Lowcountry Class III, Fall 2008
DLI Participant Roster
Photos
Community Action Groups
CrashToGather |
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“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” - Martin Luther King, Jr. As our society evolves, we are slowly separating ourselves from each other, creating environments of misunderstanding, intolerance, and exclusion. DIVERSITY DINING is about giving people an opportunity to come together, get to know one another, and identify, question, and cross the social boundaries that separate us. We are each formed by our religious, economic, geographical, recreational, vocational, political, gender, sexual orientation, and racial experiences. And we have been influenced by our parents, our friends, our heroes and foes, the media, and our history. Diversity is about the many, many complex dimensions that shape each of us as individuals. Threads of connection – “a single garment of destiny” – will help bring our community together, overcoming fear, injustice, isolation, and unproductivity. Once each month, a group of 10 people come together for dinner. Each person attends twice, once as a guest and then as a host. When someone hosts, they bring a new guest to the table and so on. Throughout the evening, a trained moderator manages a provocative dialogue, asking thought provoking questions with diversity themes. Participants are encouraged to speak honestly and to listen with intent to see the world from the speaker’s point of view. When they return home, participants can share their observations, lessons, thoughts, etc. on a DIVERSITY DINING blog. We hope that DIVERSITY DINING will promote connections and friendships and encourage participants to carry the celebration and power of diversity with them into their homes, businesses, churches, and social circles. |
New Vision |
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The New Vision project concept is to develop an implementation plan for a pilot program at North Charleston High School (NCHS) by replicating the PE4Life model as adopted by R.B. Stall High School. This program focuses on the impact of physical wellness and health on learning. The R.B. Stall administration made a commitment to restructure the physical education instruction at the school, to incorporate more aerobically-based activities, cross-cerebral games and aerobic dance. Action-based learning strategies are being implemented for high needs students, integrating acceptable classroom movement in language arts and math classes. (The R.B. Stall High School program plan is detailed in the presentation “The Mind/Body Connection: Fitness and Wellness at Stall.”) The New Vision team believes this program can be replicated at NCHS through support of local community leaders and with a broader vision to engage university partners to pursue grant funding for a county-wide or even state-wide program, using NCHS, R.B. Stall High School and potentially others as identified pilot sites. The ultimate goal of the program would be healthier lifestyles for students, which is tied to increased motivation, self-esteem, performance and achievement, decreased delinquency and teen pregnancy, and potential for healthier, more productive adults and lower net social cost. New Vision members identified potential local resources to support implementation of the program at NCHS. Two existing MUSC programs specifically address obesity and obesity-related diabetes – MUSC Lean Team and Reach 2010. Dr. Carolyn Jenkins offers the Power to Prevent program to promote diabetes prevention, including promotion of healthy life style choices. The MUSC Lean Team partners with local areas schools, including R.B. Stall High School in support of their PE4Life curriculum. The New Vision group facilitated meetings with MUSC Reach 2010 team, NCHS faculty, The Noisette Foundation leadership and others to begin a dialogue among potential partners and NCHS. |
No Trash simply Recycle |
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The care of the environment is not a racial or gender problem. It is our problem because we all live in this beautiful planet called Earth. However, its beauty is declining because of our trash. There is one very simple way for us all to help resolve the issue – recycling. Our current methods of disposing of trash have become a major hazard. Landfills, which were simply designed to be a mound or large hole of trash that is covered, are very well on its way to meeting its capacity. Resources for expansion are diminishing. Incinerators for burning trash are not being renewed due to the pollutants that it distributes into the atmosphere. However, one solution is to get everyone to recycle. Recycling cost less to operate than landfills and incinerators. It also saves money as well as reduces the amount of air and water pollutants. Our solution that could help you personally as well as the environment is called Recycle Bank. If implemented, it could boost recycle rates, cut trash disposal, and reward you, the customer, with points that may be used for discounts at participating retailers. The goal of this program is to save our environment, educate our youth for continual savings, and reward those who participate. |
PossibiliTEEs |
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Team PossibiliTEES wants to increase the number of at-risk youth who are exposed to the game of golf, while imparting the life skills which are associated with the game. By partnering with the First Tee of Greater Charleston we hope to build a successful, beneficial and long-term relationship with the students of the Charleston County School District. Initially, PossibiliTEES in collaboration with First Tee of Greater Charleston will offer this exemplary outreach program to the upper grades at Memminger Elementary School located in downtown Charleston. We are hopeful that we can expand this opportunity to other elementary schools in the near future. The First Tee of Greater Charleston, which is a chapter of the First Tee, a nationwide initiative of the World Golf Foundation, has an ambitious mission. It wants to provide affordable access to golf, while instilling and developing essential character values, such as honesty, integrity, respect for tradition, etiquette, sportsmanship, self-esteem, self-discipline, confidence, and a solid work ethic. The students enhance their athletic skills as well as their social skills and core values. The members of Team PossibiliTEES have become certified coaches and will serve in this capacity beginning January 2009 at Memminger, our designated school. We are pleased to be a part of this exciting program and are expecting this initiative to have a positive impact on the students in our public schools. |
The Bridge |
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The Bridge identified gang violence as an issue they wanted to address. The project targets at-risk youth in grades K through 5 and centers on a six-week anti-violence, conflict resolution based curriculum. There are multiple objectives, including getting students of different backgrounds to interact with and learn from each other and preventing an inclination to violence at an early age. Workbooks provided by the department of juvenile justice “No Violence is G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance Education and Training) are used for the program. Volunteers from the College of Charleston serve as mentors, and the Cannon Street YMCA after-school program is the site. At the conclusion of the program, students are awarded certificates. It can be repeated over future semesters and at different colleges, community centers and schools; it is aimed at preventing an inclination to gang violence at an early age. |