FAIR School Downtown Presents Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song™
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FAIR School Downtown Presents Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song™
Minneapolis, MN – FAIR School Downtown will host a community celebration honoring two community elders at FAIR School Downtown on Thursday, February 17, 2011, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM in the Gathering Space. The Elder Wisdom, Children’s Song™ community celebration will be hosted by America’s Troubadour, Larry Long, and is free and open to the public.
Long has been working in partnership with the West Metro Education Program (WMEP) to provide the Elders’ Wisdom, Children’s Song™ process for schools that are members of the WMEP consortium. Recently, Long has been working with students at FAIR School Downtown to collectively write songs and gather recitations that honor the life stories of the following community elders:
- Dr. Eric J. Jolly – President of the Science Museum of Minnesota, which is among the nation’s largest and most-esteemed science museums. Since being named president in 2004, Dr. Jolly has overseen steady growth in the museum’s annual attendance, including the most highly attended year in the museum's history, and led the Science Museum through the milestone celebration of the museum’s centennial year in 2007. Under Dr. Jolly’s leadership, the Science Museum of Minnesota has established itself as a highly regarded national leader in informal Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education. Dr. Jolly is known for his personal passion for STEM education and for working to identify solutions that address our country’s achievement gap. He is widely recognized nationally for his work with youth, families, communities and policy-makers, as well as his many contributions to mathematics and science education.
- Harold Mezile – President and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis since 1995. In Harold Mezile’s thirty-seven years with the YMCA, he has served as a branch executive, operations director, field consultant of the YMCA of the USA, and president of two urban group YMCAs - the Greater Baltimore YMCA (1988-1994) and the YMCA of Metropolitan Minneapolis. During Mezile’s fifteen years of leadership to the Minneapolis YMCA, he has driven the budget from $17 million in 1995 to $55 million in 2010. Two key themes have been central to Harold's leadership of the Minneapolis YMCA: pursuit of excellence and service to youth and families. To address those themes he initiated new organizational plans for both staff and the YMCA's voluntary General Board of Directors. Mezile has been dedicated to youth development and ensuring the YMCA has superior services in the urban community as well as suburban communities.
Contact Information:
Larry Long, Executive Director
Community Celebration of Place
3357 – 36th Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55406
612-722-9775
larryl@communitycelebration.org
Michael Elston, Director of Partnerships
FAIR School Downtown
10 S 10th St
Minneapolis, MN 55403
612-232-5784
michael_elston@wmep.k12.mn.us
Founded out of demand for Long’s work across the country, Community Celebration of Place is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that uses oral history, music and art to strengthen communities and foster reconciliation. For more information visit www.communitycelebration.org.
Larry Long, called "a true American Troubadour" by author Studs Terkel, has made his life work the celebration of American stories and heroes. In a curriculum called Elders' Wisdom, Children's Song,™ he has brought these heroes to the classroom to share their oral history with our younger generation. A Smithsonian Folkways recording artist, Larry has performed at major festivals, concerts and events throughout the U.S. and internationally. Long is a recipient of the prestigious Bush Artists Fellowship, the Pope John XXIII Award and In The Spirit of Crazy Horse Award for his work in forgotten communities. (www.larrylong.org)
The West Metro Education Program (WMEP) School District was formed in 1989 to cooperatively address integration issues in the west metro area. The mission of WMEP is to build the collective capacity of its members; to raise the achievement of all students; to eliminate the racial achievement gap; and to prepare all learners to thrive in a diverse world through regional leadership, integrated learning opportunities, shared resources, and mutual support.
Member districts of WMEP are: Brooklyn Center, Columbia Heights, Eden Prairie, Edina, Hopkins, Minneapolis, Richfield, Robbinsdale, St. Anthony/New Brighton, St, Louis Park, and Wayzata. (wmep.k12.mn.us)