Exposure to Success, Creativity, and An Educator as a Profession is the Key to Success; A New Outlook.

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Harry Brake

Education – it’s funny – every time teachers get together and say they do not want to talk shop – well, the ones that truly care are invested do just that – talk shop.  It’s inevitable, if your heart and soul remains into education so does your conversation eventually no matter how hard you try.

Tons of stereotypes about education and teaching:

Those who can, do; those who can’t teach.  –From Bernard Shaw’s Man and Superman.

Summers off, must be nice.

You get to leave the problems of students at school and go home with no additional worries.

Teaching is not really a professions, hence not a professional salary is deserved.

Getting done by 3PM and weekends off?  Easy ride.

These are some of the most popular stereotypes.  You know that individual that might work in the same office, or on the same floor, or neat the same cubicle as you – that doesn’t measure to the amount of time you put in on extra jobs, overtime, and workload you take home?  Welcome to education world.

No matter what stereotypes exist, the best knowledge is diving in and experiencing the educational world, even for a small portion of the time, to find out the truth.  After student teaching in Pittsburgh at Oliver High School, (skipping the chance to go to Ireland – probably the best decision I ever made), working in a emotional/physical rehabilitation center for recovering students, public schools, middle schools, high schools across MD, DE, PA, major rural areas, major urban areas, community colleges, serving as a student assistant at university, working sometimes two jobs outside of school to make it occur, every single experience I worked through, sweat over, and pushed for, involved someone I looked up to that did it that much harder then myself.  In education.  Not for the above stereotypes for the below realities:

Very few can actually be an educator, LET ALONE a teacher.  Teaching is actually – counseling, advising, creating, guiding, mentoring, role modeling, and encouraging.

There are NEVER summers off.  If you are lucky enough to enjoy a few weeks off, where do you think the preparation for the new year occurs?  The time given at the start of the school year is BARELY enough time to get a classroom prepared, let alone curriculum, common core goals that need matched, updated reading materials, materials for the teacher to become updated with changes in legislation, as well as mapping out where extra plans to insure continuing educational credits are maintained to stay qualified as a teacher that fits into the changing roles and expectations of the state to in fact teach.  Even when teachers go to the beach or a hideaway, their brains are planning the above to at least be able to do so in a comfortable setting.

Problems are rarely left at school as there is not enough time on a timed schedule to fully handle and resolve issues in a school day, hence homework, additional plans to enrich students on a different learning level and balancing the lessons to match all needs from hands on, to those who memorize, to those that need to picture concepts, to the students that have been unable to match their grade level and needs supplementary assistance, there is NEVER enough time in a whole day to BARELY keep up.

I have never met an unprofessional teacher that truly impacts those around her or him.  yes, as I mentioned, there are tons of teachers that still push papers and have resolved not to meet the standards of what a teacher needs to do, I value the administrators that do not mind getting their hands dirty STILL, or have been former teachers and have not lost that memory of what needs are essential without acquiring the administrative big and forgetting what teachers truly need – yet for those many that do their job, as you know in any profession, ANY, there are those that do not.  Do not let those that do not influence the way you see others that ARE as professional.  TRUE teachers, TRUE educators ARE professional and they need to be compared to those that are NOT doing their job.  Hence, the professionals need to be recognized, not just on Teacher Day or Education Week, but that anonymous note every month that shows you as a parent, as an admin, as a board member, as a legislator, know something specific they do that changes those around them. 

Physically, contracts mostly, (mostly) indicate a time around 3PM as finish, yet, what is not taken into account is the time needed in the AM to arrive before the rush begins to set a class in motion with the proper materials, objectives, copies, homework to be sorted, reports to be readies, resources to be arranged, as well as relying on no emotional, academic, professional, and personal incidents will occur outside the scheduled school day!  HA!  I have been in education now since 1998, I honestly can seem those that guided me and then myself, I rarely can remember a day that goes by where a day ends at 3PM – maybe for the official schedule but planning, reorganizing, checking for accuracy, revision, correction, just to name a FEW, usually ends, if you’re lucky, by 9:00 PM.

A true educator, strives beyond being just a teacher – and most humble teachers know this.  Hence this video honors those that truly symbolize why teaching is perhaps one of the highest professions one can have – despite the stereotypes and despite the payscales that do not always and rarely indicate this –

I love the question and scenario when individuals around a table ask, What do you make? to a teacher – this reply still seems to sum it up with the energy of what educators do day in and day out.  This is AMAZING.  This is an educator.

I was VERY excited to see :  Senate Passes Every Child Achieves Act, with Music and Arts as Core Subjects, Intact 

There is one thing that is a standard and one thing that is absolute.  From the very first day I learned at Slippery Rock University – when I first finally faced the fact that the literature and the interest in reading should be directed to education, I began as an elementary teacher.  I LOVED – L O V E D the fact that when I began in elementary education that instilled this basic fact – behind every concept, behind every facet of learning, there is creativity and art.  I stopped in this journey I remember at my largest fear, largest obstacle, a class that took the concepts of Math and Math theory.  I know that many students always had this class as an obstacle, and even with A “C” I was excelling in this course – but inside, it was not enough.  After repeating this course after receiving a C, I just needed to know, if I wanted to be a teacher, I was showing success through a grade higher than a C.  I decided at that point to change to secondary education.

This was a proper change that fit my talents, but I would not figure this out – going back years later and playing the role of elementary educator in a secondary teacher, not discounting how to make every single lesson can involve an element of creativity, that is not usual in that lesson.  Yes, that takes constantly monitoring and changing lessons yearly, yes that means using ways of hands on involvement, be it changing the desks every day so a new format mirrors how the real world changes, yes that involved patience in taking one lesson that does not work and be daring, bold, and willing to change a lesson on the turn of a dime, even within the same class.

The decision the Senate has made is not anything that teachers have never known.  We as educators need to pull students to the center of realizing, there is an ART to every discipline, yes there is an art to math, yes there is an art to Science, yes there is a creativity to Civics, and the emphasis on upholding the creative side of education, here in Music and Arts, as a single example, reemphasizes the importance of reaching into a creative side and having everyone recognize this, no matter the discipline, to be successful.

As I reach towards museums, institutes, workshops, conventions, conferences, and other organizational events – this is not, or hasn’t or isn’t ever to continue to create a long resume, vitae or insure security of my future, though I feel it does that too. It is to continually allow my mind as an educator to grow, take the experiences I have obtained to this point and stretch them even further.

The ONLY reason I am successful today in my goals, projects, and aims, focuses back to the amazing teachers that took their time to mentor me, show me how they construct a successful classroom, lend time to create institutes where we can lay out what has worked, what hasn’t worked, what will work, and allow teachers from sometimes all over the world, sometimes just in neighboring districts, to share, and grow.  Add on to that that long long years of amazing students who trusted me, who trusted these ideas and allowed me to experience them alongside the antiquated way of teaching, and these very students who let me reach out to them in class, out of class, through clubs, through risk taking and creating new clubs, through arranging desks and standards in ways that were not meant initially, this is where the true art and creativity lead to success.

I remember when I first started in teacher Education wishing there were so many more courses on Classroom Management. I felt I spent so much time on essential courses that instilled in me the regimen, the structure, the guidelines for being an educator in the profession, but felt lacking in the management side of classroom behaviors.  Looking back, I see the choices I made to be in Pittsburgh as a student teacher, to be in various opportunities outside of the classroom (Intern with the Pittsburgh Pirates, student assistant for an English College class, Writing Center volunteer) – things at times seemed to have nothing to do with actual teaching, well they did.  The discipline I learned from experiences that seemed to had nothing to do with actual instruction? – in fact they did.  The creativity and real-life values, approaches, and strategies I witnessed in professionals, could and did apply to the very lessons I began to adapt in the classroom.  The students realized I believed in them, and they would rise to the challenge.

I can’t emphasize enough this integral truth – if you do everything you do believing in the success of your students based on the very genuine mentors around you, excluding these that wish to place stereotypes open you, and you create your own world that is made up of these very students you believe in? – the world opens up to you.

I am grateful every single day for the students, instructor, parents, administrators, and colleagues that gave so much of themselves to pass that trait onto me, THEY in fact were the ones that allowed me to go on and continue to reach for dreams.

Being a Media Specialist and Librarian is perhaps THE BEST occupation in the world.  As a former English teacher, I now have a little more freedom to reach out to teachers and try to constantly provide resources to them where as an English teacher I found I could only focus on my task at hand, being an English teacher.  AND LET ME STATE – there is nothing wrong with that, I LOVED THAT WORLD (Still do!). I needed to try and give back to those that gave so much to me, and now, I am finding  place where I can try and make sense of the technology, resources, and strategies and try to free up some time for those very teachers, just as I needed guidance and help to free up more time to be more effective.

In touring the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso yesterday, I realized how educators see museums differently.  With the exhibit of Islamic Art, I realized how essential diversity, creativity, and art is to education.  It’s also funny how the educator’s brain never quite turns off, you see exhibits, you see opportunities to create a lesson, an idea, an approach based on everything you come into contact with.  There are still so many times I feel those that see unrelated tasks to the curriculum are more related to succeeding than ever before.  You see the results in students from the beginning to the end of the year.  When the majority of history in education has relied so heavily on test scores to measure success, it is so vital, as an educator, to show how community involvement, creativity, ingenuity, and enthusiasm can also meet those very traditionally hallowed test scores, and these qualities will stick with students far longer than the specific questions, measures, and memorization to simply score higher on a state test.   The need for students to be held to standards of success, ingenuity, community involvement, is an investment in the world’s future, and sits on a much higher scale than test scores that will be left behind in the wake of a student’s future.

Bravo Senate as a move in the right direction.  As educators, we need to continually shift movements towards the success of using what the arts, the environment, what each other, and what institutes can be created to renew, refresh, and celebrate the status of what an education means.  I know that Presidential candidate Trump advocates for a wall to improve the status and growth of the United States. As an educator who has the privilege of working in Mexico, I am GRATEFUL for the education I was provided and supplied with from the United States, and am even MORE GRATEFUL for the experiences that living in another country provide.  To continue to grow as a nation, as well as students, and as educators, collaboration among other countries needs to occur, not border, not walls, and not restrictions.  The ingenuity that occurs in students can help resolve issues that occur in Greece, in immigration in scarcity of rebuilding in Haiti, in relief efforts in Nepal, by encouraging collaboration rather than restricting it, success results.

Welcome to the world of Real Life Education.

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Being a Part of the Excitement is Part of the Game of Learning.

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Harry Brake

What?  Seriously?  Teaching and learning at the same time?  I have found so many times that being an educator involves challenging yourself everyday to avid burnout  – this involves always trying and engaging in what is new out there.  After listening to the recent webinar from Follett’s Teaching 21st Century Skills in Today’s Library – It’s Not Only in the Classroom!

a huge strategy for tackling a new year in 2015-2106 is getting invigorated and setting up new ways to learn alongside students.  Here are some notes from this webinar, and this is just the first half of the notes!  Second half will be posted here eventually!  🙂

Follett – Teaching 21st Century Skills in Today’s Library – It’s Not Only in the Classroom!

 

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A Lesson In Integrity – On and Off Stage – The Athletic Excellence & Sportsmanship Gala 2015

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Harry Brake

There is so much magic in moments.  Many moments that contain that magic happen behind the scenes and maybe that is part of the magic.  As a coach, I opened a whole new door of learning to myself and how I would pass that transition out of school to my athletes on the Cross Country Team.  There were so many carry over’s from the class and real life that would be incorporated into the long runs, the stretching sessions, the early morning on buses and the late nights returning and yet, I never felt alone.  There was something truly magical in the moments that we just shared together as a team.  When it came to open the windows along with the doors to the public to show everyone where our heart, spirit, and motivation came, it is even more special.  For me, there was magic when I could smell the pine, losing myself in the run, and finding so many people so close to me right there at the finish line.  This was just in Delaware.

In Mexico, as we began the May 28th Athletic Excellence & Sportmanship Gala, I honestly had this barrel of emotion.  I missed so badly the moments I kept close to my heart on that Cross Country course or Track & Field course, yet I was 100% grateful for the moments I was given here in Mexico to play a part in rousing the crowd by shaking some fur, providing supplies to help yet another group of students, to literally being made to feel a part of so many moments, whether it be as a spectator, a cameraman, a helper, and countless other moments  – the Bear Boosters, the Athletic Coaches and Staff (EVERYONE), and especially the athletes themselves, when they did not even try were going out of their way to make me feel a part of an experience that truly is (not was) but IS STILL unforgettable.

I sat there ready to take video and pictures and felt this onrush of emotion just honored to have been asked to be a part, especially the days I was grouchy, complaining, and just overall moody, and everyone still put up with me and invited me into their world.  I realized when I coached and realized it this very night, a new definition of family was defined and continued to be shaped by all the experiences and involvements of the aforementioned.  Teruhi and Hugo manned some of the worst conditions when the electricity went down, and another realization – even through the MOST frustrating times, the times when you are exhausted, tired, moody, and feel completely negative, their is an unspoken faith when you have strong individuals around you to continue to move forward, be in on the field, on the stage, in the pool, in the locker room, in the light and sound booth, at the beginning of a season or at the end, the person beside you pushing you forward provides one of those very moments that you will retain in your heart for infinity.

I saw this very feeling every time an athlete made it to the stage and was recognized for the season highlights and contributions.  Sports certainly can get a bad rap when you look in the world at the athletes versus teachers, pay, respect etc, however, I also have seen the flip side of this.  As an AP/Honors, Remedial/ Yearbook, and Rehabilitation Center English teacher in many various locations, I always found Sports as a conversation that often did not require a word.  Yet, it let me share something with others that I normally never would have been able to previously.  It often led individuals to succeed in areas off their athletic turf as well, and truly those individuals that serve as educators and not merely teachers, understand how the moments outside of the classroom can define the moments within.

I can list every single ASF sport and remember moments from every single sport that put a smile on my face, I was lucky to have been there to remember such events.  The magic of our ASF Athletes is the very best have this unbelievable selfless heart that keeps pushing and pushing for success, and you feel like exploding with pride when you see it happen on and off the field.  So many names roll through my head – Payton Alley, Coach Velarde, Izabel Guzman, Dominque, Coach Powell, Mrs. Alley, Lynette Rivera, Lisa, Robert Wilson, Carson, Nicolas, Ricardo, Juan, Andres, countless coaches, Papa Bear (Mr. Gomez)  himself, the sports support staff, COUNTLESS names and one universal truth remains –

If you did not make it to at least one game for each sport then of course you have no idea what you are missing.  However, when you do witness at least one of every sport for the whole school year, a whole new definition and relationship forms with the athletes you see and when they become students, something totally magically begins to develop.  This “magic” is the sheer maturity, motivation, and spirit that these athletes carry with them every, and the individuals in the form of the coaches and support staff that spend COUNTLESS hours on the fields before we even THINK about waking up let alone at night we each have been long asleep.  That part is not involved with money and could never be compensated, but the athletes and students they have created as a result – priceless.

The parents have never ceased to amaze me, there could be literally five people at an event and with the right support from individual parents? – it feels as if there are no seats left in the house.  The amazing contributions of the drummers at the football games, Papa Bear being the voice of motivation at various times, the Bear Boosters always being an essential part of bringing so many people together, the magic of creating the feeling of a team, with so many individuals? – there is no award available that can truly celebrate these successes.

The faces of individuals that became the backbone of this whole magical aura? – they simply were laying the stepping stones for the future to carry on this for so many people.  Was I honored to be in such a ceremony? – Honored does not even carry a weight to how heavy the sentimentality was at this ceremony – Mrs. Alley and the whole Athletic Teams went on to mention me as a thanks for the contributions Repentino. made on Super Saturdays – I was blown out of my seat.  Truly, not only did their assistance get Repentino. in a stable position, but planted an interest in how Repentino. created a Sports Journalism branch for the 2015-2106 season and is training individuals to do pre, mid, and post game interviews so more people will get to know the athletes, know the matches, and know the experiences – and not just at the end of the year.  All of this OPPORTUNITY – has and is a way that we become more entrenched with the level of how much each athlete gives of themselves in so many areas, not just at a desk or the results of a test.

If you don’t love what you do, you won’t do it with much conviction or passion.”

~ Mia Hamm

“One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than 50 preaching it.”

– Knute Rockne

“The body can achieve what the mind can conceive.”

– Coach Doakes

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No Joke, New Acquaintances Every Day

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Harry Brake

“A man walks into a bar…”   You’ve heard it a thousand times as a opener for jokes.  Walking along Alvaro Obregon a few weeks ago, with the dogs and a friend leaving for the states, we came across a set of ladies asking about the dogs.  Seeming more state-side than Mexican we learned this was Liz Ball, from Stir Bartending Company in Washington D.C..  The irony of meeting individuals from areas you are familiar with in the states, and meeting them in Mexico is so frequent, but the surprise never becomes old.  One of the best things about Mexico City is you can be anywhere, summer, in the fall or Spring, and still come across people that you share similarities with, and usually while walking through the city.

Once in Plaza Cabrera, we came across students from the U.K. and began to offer tips of the best places to visit before they would leave.  A few months back it was a young lady with her fiance, and we spent a few amounts of time exploring the various options of  restaurants, mercados, and sites you can take in over a weekend.  During the Sunday biking event in Reforma it was someone from Columbia and we swapped pictures of dogs.  The casual conversation, the impromptu friendships that occur happen so regularly, it seems a part of Mexico City, and overall creates this home of friends and acquaintances that occur on a daily basis.  When I think about it, that is another aspect of Mexico City that defies what the tabloids define Mexico as, and perhaps which is why Mexico is one of the best kept secrets to those that feel otherwise.  It also makes it amazing when you travel to places in the states and begin to have a network of people you have met in Mexico to catch up with!

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The Rediscovery of Clarice Smith, the American Art Museum, Cub Camp, Brain Pop, Discoveries on Both Sides

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Harry Brake
Turkey Pond

Turkey Pond by Andrew Wyeth

Several years ago, as an AP English educator, as well as a Introductory level English teacher in Delaware, after receiving a scholarship and attending a dynamic Institute by the name of The Clarice Smith Institute, I learned that art as a foundation in my English classes helped ease the understanding of literary concepts such as metaphor, analogy, and more.  It worked, the students dug the visual and therefore those not initially strong in English became interested.  This was more than any educator could hope for.

Years later, I never imagined this would occur all over, with the advent of Cub Camp at ASF, Reading and Writing, and the inclusion of a week of Being an Artist and being introduced to a variety of concepts and terms, as well as artists to induce reading and writing and peak interests, and yet it occurred.  I have to say one of the best moments was as we were scrolling through information on several artists, the students recognizing pieces by Picasso, Cubist art, as well as pieces that are connected to Van Gogh.  The familiarity allowed the interest to be peaked and continue on to other artists that students, (yes, from 4-6 years old!) would at least gain some new vocabulary and information about.

In just four weeks I have seen students advance in the willingness to write and produce writing, despite possibly being weak in writing, yet persisting due to an interest tied to that very writing, in this case, art and artists.  What I as an educator found appealing was I was learning along with them, as I scrolled through the various names and examples of art – again priceless.  Yes I have learned so much during this simply four wee period of summer school, on an academic and on a personal level, and hoe the exposure to such topics as Frida Kahlo, and various other artist’s style will persist to encourage questions, inquiry, and knowledge to be sought out by students both from ASF and outside of ASF.  I am impressed with with content once I sat down and examined what was discussed in just one session Week 4 Tuesday,

as well as the interest students showed from the aura of Frida Kahlo to the interest of how Dr. Suess came to be.  I am finding the mini discoveries along the way make each day larger discoveries of ourselves.

Immersing myself in the Modern Art Museum in Mexico as well as the Tamayo Museum this week intensified the urge to create creativity in Reading and Writing for our summer camp classes, and when it came right down to it, wouldn’t it be great of education from all corners of the globe had the same approach?

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Sometimes Doing Is Undoing and Sometimes Undoing Is Doing – Francis Alys : Art Inducing Creativity

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Harry Brake

Screen Shot 2015-07-06 at 12.45.55 AMIn visiting the Tamayo Museum today, on an amazing Mexican Sunday full of sunshine, families, and endless possibilities, the same could be said of Francis Aly’s exhibit.  Often many people see Art as an end, the ultimate source of creative expression.  In seeing Francis Alys’ exhibit, one realizes, this is just the beginning.  In seeing his exhibits, Reel-Unreel, Tornado, (A Story of Deception) and Don’t Cross the Bridge Before You Get to the River, it is true, a broader sense of reflection and opinion rests in what normally would be a resting spot of expression.

I often like to attend museums and take it all on and I usually end up thinking and forming an opinion about half of what I had seen.  It was interesting to delve into the exhibits and not leave until a formation of realization set in.  How does one do this?  Simply by examining word for word the accompanying texts provided, the background setting of the individual works, being exposed to the accompanying films, literally immersing oneself into any underlying messages that might not be evident on surface.

As we enter the last week of Summer Camp at ASF, our past themes of Our Cultures, Our City, and Being an Author push us to test the limits of understanding and knowledge in this final week of Being an Artist.  Yes, there is a separate course titled Art at ASF.  Yet, one realizes through exhibits as this that the art of expression lies in the availability to often present information on a higher level than the students that are exposed to various art.  In doing so the expression that is revealed through another form, say writing and reading, remains another form that is shaken out from a higher level of information.

If there is one thing I have learned from ASF Summer Camp, is the connection to teaching on a higher level than necessary produces some extraordinary results, and the attendees of ASF Summer Camp have been the exceptional example.  In the course of three weeks have created their own novels for NanoWrimo, gone on to explore and rediscover sounds that make up their city they often take for granted, and recognize the characteristics of other cultures that define their similarities and differences.

Using the auditory, the visual, the kinesthetic, children begin at an early age to understand life is more complex, more interesting and more meaningful that what face value presents to them if they look in the right places.  One of the most powerful aspects of being an educator is challenging the borders that have been presented to us and redefine them as the world evolves and changes.  There are so many things to compare and challenge these definitions that produce meaning.  Presently, I have been blessed with a literary magazine staff in Repentino. that produced themes of starting afresh with the theme of Repentino. (All of a Sudden), Out of Place, Kaleidoscope, and Demons, ironically a progression of a series that often is the path many discover in themselves through many new adventures. Yet let’s go back further –

In Delaware, as an educator, students believed in my new approach of taking art and using art to enhance, motivate, and generate writing and expression.  They took what we learned in the classroom and created grants, projects, and community outreach programs that occurred outside the classroom.  As a result they accumulated awards from every facet of the word outside the classroom, grants to pursue extensions of their learning, recognition from the Governors of Delaware for four years, as well as success in being entrepreneurs to carry them into the furthest reaches on their education beyond high school.  Awards became the incentive, but a deeper meaning than awards emerged.

Going even further back, as an educator learning the ropes in the classroom, as an individual I learned so much from dipping into as many diverse situations as possible with educators from many diverse backgrounds – The National Writing Project, The Clarice-Smith Institute, The Reynolds Journalism Institute, an intern with the Pittsburgh Pirates, studying the Holocaust at the University of Delaware, even the AP Institutes I attended on the Eastern Shore enhanced how I saw WHAT could be brought to students, and I am so much the better for those experiences.  Being able to put yourself out on a limb and push boundaries, I have found these are the role modeling students need to see and witness to be able to accurately navigate the waters of a changing world.

I am grateful for being able to have some amazing colleagues, amazing students, and amazing experiences, often many that were unpaid and that were priceless, that helped shape a youthful creativity that goes beyond the restrictive guidelines of what defines how many see a typical teacher.  Francis Alys’ exhibit goes deeper than skin deep then you get the advantage of dipping into several artists that define variations of Latin American voices that changed how individuals see art as well follow Alys’ exhibit – again, expressions that bend how we see life in general.

As I left the Tamayo Museum, I appreciate the one exhibit that entailed a single paint can that allowed two differing colors of paints to trail from the wall, to the floor to the outside of the Tamayo.  I loved the fact that as I followed the paint trail down the outside stairs, to the sidewalk, outside the park, how oblivious the average person was to what I was following.  No one that was unaware of this exhibit would have any reason to see the parallel lines of paint at their feet and yet, there was a metaphor here.  I marvelled at how often we have some unusual, unique experience right in front of that often can shape how we see the things around us, and fail to act on it. Our job as educators?  – escape the mundane and latch onto the views that hover right outside our streams of consciousness, that is the new level of education and experience, not degrees, not the selfishness of having a good time and maintaining the normal curriculum, but taking these and pushing the boundaries for ourselves and for students to learn the same lesson.  Hence, the difference between a teacher and an educator.

Respecting Francis Alys and his delving into issues of immigration, diaspora, Afghanistan and the affects on its children, expression, and art, the conceptions we have of everyday occurrences (Seeing Alys literally dive INTO a Mexican tornado – the hair stood up on my whole body!) – and so much more – it would be worth seeing this exhibit on a variety of levels.  I am excited to explore the many more countless experiences that await me this summer to grow as a librarian, a Media Specialist, an educator, and as a person.

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Unexpected Moments of Beauty, Expression, and Meaning?

Posted on July 4, 2015 by Harry Brake

Screen Shot 2015-07-04 at 2.56.51 AMI realize now, many things I should have done, seen, or somewhere I should have been already – yet, often there seems to be a reason why the wait was so long.  For example, I have been in Mexico and never been to a beach in four years – why?  NO IDEA,  but I feel the reason will be that much stronger and clearer when it happens.   I have never, ever, seen West Side Story, ever.  Live or on video, Ever.  June 1st, I realized why.

You are well aware of when all odds are against you, correct?  Let me paint  brief picture – taking hours in a taxi when it would hopefully take minutes, hundreds of pesos versus single digits for a fare, sending packages that cost double instead of half, an obvious waste of money that sends you into frustration with the extra time you spend to earning it, running to the Auditorio Nacional with five minutes to spare, having the heavens dump every ounce of rain on you in the meantime, to find you had over 2o minutes to spare, this is all just for starters, sitting in the wrong section of the Auditorio to find a couple anxiously awaiting their seat, on and and one, sometimes the hits keep coming and seem to have no end.

With Alondra de la Parra directing Jerome Robbins and Authur Laurent’s West Side Story June 1st, and despite knowing I had purchased a pretty hefty ticket, I had no idea how all these events could and would be wiped away in one event that absorbed all the problems of the week, and just released them.  And yet it occurred.

The sheer depth and size of the Auditorio National is breathtaking enough, (you’re right, I have never been in there before) – but I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was to see I was in the very front row – the stun factor took several minutes)-  Perhaps one of the best moments all evening was viewing the reel of West Side Story, the original, on the huge screen coordinated with Alondra de la Parra conducting the orchestra to match the movie seamlessly.  The silhouette of the strings seeped into the screen of West Side Story, and resembled a work of art in it’s view from where I sat.   The music just seemed to natually emanate from the video, only on such a more powerful scale, but then you feel, you literally FEEL the depth and volume of the orchestra, and amid it all, Alondra de la Parra throwing such energy into the direction the whole time, this whole night was magic and it was easy to get caught up in the emotions of recognition, depth of feeling, and beauty on the stage.

Seeing the originality of the choreography, the actors, (Natalie Wood!), the immediate reaction when I recognized songs that had come from Into the Woods and just other places, that I had no idea previously came from West Side Story? – I was so excited to locate the places I had heard these while at the same seeing them develop in front of me on screen and under Ms de la Parra’s direction.  I know in my heart of hearts, I would have never truly appreciated the beauty that I received had I viewed West Side Story before this on film – this was such a rapture of emotion and power captured in artists of the past and a director and orchestra of the present, I found little in words that could celebrate this feeling of talent on all fronts.

I loved – LOVED the fact that Alondra de la Parra does little characteristic-like additions all around to enhance the experience – hence – during intermission asking the audience to Tweet their favorite score up to that point in the production (I have to say mine was America), and at the end, Ms. de la Parra opened up the pit as a salsa dance floor and invited the audience to dance to their jazzed up salsa/synco beat piece that pumped right through your veins.  Leonard Bernstein was a genius, and to see his work in full force through Alondra de la Parra? – priceless.  Her energy and passion for her immediate direction was again flashed through everyone in the audience.

I was fortunate enough when Repentino.’s founder, Camila de la Parra, invited me to a dinner celebrating her graduation.  I had no idea the deep connections within her family of Mane de la Para and Alondra de la Parra, and yet, there we were, all dining, laughing, and talking under one roof.  I would never, and will never forget how amazingly talented, personable, and beautiful they were in the relationships of family, their experiences that revealed their joking nature, and the down to earth contributions they make from their hearts.  Seeing Alondra de la Parra on stage was a magic moment in connecting what I had witnessed previously in her person individually, and I appreciate the humbleness and the talents of this family Camila always maintained but never bragging, each member letting their talents speak for themselves. Walking away after midnight on this July 1st production of West Side Story, I had not only witnessed a first for myself, but realized how many first’s I have yet to experience in the beauty I have come to know as Mexico.  I am not sure anything else could ever be wanted in life!

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Man’s Best Friend

Posted on June 29, 2015 by Harry Brake

As the dust has just begun to settle on the 2014-2105 school year – I realize only in bits that the year was such a jam -packed one full of exciting achievements, but that came at a cost, a cost of seeing this past school whip by so fast while I found myself in the throes of so many projects, seeing them through did take so incredibly much time.  Often, when things slow down you realize what a sensational year it has been, but then I find myself, now in my third week of Cub Camp ( Reading and Writing summer camp for 4-6 year olds) rewarding but also yearning for the first few weeks where I can see the days becoming empty and allowing my paths to take me where I want to go, no necessary plans for designation required.  In the middle of all these reflections, you as everyone knows, there is always room for mishap.  Such is the tale that I must tell.  I think it might have begun the day I finally (a good outcome)  fixed the side mirrors on my truck thanks to the recommendation of David Kitchin, and yet, I did forget about the hole in my right pocket which I realized was the way the 200 pesos that used to be there disappeared!  This truly seemed to be the precursor for a spiral of bad chain events that are known to occur off and on.

My cats fight, and especially the kitten that fell four stories and has adapted and healed well from that injury and yet, there is a reacquainting process of the two females to get used to each other all over again, until that truce happens, truly they are at war.  In once such epic battle, I separated the two and of course, Dewey’s claw became lodged in my left back hand, undoing it and shaking it off among the other war wounds from pas cat epics in our household.

The next morning, the epic battle was a little different, and over the course of the next 3-4 days, my hand resembled a helium balloon, something that you would see over the skies of New York during the Macy’s parade, not even human really.

In the middle of this twits of events, I went out, walking the dogs, hand definitely swelled and unable to really hold a grip, and after a long pass of walking and as we neared home, of course the inevitable.  My keys – no where on me.  Of course you get that sweaty nervous prickly feeling along your back when you know you just might be in big trouble.  I was, I walked the route I had just been on no less than 6 times and no sign of my Pirates lanyard, keys within the last hour – gone without a sign.  I also realized, kind of non-related to my keys, this was a vote in the direction of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  No less than three years ago I sent my Kendall Pirates Jersey to be dry cleaned, (a great gift from my friend Umar) – only to have the cleaners be unaware of where it went when I received my clothes back, that was a mistake to let it go into the general dry cleaning round up – so if anyone one of you happen to know how I can reobtain a Kendall Pirates Jersey, please send that my way?) – and now my Pittsburgh Pirates lanyard – gone – hmmmmm I still have my Pittsburgh Pirates wind jersey and plan on not letting that out of the house as you hear people say, third time is the charm.

As you might have guessed, no keys to enter the apartment building, my dog walker did have a set but the actual person walking my dog lived 3 1/2 hours away, that would not work on a 11:00 PM night now, and on top of that, how would I get into my apartment to get what I needed for summer camp tomorrow? (A Wednesday).  Finally, with the light being able to be seen in my apartment but no way in, and three dogs in tow, and talking to my dog walker, (while my hand felt like a 3 million pound part of the Statue of Liberty) – I was offered to stay at my dog walkers, with my dogs, until morning when the dog walker assigned to my apartment came at 7:15 AM and I could get copies, get in, etc..  This would mean a day off just to try and take care also of my hand, my keys, and getting copies made.  However, who else would let me crash at their place in a time of emergency with three dogs?  Really?  – Walking Dog and Andres has truly saved me in so many tight spots and done  things way beyond the call of duty, often not related to walking dogs or dog care, that simply lets me enjoy and be optimistic in the darkest of moments.  There are few organization, few friends, and few individuals willing to keep the power of optimism up when you are in the full octane mode of negativity, and yet, those friends that do so rub off on you just as if a scene of friends that bring negativity begin to rub off on you after a time.

Add onto that Andres from Walking Dog taking me to a great puesto, Annie Veggie,  on Saturday and tasting perhaps one of the best vegetarian yet taste-like meat meals ever at Screen Shot 2015-06-29 at 11.00.51 PMAnnie Veggie, and I have to give it to him.  His ability to go the extra mile to help someone, as well as his care and love of the dogs under his care, of course make his service the best in Mexico City, but also a great friend to have to provide the pickup when you feel things pile on and in the best of moments you have no solutions amid the anger you feel.

It all ends well, I obtained two sets of keys, for myself, for the neighbors who looks after the apartment building, and finally a doctor came and thanks to four HUGE shots and still meds coming in to fight off any lingering signs of the cellulitis I had in my hand – things have gone back to normal as far as size, strength and feeling, as as I walked home tonight saying goodbye to a good friend leaving Mexico for the states at the end of his career here in Mexico, I realize, how incredibly lucky I am and I wish I would realize that in the middle of events of crisis to be able to de-scalate from the apprehension and stress I feel the moment it is occurring.  There is a calmness when you are so tired – and finally, from being so tired from simply what could be stress, weariness, or frustration, that takes over and just lets you go about working things out until solved.  For me, I wish it did not take me to get to the point of exhaustion to calmly eliminate problems one at a time instead of hurtling at them full steam ahead.

It is a pretty large learning curve, for example when I cam to Mexico, I needed to break away from the disappointments and stress I have been internalizing for several years.  When I did become a little lower high strung with worry, I still found some aspects of anxiety would remain, but not nearly as they had been a whole package.  For that feeling, there is no single word that can express the relief of not having to expect bad outcomes when you just convince yourself to work through them.

I realize in small moments still, even after becoming a much calmer person in the face of opposition and conflicts, that life is just that way.  I have a long way yet to fulfill my goal to be very calm and unaffected by the worry that might sway back and forth in random moments, but the key is to be thankful for the basics comforts that push you past the current trials you  might go through.

In coming across this inspiring video of a father/son GoPro trip, you realize how much ability we each have to make life just simply better all around.  I still am so thankful for the amazing students, colleagues, family, and friends that make my life even better every day.  Even in the throes of frustration, there are so many moments of joy, the strength to find those very moments allows you to laugh at those frustrations and make you even stronger.  I am finding out every day how much better my life becomes due to how I can help others- and finding opportunities to do so.  I can think of no better place for this to occur than in Mexico!

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The Art of Serving – Ketsia Aurele Spotlight in Haiti

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Harry Brake

Screen Shot 2015-06-28 at 9.33.06 PMI am a bonafide true believer of what you give of yourself, helps discover new chapters of your own life. The more you dive into investing in others you find yourself ever so clearer. When I heard former Seaford High student Ketsia Aurelia was traveling to Haiti and needed support, there was a no brainer to help support her. I was able to briefly inquire on the details of her plans and this is what we discussed in how she would work with Mission of Hope –

Screen Shot 2015-06-28 at 9.35.14 PMQ- Can we begin with that will be your main objective in heading to Haiti?

A – I will be working with the medical mobile clinics and providing free healthcare to those in villages who can’t afford it.

Q – How long will you be there and where?
A- For 9 weeks, June 6-August 12. I will be staying in Titanyen, a town outside of the capital of Port Au Prince.

Q – How did you hear about this opportunity?
A – I heard about it through searching for it. I wanted to go back to the country where my parents were from, serve and go help out. I just looked up Haiti Mission Trips and Mission of Hope Haiti is the first linked that popped up, so I looked into it pretty hard, though about it for a while and eventually decided to apply there!

Q – Did you pick that area or was this a choice by a group you are going with? What are the most immediate needs there right now and why Haiti and not Nepal or another area in need?
A- No, I didnt choose there but MOH (Mission of Hope) has a campus there and that’s where they do a lot of their work, they have a hospital, orphange, and a school there, along with a church.
The immediate needs there in Haiti are probably jobs. There aren’t enough jobs available and because of that, it’s one of the poorest countries. People are struggling to find jobs, pay their bills, bring their children to school, or even have food to eat. People are still recovering from the earthquake there in 2010 and MOH have helped built about 400 homes for people that were moved into tents because their house has collapsed, so MOH is helping out all around.

Q- How does going to Haitia align with a philosophy you see as you begin work exiting college?
A-Well, it will definitely help me as a nurse because working in the medical clinics. I will be hands-on and touching medical supplies, interacting with patients and overall it will make me more aware of the conditions of people that cannot afford healthcare, and how small things can help save their lives. I will definitely be more appreciative of what of I have and because of it, I may be more of an activist for healthcare for those that really need it and can’t afford it.

Q- So in the future – do you plan on returning to the states as a career and visit Haiti on trips periodically to assist? Where do you see yourself wanting to be in 15 years regarding your status in your profession?
A- Well right now, I definitely want to go back to the United States and work, and will definitely want to take trips back here and there to volunteer. I am not sure if I would want to go back to Haiti and work more long term there, but it is not a far-fetched idea because I am sure after this experience I would not want to leave! So in 15 years, I want to be as a working nurse, but not sure to where I will be!

Q- Have you carried anything you acquired in high school or in college with you that will help you with this experience? Some experiences may or may not at all, just curious…
Do you feel studying at the University of Delaware was the right choice for you, and what do you feel has been the highlight for studying in your field at U of D?
A – Well in college I learned that people are very different then me, that people come from various backgrounds and have different persepectives on things especially financially and it made me even more aware of how huge that gap is here in the U.S. and how it is in Haiti. I will probably get to see the poorest of the poor there while also getting to see the well privedlged and the tourists there.

I feel like studying at UD was a great choice. The nursing program is great there, it taught me to get out of my box and it also challenged me a lot academically. It motivated me more and help me explore more of this country.

Q- What advice would you have to individuals interested in the nursing professions and thinking about entering the field? Also, how will they know if this is the profession for them based on what you have learned?
A – The advice I would give is to work and study hard. Practice the skills as much as you can and do not be afraid to ask questions. We don’t have all the answers. Nursing is very difficult but also rewarding. If you find a joy in helping people and find it in the end how rewarding it is, you know its the profession for you. At the end of the day If it brings a smile to your face, it is for you. There will be tough times, but all nursing students get through it if you are motivated enough.

Q- What fears do you have about travelling to Haiti? Have you been there or old enough to remember anything about Haiti? What are your expectations of Haiti during this trip? – What do you feel most nervous about this trip?
A- I have never been on an airplane so I am afraid of that! I have never been to Haiti, so this will be my first time experiencing my families’ home, and the culture to the fullest. I am most nervous about communicating in the language. I can fully undertand creole and can get by in speaking it, but I am not fluent in it. That is my insecurity and I feel because of that I will not be able to fully express myself to other Haitians. I feel that may be a roadblock or struggle while I am there.

To follow the progress and updates that Ketsia has been experiencing since her arrival in Haiti, you can check out her blog at this address:

https://ketsiaholyliving.wordpress.com

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Museo del Juguete Antiguo Mexico – The Past, Present and Now Wrapped into One Forever Child

Posted on June 28, 2015 by Harry Brake

Neighbors.   Sometimes we often forget how close we are to someone and never quite know them.  When I brought a pile of extra materials to my house from friends moving back to the states, (file cabinets, plants, pots, more) and gave a lot of extras to them – boy did I also come across a discovery.  Meeting Roberto Shimizu, REALLY meeting him, after sharing an apartment floor with him for over 2 years was one of the largest educations I received in one day, and I was able to learn just from the observations of his collections at the Screen Shot 2015-06-28 at 3.53.49 PMMuseo del Jugete Antiguo in Mexico City.  Mr. Shimizu found ME  Mr Shimizu and meon the first floor Screen Shot 2015-06-28 at 2.52.20 PMwithin minutes of entering the building and had this ease and proudness of a collection that I had yet to realize – but by the end of the day, I would be stunned into being unaware of this magical spot up to this point, as well as privileged to be able to discovery so much history of Mexico, the United States, and other countries ALL in one location.

In seeing a father and daughter in front of before even entering, I has one complimentary ticket and they obviously did not have the funds to enter, I slipped them a ticket and I think this made their experience possible  🙂  I felt that was a good deed needing done for the day. and this was an opportunity it felt was not to be missed!

The memories that hit you from floor to floor of toys of the past – they are just amazing, then you learn about the amazing history of so much, the original neon sign of what was the symbol of this first location of display, the huge (two story) Mardi Gras mask in the center of the museum (from a famous nightclub in Mexico in Doctores)  that still has moving eyes and yet, people scraped the real gold off the one tooth that you can still see, the amazing collection of Mexican historical pieces that define all levels of Mexican history, the largest display of Harry Potter in the WORLD (heck, I thought I just walked into Ollivander’s Shop on Diagonal Alley, of every wand possible on one wall alone, then there is a real snake, the collections of magazines of Harry Potter, figurines, spells, more than you can ever imagine, and you only get a TIP of the iceberg of what you will experience in the GEM of a museum.  Downstairs the food is amazing in Japanese style, and you continue to see pieces of collections that will truly just blow your mind.

The collector that brought this collection to Museo del Juguete Antiguo, is a real estate lawyer Menahem Asher Silva Vargas has been certified by Guinness Awards as the largest anywhere but there are so many secrets to discover on every floor.  In fact, you are not sure if the exhibits that are being held by some of the most creative cases are the art or if the exhibits themselves are the art (Sputnik relics, former movie theatre showcase lights, an old Dodge wooden wheel as a display case, these are nothing compared to some of the other showcases themselves allow you to take them in before you even get to the exhibit!

From Batman to Robin, to EVERY imaginable item you knew or didn’t know – overwhelming is just a small little way to describing the wonder of this amazing amazing museum backed by culture so thick, it is easy to get lost in the nostalgia and volumes of culture.

Add to that an amazing guide, Jonathan Sanchez that came over to guided us through some amazing aspects without us even asking.  He showed us a very unknown roof that houses illustrations from artists all over the world, and the like that you just have to take it all in, that your are not dreaming, while the background of Mexico surrounds you as you lose yourself in the art.

I have way too many pictures than I can show here, but perhaps one will show you just how amazing of things you will find here, Screen Shot 2015-06-28 at 3.38.31 PM(the details of every exhibit is what will amaze you as well) and this is a drop in an ocean of what you will see, and more importantly, feel!

You have until June 30th to see the Happy Potter exhibit, you will not be disappointed!

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