Category: school

school, teaching, yoga

Step 264: Teaching Yoga at Columbia Law School

Christa Avampato

A few days ago, I posted a piece about some shifting priorities and the need for editing in my life. One of the things I’ve been considering is my interest in focusing Compass Yoga on populations that have a hard time accessing yoga classes through traditional studios. Right after I completed my teacher certification, I sent out a load of emails to schools, hospitals, nonprofits, and for-profit companies, some of which yielded some interesting possibilities that never materialized. Getting a regular teaching gig was tougher than I realized.

My friend, Sara, suggested that in addition to reaching out to law firms that I also reach out to law schools to help stressed out students. I started my yoga teaching path with this type of population, teaching a once-a-week yoga class at Darden where I was an MBA student. I offered it up as a free class to help my classmates and to build community. I really liked working with grad school students so Sara’s suggestion got me back on track.

I have one piece of advice for entrepreneurs, and more specifically for teachers who want to teach in unconventional settings: persistence pays. It’s easy to get discouraged and to go running for another piece of certification because somehow we think if we had more credential that then we’d be able to do the work we want to do. Sometimes, this is absolutely true. I’m grateful for my BA, my MBA and my yoga certification – those education experiences changed my life and my view of the world. And then I thought I needed more and more and more certificates to make myself REALLY qualified, when in truth all I want to do is teach yoga to people who can’t, won’t, or choose not to show up at a traditional studio. With this yoga mission, I’m not sure if I need more certifications. There is always more to learn, certainly, though I feel my yoga path going more toward learning by doing.

On the heels of getting my gig at New York Methodist Hospital, I recently heard back from Columbia Law School’s Yoga Club. The founder of the club is a 3rd year law student and up to her eyes in work. She heard about me and my desire to teach donation-based classes to university students after I contacted about 10 departments at Columbia trying to get my foot in any Columbia door I could find. I’m meeting her next week to get a tour of the space and learn more about the Yoga Club. My first public class at Columbia will be Monday night, October 4th. (There’s a possibility that the class will be open to the public. If that happens, then I’ll be sure to get the word out.)

Shouting dreams and priorities really does help bring them into being. I’m thrilled by this recent connection and grateful to Sara and so many of you who have been cheering me on along this path. You’ve made my work feel lighter.

With gratitude,
Christa

children, education, philanthropy, school

Step 252: Donorschoose.org Finds a Hidden Angel

Christa Avampato

I received the article below in an email from Charles Best today about a hidden angel who showed up on the doorstep of Donorschoose.org. Best is the Founder of Donorschoose.org, an organization that link indvidual donors to specific classroom needs via a well-organized, elegant web interface. The email is a reprint of an article that appeared in the September 1, 2010 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle

The story is a testament to the incredible gift that one person can give the world, and an inspiring act of generosity for a very deserving organization. It’s also a much needed message for nonprofit leaders – if you provide an incredible service, funding is out there.

“Out of the blue, in the middle of a recession, the phone rang.

What would it cost, the caller asked the founder of DonorsChoose.org, to fund every California teacher’s wish list posted on the Web site?

The founder, Charles Best, thought perhaps the female caller would hang up when he tossed out his best guess: “Something over $1 million,” he told her.

Twelve hours later, the woman, Hilda Yao, executive director of the Claire Giannini Fund, sent Best an e-mail.

It said, in short, OK.

A day later, Yao mailed a check of more than $1.3 million to cover the entire California wish list, 2,233 projects in all, with an extra $100,000 tossed in to help pay for other teacher needs across the country.

The projects funded by the donation range from about $100 to cover pencil sharpeners or paper to thousands of dollars for technology, Best said.

“Use of the word ‘miracle’ is not an overstatement,” Best said Tuesday, a day after 1,000 California teachers were notified that their needs were funded. “I think it’s fair to say it’s the best first day of school they’ve ever had.”

With budget cuts hitting schools hard, teachers and parents are often covering the costs of basic material like pencils or even textbooks as well as things now considered optional in public education such as field trips and art supplies.

Help for teachers
DonorsChoose stepped in to help fill those needs 10 years ago to give K-12 teachers an easily accessible site to post what they need. Contributors can pay for part or all of each “project” requested, focusing on a specific school or subject area or even the type of gift.

The $1.3 million donation is among the largest gifts given by the San Francisco fund and one of the largest received by DonorsChoose.

At San Francisco’s Monroe Elementary School, computer teacher Laura Edeen had several projects posted on DonorsChoose.org. There was a digital camera to replace one that still used floppy disks; a computer with wireless access for a portable classrooms that doesn’t have other Internet access; an art cart; new printers; and the big-ticket, $1,000 licensing rights to a software program the teacher knew worked for kids.

It was a pipe-dream list from a teacher who was trying to keep working technology in her classroom using the equivalent of duct tape and chewing gum.

“I’d been busying myself with wishes, just hoping,” Edeen said.

The $3,000 in wishes came true.

“I actually e-mailed my husband thinking he funded it,” she said laughing, adding she couldn’t imagine how else it was all paid for. “It felt like my birthday yesterday.”

Teacher thinks big
Reaching for the stars, one Bay Area teacher requested $10,000 for 25 netbook laptops to create a traveling computer lab for her school. They’ll be shipped to San Francisco’s Sheridan Elementary soon.

Later Monday, the teacher submitted a new request to DonorsChoose: a computer cart for a traveling computer lab.

“She’s got herself a shower of stars,” Yao said of the teacher. “I’m just so pleased to think this grant has brought so much happiness to such deserving people.”

The fund Yao directs was created in 1998 to honor Claire Giannini Hoffman, the daughter of the founder of Bank of America. Donations have focused on education as well as other issues, including a $3 million gift to the nation’s school libraries from 2002 to 2004, Yao said.

Yao’s mother, Dorothy Yao, the fund’s former trustee, and Claire Giannini both believed education was a penetrating and enduring way to transform lives, she said.

“It makes me feel like I’m doing something to remember two remarkable women in the way they would like to be remembered,” she said. “I’m happier than even some of the teachers.”

Make a difference in a child’s life right now. Take a look at the most urgent project requests on DonorsChoose.org, and give another classroom the best return to school they’ve ever had.

books, children, education, learning, nostalgia, school

Step 245: Back to School and Life Lessons

Christa Avampato

“The difference between school and life? In school, you’re taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you’re given a test that teaches you a lesson.” ~ Tom Bodett, American author and humorist

I love school. Weez is always kidding me that if I could find a way to be a student for the rest of my life and get paid for it, I’d do it. In truth, I kind of do that now. I’m an information junkie. Lots of data served up with a heaping side of industry reports please. All industries welcome. My education has followed me into the workplace and then follows me home, to the gym, out to dinner. Every experience become an opportunity to learn – and become writing material.

I went to my local CVS yesterday and nostalgically walked through the school supply aisle. Advertisements abound all over the city, in every retail window, saying “stock up for school here.” School is part of why I love the Fall – back to school might just be my favorite holiday. Everything is shiny, new, and full of promise. Sometimes people ask me how I did so well in school and managed so many extracurriculars. Some people even warned me that I was taking on too much, that I couldn’t possibly get it all done. People are funny and they project.

To be sure, I studied a lot. Kid geniuses really fascinate me because I wasn’t someone who just knew everything the moment I read it. I am a really good student, work very hard, and have a dangerously high level of curiosity. Truly, I can ask “why?” until the cows come home and never be satisfied. (Ask my mom.) I had to study and practice all the way through business school. I study and practice now, and love it. I learn the lesson, really learn it, get the test, pass. Simple. Linear. Logical. It’s true of school, and mostly true of work, too, so long as I’m working for someone else.

This whole paradigm changes, as Tom Bodett explains so brilliantly, when we leave behind school and work and just have to live in the world. Or when we start our own business or some kind of personal endeavor. Relationships of every kind fall into this class, too. You can’t study or think your way through them. You really do have to give it a whirl, maybe screw up, maybe succeed, and take note of the outcome so the next time around you can improve. It’s not fair, I know, but that’s life. You take the test, hand it in, and then figure out how it shoulda, coulda, woulda been done if you had known better. But you didn’t, and you can’t, so you just show up and do your best. Welcome to a life of improv.

A lot of my life now is about being tested and then receiving the lesson. Yoga, Innovation Station, my writing. I can study and read about these subjects all I want (and I do!), but eventually I know I’ve got to take off the training wheels, go careening down the road, learn from my mistakes, get up, and try again. I didn’t know anything about social media 3 years ago, so I started this blog. I didn’t know how to write a book, so I wrote Hope in Progress. I didn’t know how to swim so I jumped in the pool (with a lifeguard nearby) and paddled around. That’s life, too – try your luck and see how it goes.

I’ll be thinking about this idea over the next few weeks as I see the school buses become part of our traffic patterns and kids skipping home with backpacks and lunch boxes in tow. We’re all learning – students of school just have the benefit of a better sequence of events than students of life.

business, happiness, media, school

Step 116: Where the Hell is Matt Meets Darden

Christa Avampato

Inspired by the videos “Where the Hell is Matt”, a Darden student, David Shepro, made his own version, C’ville style. I went to business school at Darden so this video has very special meaning for me, but it’s got so much joy that it would bring a smile to anyone’s face, Darden grad or not. There’s something really unifying about a bunch of people dancing around with wild abandon in unexpected places. I don’t know why. There just is. We love the unexpected.

Welcome to the lighter, more joyful side of life at one of the world’s very best schools with one of the very best communities I’ve ever been a part of. For four and a half minutes, David showcases Darden’s amazing characters. I’m keeping this one in my archives to pull up whenever I need a great big smile. I’m so inspired, I think I’m going to do a little boogie break in my office right now. We could all use a little more dance in our day. Here’s to hoping this video makes you smile today, too. Enjoy!

Click here for David’s YouTube video.

Many thanks to my friend, Abhilekh, for passing this link to me.

books, child, education, literature, school, volunteer, writing

My Year of Hopefulness – Charlotte’s Web

Christa Avampato

I’m reading Charlotte’s Web with my new book buddy, Dwight. Dwight is a 3rd grader who lives in Queens. We got connected through an organization called Learning Leaders. Based in New York City, the provide supplementary educational programs to kids in public schools. Their book buddy program matches up adult volunteers with elementary school students. We read a book together, and write three letters back and forth as we work our way through the story.

As a kid, I loved to read. My house was filled with literally thousands of books, much to the detriment of any semblance of tidiness. While I didn’t love being in a cluttered home, I loved being surrounded by books in every room. Now I recognize that most kids aren’t as lucky as I was to learn to love reading at such a young age. The book buddy program and Dwight are one small way that I hope to turn that around for a kid.

I forgot how much I love Charlotte’s Web. I forgot how scared Wilbur was and how concerned he was with being lonely and making new friends. Children’s literature introduces some heavy themes, despite its light-hearted exterior. Reading this book has made me fall in love with the genre all over again, and encouraged me to continue writing for this age group.

I’ll post up my letters to Dwight and his letters to me on this blog as we continue through. I’m excited to read what he has to say. I’ll meet him in person in February when we all get together for a celebration lunch. Apparently, the kids always think the adults they are writing to are total rock stars – a shot in the arm we could all use!

“Dear Dwight,
I’m really happy to be reading Charlotte’s Web with you and writing letters to each other as we work through the book. This was one of my favorite books when I was in school, and I’m looking forward to re-reading it. I really enjoy reading and I write, too. I always find inspiration for my own writing by reading other books.

I grew up in a very small town about two hours north of Manhattan, along the Hudson River. We had a farm where we grew apples and every fall we would invite people to come pick apples from our property. We didn’t have as many farm animals as there are in Charlotte’s Web, though my sister, Maria, and I spent a lot of time in the woods around our house watching for deer, turkeys, and foxes. We also had a very large pond that had frogs, turtles, and fish.

Our family has always had pets so my love of animals goes back as far as I can remember. We had a lot of dogs, a few cats, an aquarium, and a rabbit, too. My work is very busy now so I don’t have time for a pet at the moment. I hope I can have a pet of my own someday soon.

One part of Charlotte’s Web that I forgotten was how much Wilbur wanted to make new friends in his new home. I have experienced that many times, too. I went to elementary school, middle school, and high school with all of my same friends. When I went to college and then to graduate school, I didn’t know anyone so I had to make all new friends. At first that experience was scary, though the more often I had to make new friends, the easier it became. Now meeting new people is one of my favorite things to do.

What’s been your favorite part of the book so far? What kind of plan do you think Charlotte will make to help save her friend, Wilbur? I’m looking forward to your first letter!

Your Book Buddy,
Christa”

creativity, education, risk, school

My Year of Hopefulness – A Little Too Comfortable

Christa Avampato

My friend, Alex, is renowned for her cards. I’m not talking about holiday cards or birthday cards. I always have a beautiful envelope show up in my mailbox with her curly handwriting on it when I expect it least and need it most. A new job, a new apartment, a tough time as showcased on this blog. This week I got a card from her that I loved so much I hung it up at my desk at work. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

The quote on the front of the card says, “Friend, you are a divine mingle-mangle of guts and stardust. So hang in there!” It’s a quote from Frank Capra. He also famously said that “A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something.” While on the surface, Alex’s card may just seem like a sweet gesture from a good friend, I also think there’s something else baked into it. She’s really telling me to just get on with it. It’s a message I need to hear, and if anyone can tell me that in a kind, supportive way, it’s Alex.

Tonight I had dinner with my friend, Katie, a fellow Pisces. She mentioned something about Saturn being in Pisces and causing all kinds of havoc. Apparently, the effect is cumulative and ends on October 31st. Essentially this means that universe has been whacking us around for a bit and decided to send Saturn out of our sign with a bang, explaining why just about everything in my life got flipped upside-down in the past month. Now, I’m not quite sure that I believe in astrology to this extent but goodness does it explain a lot!

I’ve also been feeling an increase in energy this last week and feeling the tides of change sweeping in. Before Saturn’s wallop, I was getting too comfy in my daily routine. Everything seemed to be “good enough”. And I’m not a person that can live with “good enough” for too long. I needed to be shaken awake and I have a hard head so it takes quite a bit of effort to change my mind.

To Alex’s point, I need to embrace my inner mingle-mangle of guts and stardust. I needed some new dreams and new drive to reach them. And that requires a little more risk than I’ve been taking lately. It requires a little more bravery than I’ve been exhibiting. Sometimes we need to be on a burning platform (please pardon this pun in light of my burned out apartment building) before we leap into the sea of possibility. So here I go – I hope those adult swimming lessons pay off.

On Tuesday, I’m attending an information session for a PhD program that I’ve been considering and re-considering for some time now. I’ve been putting it off for about a year. I’d sign up for info sessions and not go for one reason or another. One of my business school professors who I respect beyond measure has been encouraging this route since the middle of my second year at Darden. I always thought up a reason why I couldn’t do it. That leap was too scary. Me, a PhD candidate? No, I can’t possibly do that. I don’t have the money / time / attention-span.

Then I remembered a quote I read some time ago about time and the passing of it. “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” It’s from Earl Nightingale. My best possible use is in writing, speaking, teaching, traveling and growing social change initiatives. I can’t think of another way to be more productive. And all of these things are made infinitely easier by going the PhD route. Or at least I have a hunch that they are. My creativity is knocking at the door, and I at least need to open the door and give her the opportunity to plead her case. I at least need to hear her out.

The image above is not my own. It can be found here.

charity, children, education, hope, hunger, school, shopping

My Year of Hopefulness – How a Dime Makes a Difference with a FEED 100 Bag

Christa Avampato

I arrived home last night to my ordinary neighborhood after a mostly ordinary day at the office. I walked down a few blocks to Whole Foods with the intention of picking up dinner and going back to my apartment to watch NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams – one of my favorite weeknight activities. (Nerdy, I know. I can’t help it. I’m addicted to the news, and I love the “Making a Difference” segment.)

After filling up my little basket, I headed to the cash register where the woman who was ringing up my groceries asked if I’d like to buy a FEED 100 Bag, a reusable shopping bag made from 100% organic cotton and sustainable burlap. Hmmm…I had seen these before though wasn’t totally sure what the deal was. They used to be $30. They’re now $10, and wait until you hear what they do!



For $10, you provide 100 hungry children in Rwanda with a nutritious school meal through the UN World Food Program (WFP). A single dime per child. 400,000,000 children go to bed every night hungry. And that pain of hunger is devastating. I know first hand. When I was a kid, we struggled financially and my brother, sister, and I often went to bed hungry, and scared, and feeling alone. We had free and reduced-price lunch for most of my childhood and I can guarantee that this program was one of the huge blessings that saved me. Literally. With that meal, I was able to pay more attention to my studies, which earned me good grades, which helped me to go college and graduate school, which helped me build a good, successful life.



A lot of people look at school statistics like “75% of children at this school receive free lunch” and see it as just that – a statistic. A number on an Excel spreadsheet. When I see these numbers, I see me, and my brother, and my sister, and a lot of people in my hometown who grew up just like us. This tiny contribution of $10 makes a difference, I assure you.



I arrived home from an ordinary day and I had the opportunity to do something extraordinary. A very small act that will make a very big difference. I helped 100 kids around the world have a chance to follow in my same path to happier, healthier days. You can, too. FEED 100 Bags are available at Whole Foods nationwide.

art, children, dreams, education, school

My Year of Hopefulness – Dreaming in Bits and Pieces

Christa Avampato

“The end of wisdom is to dream high enough to lose the dream in the seeking of it.” ~ William Faulkner, American novelist

Now that life is returning to normal, I’m turning my attention back to my education project. I’m in the early stages of contacting public schools to find one that will serve as a pilot test. In a nutshell, I am looking to use theatre as a tool to teach innovation and product development to 6th graders at New York City public schools. The program will be of no cost to the school or to the children who participate. I just need a space, an internet connection (if possible), and 10 curious 6th graders. I would personally finance the pilot. The idea is to run it for 12 weeks beginning in January of 2010.

At this point I’ve had about 15 people read the proposal and provide their feedback and suggestions. Their creativity and excitement has spurred me even further. They’re helping me dream bigger, far beyond the pilot. Just as Faulkner suggested, this thinking bigger has allowed me to move beyond just seeing this program as a dream. It’s something that I must do. It’s quickly becoming my greatest passion, and that’s exactly what I need to happen in order to get it off the ground.

For the past few days, it’s all I’ve been able to think about. Things I see and experience and read are all tying back to this dream. This morning I was so excited about it that I could barely stay in my chair at my computer. I’m getting little inputs from everywhere – what schools I could partner with, what material I should include, what mechanisms I should use to deliver the material. Like small interconnected building blocks, all these bits and pieces are fitting together, filling in the canvas I’m dreaming on.

The more I consider the pilot program, the more I realize that it is inevitable. All the clues I’m picking up are showing me that there is much more need for this program than I ever realized. It began as this tiny speck of an idea, and the more I nurture it and love it, the more new opportunities it presents. It’s the most beautiful thing about ideas and dreams, and people for that matter: the more care you put into them, the more understanding and freedom you provide to them, the lovelier and more viable they become. They reveal mysteries to you that you never even knew were possible.

The image above is not my own. It can be found on the Cardiomyopathy Association site.

childhood, children, education, school, teaching, volunteer, yoga

My Year of Hopefulness – Doing What We’ve Never Done

Christa Avampato

All week I’ve been trying to write curriculum for my after-school pilot program. I’m not a trained teacher. I’ve tutored and I’ve volunteered in classrooms. Mostly, I’ve just been up there at the wipe board (apparently the blackboards and chalk of my youth are long-since gone) winging it.

Rather than writing curriculum, I’ve been staring at a very blank white screen on my laptop, complete with blinking cursor. And that little tiny voice, the one I just dread, decides to show up at the most inopportune time to make me feel even worse. “Who are you to be writing curriculum?” it says. “You don’t know how to do that.” And as much as I want to turn down that volume, the voice grows louder, adding more doubts, more concerns, and more insecurity to my already frazzled mind. I have no idea what I’m doing. There’s no denying that.

At 11:00 last night, I closed down my laptop without having written a single word. “The voice was right,” I thought. “Who do I think I am? An untrained “teacher” writing curriculum. I can’t do this.” I did what I often do when I’m frustrated with my writing. I read. The latest issue of Yoga Journal just arrived in my mailbox so I cracked it open and began reading from page one.

There is a belief in yoga, and I believe in Buddhism as well, that the Universe will provide us with the exact teaching we need exactly when we need it. Kaitlin Quistgaard, the Editor of Yoga Journal, wrote this month’s editorial note about how to show up for life and begin something we want to do even if we aren’t sure how to do it. “It seemed like a life lesson designed to show me the value of doing my part, even if I don’t know what to do,” she says of a recent incident she had. This sounds like valuable ammunition against that little voice that was doubting me. I keep reading.

A few pages later, I come across an article by Julia Butterfly Hill who talks about finding your purpose and growing with it. Hmmm…sounds like another good one. The whole article is one beautiful quote after another. “Who am I supposed to be in my life?…what do you want your legacy to be?…We approach everything backward…we live in a production-driven society rather than a purpose-driven society.” And here’s my favorite line that I’m considering having made into a t-shirt: “We don’t have to know how to do something before we begin it.” Though I’m a product developer, paid to produce, I am much more concerned with living my life with purpose than with things.

So that’s it – that’s all I needed to know to silence the little voice nagging at me. It’s true – I don’t know how to write a curriculum. I don’t know what material will resonate with the kids I want to teach. I don’t know how to actually do anything related to this project. I do know that I am a fast learner, and that I was born not knowing much of anything except how to breath, (and even that breathing isn’t something we do consciously!) I do know that I want to live in a world where every child has the opportunity to learn anything and everything that interests them. I want them all to grow up happy, healthy, safe, and excited about the possibilities that lay before them. I want them all to have a chance at a good and decent life. And that’s more than enough purpose to keep going.

The photo above can be found here.

child, high school, letter, school, student

My Year of Hopefulness – First Day NY

Christa Avampato

A friend of mine from college recently invited me to join a Facebook Group for First Day NY, a program that looks for volunteers to sponsor New York City children for their first day of school. I signed up immediately and today received some information about the child I’ll be sponsoring. She’s 14 years old (and I assume heading into 9th grade), wants to be a nurse, and loves language arts. My mission is to get her a backpack, a first day of school outfit, and an age-appropriate book based on her interests.

It’s been so long since I thought about the first day of 9th grade. I started high school that year and I remember being so nervous. All my same friends from middle school went with me since my town only had one set of schools. There were kids who were so much bigger and smarter than me. They played sports and ran clubs. How would I find my classrooms? Would boys like me? And the dreaded cafeteria, every 14 year old girl’s nightmare. The movie Mean Girls comes to mind.

The other piece of my mission for the child I’m sponsoring is to write a note of encouragement. “We would like your child to know someone out there cares about their success…with this note you can offer a window into the world of opportunity that awaits them if they always do their best and stay in school.” I’m not ashamed to say I teared up a little upon reading this instruction from First Day NY. This is more than just a backpack and some clothes for a 14 year old; it’s a signal to her that there are people out here cheering her on, people who believe in her potential.

As I think back, 9th grade is the time when I realized that if I worked really hard, I could go anywhere and do anything. That year opened up a new gateway to the whole rest of my life, and how I thought about my purpose in the world. And now I think I have the beginning to my note of encouragement…

If you’d like to get involved with First Day NY, please visit their website: http://www.firstdayny.org/