Archive for the 'Culture' Category
by Tom Perkins
Ann Arbor.com
Freshmen biology students at Ypsilanti High School recently started a new lesson, and when they stepped through the door of room 114, they didn’t know what was in store. But one thing was certain – it was “Sowder time.”
For the hour of the day that’s known as such, students receive an education delivered by Hans Sowderевтини мебели, the 2010 recipient of the Michigan Science Teachers Association “Science Teacher of the Year” award.
“I was surprised that I won, but it really charged me for that two-day week,” said Sowder, who learned about the honor via e-mail on Nov. 23.
Among other reasons, the 10-year Ypsilanti High veteran was chosen for the award for exhibiting a passion for teaching, developing innovative teaching strategies and being an excellent role model for students.
When three of his ninth-grade biology students were asked what they liked best about Sowder’s class, all three replied in unison, “Labs!”
“We’re not in here just sitting around, we’re actually getting up and doing something,” Zachary Meyer said.
On a recent day, Sowder had his students learning about the respiratory system and carbon dioxide production in the body. Using a straw, they exhaled into a pink solution of sodium hydroxide and phenolphthalein. When the kids blew into the liquid, the carbon dioxide coming out of their bodies, which is a base, turned the acidic solution clear more quickly, depending on how much of the gas was exhaled.
By taking one another’s pulses and breaking out stethoscopes to track heart rates, his students could measure how much of the gas their bodies produced while in a normal state.
But that’s just one day. The next day, the students would run several laps around the indoor track in the gymnasium and take the same measurements. On the third day, Sowder dimmed the lights, sparked some incense, turned on relaxing music and had students take the same measurements.
By the end, the students had a data table exhibiting how much carbon dioxide their bodies produced under various conditions, demonstrating a connection between its production and heart rate and pulse. “When they’re able to see those connections, it’s powerful,” Sowder said. “They start to understand what’s going on inside their body.”
Influential to Sowder’s educational approach are his experiences in classrooms across the globe – from three years teaching in Cameroon with the Peace Corps to a year at an Alaskan school in a remote “fly-in” village with his wife, to Kettering High School in Detroit.
Sowder said his years at Kettering were particularly educational because he learned to wear many hats – that of a teacher, father figure and friend. “I loved developing much richer relationships there,” he said. “That was something that was exciting at the time.”
Sowder further credits his colleagues, especially at YHS, for inspiring him and setting an example on how to excel in education.
“I have learned so much from my other colleagues, and I wouldn’t be the teacher I am had I worked in a vacuum,” he said. “There have been a lot of teachers in my life trying new things and not being afraid to do so, and I’ve taken pieces from what I’ve seen of them.”
Sowder said it’s his obligation to provide the students with an education. “I’m going to expect excellence from them every single minute of the hour, but I’m going to give it to them as well,” he said.
Sowder said he considers himself “on stage’ while teaching, and his passion for science is no small part of what keeps students engaged. “Science is so excellent,” he said. “It’s the study of all that’s been created around us, and it’s a wonderful to understand intricacies and complexities of its laws.”
Sowder was nominated for the award by Richard Weigel, the district’s assistant superintendent for educational quality. He will receive an award at a ceremony in March in Lansing.
“Mr. Sowder represents the caliber of highly qualified educators that we have in our district,” Superintendent Dedrick Martin said. “We are very proud of his accomplishments and anticipate that more great things are on the horizon for him.”
Tom Perkins is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.
by: JOHN STANCAVAGE
Tulsa World Business Editor
Sunday, August 23, 2009
When Cindy Cain steps up to the mike, temperatures rise.
The Tulsa singer’s stock in trade is the sensual side of jazz, whether wrapping her husky voice around standards such as “Make Love to Me,” “The Man I Love” and “Something Cool,” or leading a spirited call-and-response on the chorus of the jump-blues “Banana Tree.”
Even in that last tune, which Cain wrote, it doesn’t take long to grasp that the object of her desire has an appeal that’s far beyond agriculture.
Those four songs are among the standouts on Cain’s new album, “Rhythm & Romance,” recorded live last spring in the Primo Room at Brookside’s Ciao restaurant. Cain will hold a release party for the CD there Saturday night.
“I guess there can’t be any harm in being perceived as sexy or sultry,” Cain said with a chuckle during an interview. “But, really, the songs on this record are mainly those done by singers whose voices I’m attracted to.”
Cain quickly names Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae as three jazz legends at the top of her list.
Like those vocalists, Cain has an impressive range and power to spare. Another trait the local artist shares with them is she goes full-throttle only when it serves the song. Otherwise, she focuses on such increasingly rare skills as nuance and phrasing.
Cain, who was born in New Mexico but grew up in Pryor, has built an impressive resume. She has a roomful of awards, many earned during years spent performing professionally in Washington, D.C.
The singer decided to return to Tulsa in 2001 after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that involves the central nervous system.
“I didn’t know what trajectory it would take, so I decided to move back home,” she said.
Until now, she hasn’t spoken publicly about the MS. Apart from sapping her energy from time to time, however, the ailment has proved to be manageable. One only has to look at the 50-year-old Cain’s hectic schedule this year to see that’s true.
Along with four months of pre- and post-production on “Rhythm & Romance,” she gigged steadily with a blues band and had one of the lead roles in the SummerStage production “Onstage at the Midnight Social Club,” along with fellow jazz divas Pam Van Dyke Crosby, Rebecca Ungerman and Annie Ellicott.
And, like many musicians, Cain holds down a day job. She handles marketing and public relations for an area telecommunications firm.
Cain’s dual careers are the product of an adventurous streak that started after her graduation from Oklahoma State University in 1983.
She initially spent a few years as a newspaper reporter. Tiring of the crime beat, she volunteered for the Peace Corps and taught English in a government school in Cameroon. That’s when she began to dabble in music, performing in a restaurant for food and drinks.
“I had these cassette tapes that I had stolen from my mother,” Cain remembers. “‘Make Love to Me’ was on one of those tapes. That’s how long I’ve been singing that song.”
In 1989, Cain moved to Washington, D.C., to work as press secretary for U.S. Rep. Dave McCurdy. Her growing love for jazz and blues took her to the area’s many clubs, first to sing for fun and later full-time after McCurdy lost an election.
“From 1995 to 2000, I played about 140 shows a year,” she said. “It was hard work. I had to make about 20 phone calls to get each gig, and I needed 20 gigs a month to make a living.”
During that time, she put together a demo tape, which remains unreleased, and recorded her first album — a rhythm-and-blues-oriented collection called “Love Contest.” That 1998 CD still is for sale on Amazon.com.
After returning to Tulsa, her mother took her to Tulsa Jazz Society events, and Cain quickly found her niche on the local scene.
With a weekly shot keeping her MS in check, Cain hasn’t lost her restless nature. Over the past few years, she has maintained a calendar of steady jazz gigs and also can be heard playing cabaret, blues or country-roots as the mood strikes her.
She even recorded an album of original, Americana-flavored songs in 2006. The disk, “In Your Impala,” didn’t stray far from the Cain template, with the cover depicting the bare-shouldered singer canoodling with an admirer in a drop-top version of the title automobile.
For the next few months, however, Cain plans to focus on jazz. After all, she’s got a new record to promote.
“Eventually, I want to get the songs from ‘Rhythm & Romance’ on iTunes and (online retailer) CD Baby,” she said. “The record will be in some local stores as well.”
Until then, your best chance to grab a copy is at a live performance, such as Cain’s show Saturday at Ciao.
Be sure to get plenty of ice in your drink, however. The room is about to heat up.
PCV Chris Hill served in Buea from 1974-74, working with credit unions as an advisor. He is now the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq.
From Politico
By: Anne Schroeder Mullins
July 22, 2009 04:50 AM EST
Before launching their careers on Capitol Hill, some congressional lawmakers got their first taste of mudslinging in a productive way — as volunteers in the U.S. Peace Corps. The program has served as an unlikely farm system for future members of Congress. Sen. Chris Dodd and Reps. Sam Farr, Tom Petri, Mike Honda and Steve Driehaus have all been among its ranks.
And it’s not just elected officials who have served in the Peace Corps before making their way to Washington. Journalist Chris Matthews was in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970, writer Maureen Orth was in Colombia from 1964 to 1966 — the same time as Farr — and current Ambassador to Iraq Chris Hill served in Cameroon from 1974 to 1976. (And he thought Africa was tough.)
The Peace Corps, which is hosting an event at the Capitol Visitor Center for staff and interns on Wednesday, gave us a peek at several politicos in their earthy Peace Corps days.
Ambassador Chris Hill
Volunteered in Cameroon (1974-76)
“In one month, I went from being responsible for very little in college to being responsible for the life savings of 6,000 credit union members in Fako Division, Cameroon. The Peace Corps gave me that chance. In many ways, it was the most important job I have ever had.”
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.)
Volunteered in the Dominican Republic (1966-68)
“Over 40 years ago, when I arrived in the Dominican Republic as an English major who spoke almost no Spanish, I was asked a question I’ve been asked a thousand times since: ‘Why did you join the Peace Corps?’ The answer was simple: because an American president asked me to. My experience in the Peace Corps was perhaps the most formidable and richest of my life, and it is why I have spent my life in public service and continue to urge others to serve our great nation.”
Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.)
Volunteered in Colombia (1964-66)
“For two years, I lived amid severe poverty in Medellin, Colombia, helping the poorest of the poor figure out what they wanted from their government and then working with them to get it. I learned firsthand what contributes to poverty, and I’ve worked four decades to defeat it. As my wife said, I’m still a Peace Corps volunteer at heart; I’ve just changed my barrio.”
Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis.)
Volunteered in Somalia (1966-67)
Petri’s spokesman shares this story: “Having finished law school, Petri was assigned to bring some order to Somalia’s legal code. Because of the country’s colonial history, some of the laws were in Arabic, some in Italian and some in English. They were numbered, so if you had a copy of law 100, you knew that there were 99 before it.
“Petri went to the custodian of the laws to request a complete copy. He was told that that would be impossible. He returned over the course of several days, sometimes bringing the custodian tea, and gradually obtained a law or two at a time. Eventually, the custodian took him to a room where the laws were kept, bound in twine and totally ignored.”
Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.)
Volunteered in El Salvador (1965-67)
“My time in El Salvador taught me so much. I went into the Corps as a college student shy of graduation with little direction; I emerged with the confidence that my emotional, psychological and physical limits had been pushed, plied and ultimately surpassed. I went into the Corps driven by the shame of my youthful lack of direction; I emerged determined to do something about the pervasive poverty surrounding me. I went into the Corps speaking one language; I emerged speaking another: Spanish, a gift that introduced me to a new world, gave me a new way of understanding new cultures and helped me connect to constituents in California. The Peace Corps got me back to the basics, and I realized that every day is a gift to be used wisely. That gift is what guides me now in Congress.”
Rep. Steve Driehaus (D-Ohio)
Volunteered in Senegal (1988-90)
“I lived with a family in a village of 300 people, and she lived with us. When I look at this photo, I think I was much younger and I weigh less, and I have less gray in my beard. The Peace Corps was a fantastic experience. It was probably, with the exception of my marriage and my children, the most important experience in my life. Those 2½ years were very valuable. I had a prototypical Peace Corps experience — I lived in a rural area, and you have a far deeper appreciation for how so many millions of people live life around the world that is so different than ours.”
Driehaus adds: “I like to tease the others — they were all serving the year I was born.”
PCV Abba Greenleaf reports that she has a growing quilt-making project going in Cameroon. She is serving in Mayo Darle, Adamawa, as a Health Volunteer, and is originally from Iowa City, Iowa. Before joining the Peace Corps, she studied Public Health at George Washington University.
“I started quilting when I met a woman, Mairama, who is located in a village near the Nigerian border. She is an Umbororo woman who has been in Cameroon for about 9 years, since the Umbororo/Mambila conflict that forced her and her family to flee Nigeria. She was looking for a way to make money and so I taught her how to hand quilt. Now we have 9 women hand quilting and 3 piecing (using a machine to put the pieces together).
“Each month we have a meeting where I teach the women about a health topic and they get paid for their work and receive new work. They are learning, (petit a petit), how to be independent in their work, since I will be leaving Cameroon in December of this year. This means I am teaching them about budgeting, cotising money to buy supplies.
“It has been incredibly exciting to see these women learn the trade, turn it into a beautiful art while at the same time supporting their families. All the quilts are pieced on a machine, then hand quilted. Prices depend on size and the difficulty of the quilt. The smallest quilt usually costs about 15,000 cfa ($30) with the most expensive (large enough to cover a double bed) is usually around $100. All the quilts have pagne, and some are mixed with monotone color fabric to help ease the intensity (pagne is very bright and busy!). As you can see in the pictures, there is also the possibility of using the PC fabric. We chose to mix the fabric with green, yellow and red since those are the national colors. 
However, there are lots of different designs we can try out.
“If people are interested in ordering quilts; the address to use is agreenleafpccam@yahoo.com .
“My village actually just got electricity on the 20th of May, for 4 hours every night, but we are still a long way from Internet!
Cameroon, with one of Africa’s highest rates of deforestation, has set up a new national park to protect gorillas, chimpanzees, elephants and a rare type of antelope called bongo.
Read complete article here
On November 22, 2008, more than twenty Peace Corps volunteers from all over Cameroon and representatives of the NGOs that they work with joined traditional rulers, local elites, public officials, dancers, artisans, and more than 2,000 villagers from all 22 villages of Batibo Sub-Division in a celebration of the culture of the Moghamo people and their partnership with the U.S. Peace Corps.
Local tradition was on display at the grandstand and stadium. Each village decorated its own portion of the field, showcasing prized antiquities, weavings and carvings, traditional garments, and skillfully tapped palm wine. On the center stage, dancers presented more than ten traditional dances, including several which had been becoming extinct, while an announcer explained the significance of each one.
The day was also an opportunity for Peace Corps volunteers to highlight favorite aspects of American culture and expose the community of Batibo to the mission and work of the Peace Corps. In between traditional Moghamo dances, the main stage featured American pop music performances, an expertly choreographed hip-hop dance, and a demonstration of American football, complete with a crowd participation tutorial on
“the wave.”
The field also featured informational booths set up by Peace Corps volunteers and local NGOs, often in collaboration, that provided information and resources in fields such as medicinal plants, small business development, agroforestry, nutrition, irrigation, beekeeping, and community health. Festival-goers were able to learn interactively and make contacts for future projects and collaborations in those areas. In addition, more than 300 people took advantage of the free HIV testing and counseling that was made available on site through the efforts of several volunteers and the Provincial Technical Group.
Ultimately, the day will be remembered not only for the enjoyment and celebration of the moment, but also for the way in which it sparked the process of preserving and presenting Moghamo culture and enhancing awareness and understanding among the Moghamo people of The U.S. Peace Corps and the work of its volunteers.
Plans are already under way for a future edition of the festival, one that will hopefully be even bigger and better than the last!
Hope you enjoy the pictures!
Best regards,
Seth Shapiro
PCV Batibo
