Category: school

creativity, curiosity, election, learning, school

This just in: Stay curious

Christa Avampato
Follow your curiosity
Follow your curiosity

“Curiosity about life in all of its aspects, I think, is still the secret of great creative people.” ~Leo Burnett

If there’s one attribute I’d like to see held up above all others in our society, and especially in our schools, I would have to say curiosity. It’s where every exploration, internal and external, begins. It’s a trait that never goes out of style and I believe if we keep after it, it’s always rewarded in ways great and small. It boosts our happiness, our sense of accomplishment. Curiosity connects us to people and places, even ones we may never see in-person. It provides the path to contribute to our world in a meaningful and profound way that will last far beyond our own existence. Curiosity is the root of everything meaningful, and isn’t that what we’re all after?

 

economy, education, school, teaching

Beautiful: Keep It Positive – Another Lesson from Darden

Christa Avampato

bc2863aa70521ea32889f841ae1607c6“We have to be positive, right? What’s the alternative? Anything else is just a waste of time.” ~ Frank Warnock, my Economics professor at Darden

It’s back-to-school time and I’ve been thinking a lot about my teachers lately. I decided to reach out to them to say thank you for the incredible lessons they taught me. I wrote about my marketing professor, Robert Spekman, earlier this week and then sent him a note. Today, I want to tell you about Frank Warnock, one of my Economics professors at Darden. Frank is brilliant, but his brilliance isn’t what set him apart for me. It was his attitude.

Frank taught us the power of attitude in a class during a particularly tough case. The whole class was feeling pretty badly about the options before the main characters in the case and what they were going to have to do to save their company. Frank recognized we were going nowhere fast and to get us to buck up, he uttered the lines at the beginning of this post. They were like a lightning rod for me. These were the words I thought about all the time from 2008 – 2012 when I worked in financial services.

Attitude was, and continues to be, everything. I’ve seen it make or break so many people. My choice to be positive rather than negative, especially when it would have been so much easier to be negative, has kept me going through some very dark times.

I wrote this all out in a note to Frank and not surprisingly, he wrote back quickly. Here’s what he said:

“Hi Christa,
Wonderful to hear from you. And great to hear that you’re doing well and have found something you care about. I often think that one of the most important things Darden students need to learn is what exactly they care about, what exactly their preferences are.

I learned early on that attitude is vital. I absolutely hated a particular job about a month into it, felt that I was misunderstood by the boss, and was very close to being fired (which would have been fine with me). I then started repeating to myself over and over again, every day, “I love my job, I love my job, I love my job”. Within a week or so I forgot all about saying that…being positive helped turn everything around and more or less launched my career. Being positive is at times more difficult – it takes an extra step – but it is always the best way forward.

Best,
Frank”

Now that’s a teacher in the truest sense of the word.

children, education, game, gaming, school, science, teaching, technology, video games

Beautiful: The Launch of the National STEM Video Game Challenge

Christa Avampato

5367881478-1I’m excited to announce that the National STEM Video Game Challenge, the project that I work on at the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, is now open and accepting submissions. The deadline to enter is April 24th and we will hold a culminating awards event in June. It is free to enter and students can work on their own or in teams.

The STEM Challenge is a youth video game making competition that encourages kids in grades 5 -12 to submit playable video games. Last year, the Challenge attracted almost 4,000 submissions. All the of details about the Challenge, a listing of free game making workshops happening across the country, and a host of resources to help kids, as well as their teachers, parents, and mentors, create games are available at the STEM Challenge website: http://stemchallenge.org. If you are interested in being a judge, are a game making professional, or are interested in doing outreach for the Challenge, I would love to hear from you!

Please let me know if you have any questions. I’ll be glad to answer them. I can’t wait to see what you create. Let the games begin!

community, community service, generosity, safety, school, stress

Leap: Healing for Newtown, Connecticut

Christa Avampato
From Pinterest
From Pinterest

I was at the dentist when I first saw the news yesterday about Newtown, Connecticut. I am heartbroken for everyone impacted by this horrific event. So much will be revealed in the coming days – motives, names, faces, details of the event, tears. A great deal of healing will be necessary.

For many months I have been thinking about how Compass Yoga can make a difference in the world in these kind of circumstances – tragedies that cause so much trauma, grief, and pain in their aftermath, even long after they’ve ceased to be front page news. I believe we have something to offer; that we have the ability to mobilize a great wave of healing, support, and compassion in the face of unspeakable events.

In the new year, I’m going to find a way to bring this mobilization of healing to life. I wish it weren’t needed but in 2012 alone so many people in our country have endured unprecedented amounts of pain and loss. We must do more to stand up for them, to stand beside them, to be Earthly angels that help light the way forward.

education, learning, school

Leap: Leave Your Business Alone, or What I Learned from Jeremy Gleick

Christa Avampato
Jeremy Gleick. Photo by Peter DaSilva for The New York Times.

I’d never heard of Jeremy Gleick until this weekend. On a snowy Saturday, the first snowy day of the year, Phineas and I were snuggled up in our apartment. He in his bed with his favorite squeaky toy and me on the couch with the New York Times. There was a special education section in the paper and Jeremy Gleick was featured in an article appropriately titled “Renaissance Man.”

Several years ago, Jeremy instituted the Learning Hour in his life. Every day for 4 years he has set aside an hour every single day, no matter where he is or what’s happening in his life, to learn something new and completely unrelated to his school work. (Jeremy is a sophomore at UCLA.) He has just crossed the 1000th hour mark.

I read this article astounded at his dedication and foresight at such a young age. I found myself thinking, “Wouldn’t it be great to have that extra time?” And then I remembered my post from just a few days ago on finding time. I do have the time; what makes the difference is how I choose to use it. I write every day. I do yoga every day. I take care of my dog, teach yoga and meditation, run a nonprofit, and maintain a fulfilling social life. Is there another hour in there for something totally unrelated to all of my current projects? And if there is, wouldn’t it be better spent working on one of the projects I already have going on?

I settled in to my meditation to think about this idea, and from deep within I could feel an answer rise – “Christa, you can’t work on your business all the time.” Sometimes that little voice has a point so good I can’t ignore it. It was right – I need to give myself more of a break. And it doesn’t make me lazy and it doesn’t mean I lack commitment. It just means I’m human.

As we maintain a full-time job and try to build a side business at the same time, it’s tempting to use all our free time for work. This isn’t healthy or wise. We need to maintain a balance. We need time away, learning things that have absolutely nothing to do with any of our current work. Our bodies need rest; so do our brains and our imaginations.

Replenish the well by learning something new!

career, choices, school, student

Beginning: The Process and Product of a Career

Christa Avampato

A friend of mine recently asked me for some advice on how to get into the kind of work I do. I’m currently a product developer in the mobile space, and my first question to her was, “Why do you want to do this kind of work?” She was a little surprised though my interest in the answer was very genuine. She talked about how much she loves technology and how much it does for us to help keep us connected. That’s the end product, and I wanted to know what work, day-to-day, she really enjoyed doing.

The wow of an end-product and the work that goes into making that product are two very different things. I think losing sight of this idea leads many people to jobs they end up disliking. (Though the stats vary widely from study to study, it’s estimated that between 60% and 80% of Americans dislike their jobs.) This is completely understandable – it’s a fine nuance to get our heads around. I started out at Penn as an undergraduate in the engineering school. I loved science and math all through school, and so I thought engineering would blend the two nicely. Plus, I loved the end products of engineering.

I was quickly very unhappy in my classes. I hated the actual work of engineering. What I found I loved was understanding the engineers themselves. How could they possibly sit by themselves in labs for so many long hours. Didn’t they want to talk to anyone? I was fascinated by their focus.

It took me a long time to learn what careers were really for me – those that involve understanding the human mind and the choices we make. I love people and knowing what makes them tick. I want to know why when confronted with choices A, B, and C, they go for C under one set of circumstances and B under another set of circumstances, or even more interestingly, why they sometimes make no choice at all. And then I like to see how those choices impact their lives and the lives of those around them. (After I realized this interest of mine, I became a double major in Economics and History with a minor in Psychology. These are areas of study that all pivot around the psychology of choice, my favorite subject.)

So if you’re looking to start a new career, or you’re trying to understand how on Earth you got yourself into a career that really isn’t for you, my advice is to focus on process. Don’t be so concerned with what you’re creating; consider the act of creation that’s most exciting for you. Don’t let what you’ll be overshadow what you’ll actually do. A career is an action more than it is a title.

economy, school, wellness

Beginning: My Favorite Economic Principle

Christa Avampato
From Dr. Marc Dussault

“We are spurred by our personal goals tempered by reality.” ~ Bill Flax

You might be surprised to learn that my primary major in college was economics. I bounced around from the School of Engineering to several life science majors to international relations and then ended up loving economics. 7 years after undergard, I went to business school and econ was one of my favorite classes while many of my other classmates groaned at the thought of it.

The economy is the world’s largest machine, dynamic and always being tinkered with. It is the manifestation of our collective consciousness, our hopes and fears, our expectations, disappointments, and triumphs. It is our living, breathing history.

Bil Flax’s article in Forbes Magazine this month reminded me of how much we have to learn from watching the economy. He clearly and succinctly lays out its main tenants in a single page. He untangles some of the mystery and takes out the trepidation felt by those just beginning to study the economy. He brings it to a human level. He reminded me of why I majored in econ and the principle that driven my entire career – leverage.

In recent months leverage has gotten a bad wrap. It’s connotation denotes reckless spending and irresponsibility. The kind of leverage I’m talking about is the opportunity to make a difference. Think about what you’re doing every day. How many people is it helping? And in helping those people, are they enabled to then help others, and so on down the line. I’m in the process of making my next career move and this definition of leverage has been on my mind a lot lately. My greatest wish is to be useful, to look back from the other side of this life and say, “What I did with my days made an enormous difference in the lives of others. I helped as many people as I possibly could.”

So how am I going to get there? I’m going to lever up. I’m going to inspire, encourage, and provide wellness in all its forms to people who want to help others be well. This is economics at work.

children, education, school

Step 274: Help Donorschoose.org Seal a $1M Deal to Fund Public Education Programs

Christa Avampato

It’s understandable that some people are skeptical about nonprofit organizations. We work hard for our money and when we give it away, where does it go? There are organizations like Charity Navigator that provide objective ratings of nonprofits, though in this economy ratings agencies of all kinds have drawn criticism. I’ve always found that restricted giving, donations that go to a specific nonprofit program designated by the donor, are a good avenue for people who want more control over where their donations go.

Donorschoose.org takes restricted giving to an even more personal level. With their platform, donors select the specific classrooms and classroom projects they want to fund at public schools all over the country. Fine art in New Orleans, Spanish in Chicago, basic kindergarten skills in Topeka, reading in Anaheim. It’s your money; you decide what initiatives to fund at Donorschoose.org.

Now, we have the chance to help public school children across the U.S. to get the programming and materials they need to succeed. And it won’t cost you a dime – only a few seconds of your time and a couple clicks of your computer. American Express will donate $1M to Donorschoose.org if 100,000 people like you and me pledge to help public education in the one of the following ways by the end of the day today, October 1st:

– Donate school supplies to a local school
– Host a foreign exchange student
– Tutor a struggling student
– Volunteer time at a local library (that’s the one I chose!)
– Help a child learn to read

American Express will then email you to let you know about opportunities to fulfill your pledge to volunteer on behalf of public education. Click here, and let’s help Donorschoose.org make a difference in our communities.

children, education, environment, school, science

Step 273: Environment Science Gets Its Due in Maryland Classrooms

Christa Avampato

My friend, Michael, author of Like a Fish In Water, sent me a link about environmental education in the Maryland Public School System. Previously, the system only required a single lesson on environmental education some time between kindergarten and 12th grade. Now, environmental science must be woven into the curriculum, covering specific topics. Originally, the mandate was to establish a separate environmental science as a graduation requirement. That original mandate didn’t pass but getting more environmental science into the curriculum within existing subjects is a start.

It still shocks me that many people don’t see the connection between caring for the environment and public health, that they don’t understand that there is no such thing as an unlimited natural resource. There are limits to the stresses that our environment can withstand, and we are running up against those limits at a frightening pace. Kids have to know how their actions impact the environment, and it’s our responsibility to teach them how to care for our shared world.

Additionally, the environment is a practical, truly tangible platform that can be used to enhance learning opportunities across a variety of subjects, physical and chemical sciences, math, history, and design to name a few. It opens the door to discussing higher education and career planning. It makes the facts we learn in school relevant and applicable in the world that surrounds us.

Nature is an infinite, wise, and patient teacher if only we will sit with her a while to hear what she has to say and see what she has to reveal to us. It’s a living, breathing lab for us to explore and wonder at It’s the closest thing we have on Earth to divinity, and I’m glad Maryland students will finally get the chance to learn more. Hopefully, other states will hop on board, too.

For a link to the full article, click here.

children, education, school

Step 272: Class Size Isn’t the Be All End All of Education

Christa Avampato

An article appeared in the New York Times yesterday showcasing a Massachusetts school that didn’t let large class sizes stop them from improving test scores. By bringing writing and reading assignments into every school subject (gym included!) The school is now outperforming 90% of other schools in Massachusetts. Reading and writing bring to bear creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, and enhanced language capabilities. They foster independence, making class size less of a factor in academic success.

The debate about size has raged on in a number of areas: raising kids in the country versus the city, large university lecture halls versus small seminars, big corporations versus family run small businesses. Each has its pros and cons. For the past several years, small classroom size in public schools has been a hot-button issue. The example of the Massachusetts school doesn’t give us a definitive answer one way or the other, and maybe that’s the point. Any circumstances can breed success – it’s the individuals that comprise the group that can truly make the difference.

To read the full article about the school in Massachusetts, click here. What do you think? Is class size as big an issue as we make it out to be?