic
  • coach individuals to express themselves through creative thinking
  • promote positive interpersonal relationships
  • develop self-worth through episodic memories

Adventures in Social Drama specializes in dramatic exploration: Each program is specially designed to meet the needs of your organization. Free initial consultations are available. ASD works with people from 4 years old to adults. Depending on the size and length of the class, the cost is $150-$500.

For more information, contact Annie Mielke, 515-306-0030.

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Build a Team with Keys

Martha McCormick on August 11, 2009

I had the neighbors talking the day I cleaned and took apart 12 old computer keyboards for the Chrysalis After-School Kits out on my front deck last fall. Each CAS kit has a set of these keys. Eric Martin and I developed these teambuilding activities and I’m sure you can come up with some more. We started with the International Association of Teamwork Facilitators by Tom Heck.

We used the keys at CAS Facilitator Training 2008 for introductions. Each person got a key and used the character on that key to tell something about herself. Then each facilitator took a letter key and the group formed as many words at they could in a set amount of time. As a group got together to form a word, the leader made a tally mark on a flip chart or white board.

Download the Keyboard Team Building Activity for more ideas–Keyboard Team Building.

Bust the Cliques

Martha McCormick on August 11, 2009

Cliques, gossip, put downs and relational aggression continue as difficulties for the girls’ groups. On the spring survey, about half the girls said gossip and put downs happen at least sometimes in their groups, and only about half the girls say they are stopped when they do happen.

In 2007, I worked with a small group of 7th grade girls at Brody Middle School to put together a video about cliques. One of the things the girls learned when they interviewed their teachers and counselor, was that adults have cliques too. When we played Group Juggle yesterday, people dealt with “gossip” by putting it in their pockets or throwing it on the floor so it wouldn’t interfere with the real work of the group. The real life parallel would be not passing it along or confronting the gossip with how hurtful it is.

Along with the video, the girls at Brody put together a program for the rest of their Chrysalis After-School Group. Here are some of the components–

  • The girls developed this survey to get an idea of what other girls in their CAS group thought about cliques. Mikhaila worked with small groups of girls in the afterschool program to complete it. Then I created this Survey Monkey version and entered their paper surveys; you can complete the survey here. The funny thing is that people around the country complete this survey every once in a while. Find the results here.
  • Brianna worked with small groups on sociograms. You can download a PDF of the directions for the Click Mapping activity here.
  • Missy facilitated a discussion around the “Circle of Courage” developed by Brendtro, Brokenleg & Van Bockern of the Reclaiming Youth at Risk. Download a PDF of the instructions for the Click Circle of Courage.