December 11, 2002: Upcoming Summit Supports North Coast Activists and Organizers

December 9, 2002: North Coast Education Summit Announces Special Tracks on the Arts in the Classroom, Native American Issues, and Political Activism

December 11, 2002

UPCOMING SUMMIT SUPPORTS NORTH COAST ACTIVISTS AND ORGANIZERS
Cockburn, Raphael, Allison and Others to Speak

Community organizers and activists from Humboldt County and beyond will participate in a three-day skills-building summit aimed at improving the foundational skills needed to create social change.

"Organizing for Change" has been adopted as a key focus of this year's North Coast Education Summit taking place February 7-9 at Humboldt State University. The activist skill sessions have been planned and organized by the North Coast Community Organizing Center, a new venture by campus and community activists aimed at strengthening the skills of area organizers. While activist skill-development workshops will be threaded through the entire summit, Sunday will include a special focus for local organizers seeking an energy boost.

Author Ray Raphael will kick off the day, linking lessons about activism uncovered in researching his much-acclaimed recent book, "The First American Revolution: Before Lexington and Concord," to explosive challenges surrounding militarism, civil liberties, and educational access facing social change activists today in the United States. Sunday's closing keynote speaker will be long-time activist and author Dorothy Allison, whose novel "Bastard Out of Carolina," confronts the plight of poor white children in the rural South. Allison has over two decades of organizing experience in the feminist, gay/lesbian, and civil liberties movements.

Other speakers and workshop leaders throughout the weekend include Linda Christensen, a Eureka native, who is the author of "Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word"; Kevin Kumashiro, the founder of the Center for Anti-Oppressive Education in the Bay Area; Bill Bigelow, from the Rethinking Schools collective and the author of "Rethinking Columbus"; and Alexander Cockburn, writer for "the Nation" who will speak on Saturday afternoon on "War, Dissent, and American Democracy."

"What we've aimed to do in the Organizing for Change track is to create a menu of workshops that would help boost the energy and skills of local organizers and activists," said Dawn Arledge, one of the organizers of this track. "We thought it would be great if once a year, all of us who organize in local communities came together to focus--not on the substance of our work, such as the environment, or housing, or human rights--but on the skills that make or break successful organizing projects."

Among the sessions offered are "Connecting Hearts and Minds: Translating 'Abstract Issues' into Passion and Activism on the part of the General Public," facilitated by Fhyre Phoenix, long-time community organizer. Eric Rofes, an HSU professor who teaches classes on community organizing skills will lead a workshop on "Organizing and Running Effective Meetings." Local activist Julie Gordon will be leading a session focused on the skills needed to create effective, non-violent civil disobedience actions. And Dawn Arledge will be leading a session on "Harnessing the Media Machine on the North Coast and Beyond," putting media at the service of social change. Other workshops in this track "Creating a Community Organizing Skills-Building Center in Humboldt County," "Developing Successful Strategies: Organizing for Change," "Making Political Theater," and "Why and How We Should Support our Community's Activists."

The summit, which has been endorsed by Democracy Unlimited and over 40 local school districts and community organizations will also feature workshops focused on "Countering Militarism is Public Education," "Rethinking Globalization," and "Confronting the Consumer Society: Educating People to Live More Simply." Entire tracks of workshops focus Native American Issues in Education, Environmental and Alternative Education, and Lesbian and Gay Issues in Schools.

Registration for the three-day summit costs $30 before January 15 and $40 after and scholarships are available. The organizers are committed to keeping this event accessible to people on limited income and hence are also providing funds to support babysitting for parents. Contact HSU's Office of Extended Education at 826-3731. The summit is organized by the Center for Educational Renewal and HSU's Department of Education.

December 9, 2002

North Coast Education Summit Announces Special Tracks on the Arts in the Classroom, Native American Issues, and Political Activism

Organizers of the upcoming North Coast Education Summit 2003 have announced the initial program just as registration opened for this three-day series
of activities, workshops, meetings, keynote addresses, and debates organized under the theme "Education, Democracy, and Social Justice."

Taking place February 7-9, 2003 at Humboldt State University, the second annual event is hosted by HSU's Department of Education and Center for
Educational Renewal and sponsored and endorsed by over 40 local school districts, community organizations, and institutions of higher education. Not only are HSU and College of the Redwoods taking the lead on the summit, but Chico State and Sonoma State are already planning to send busloads of
students and faculty to participate in the summit and enjoy our coastal area.

"It is really exciting to see all that's falling into place this year," said Eric Rofes, the coordinator of the summit. "We've had tremendous interest and support from school districts and community organizations and have workshop leaders coming from out of state to host sessions. I'm especially excited to see a rich and diverse program that tackles the cutting-edge issues of our time. It's great to see Humboldt taking the lead and inspiring dialogue and debate on critical issues such as federal education policy, special education legislation, and school choice."

While the Summit program includes over 200 sessions ranging from high-stakes testing and the best way to teach reading to young children; outdoor education to ways to reduce stress in children; critical perspectives on cafeteria luncheon menus and the challenges facing children of the rural poor as the economy continues to decline, this year there are some especially strong areas. "We have a very strong arts education track, brought together by Linda Scott, a faculty member here at HSU," said Rofes. "We are also including some focused programming: on Friday all day there'll be intense discussion of the new No Child Left Behind law affecting all our area schools in a powerful way; on Saturday, we'll have a special focus on Native American issues in schools and one of our plenary speakers will be Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross; and Sunday is activist day, when we'll have sessions ranging from how to define and market an issue strategically to how to organize petition drives and sit-ins. Of course, every day we'll have many general interest workshops. I'm especially excited about sessions we're holding on "Dissent in a Democracy," the "Roundtable of Humboldt-area Charter Schools," and one workshop focused on "Burning Man. I think that will appeal to many people in our area."

Registration is now open for the low-cost summit. The cost of the three-day event is $30 before January 15 and $40 afterwards. HSU and CR students can register for $10 and scholarships are available. The organizers want to ensure that finances don't keep anyone away from the event and are even offering babysitting stipends to parents who request them when registering. To register, contact HSU Extended Education at (707) 826-3731.