Wait, He Did What?!

You may have heard of him already, does William Kamkwamba ring a bell? Perhaps you know him as The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind? If you haven't heard of him, watch the video below to hear an amazing story about a teenager from Malawi who created a windmill to power his village from junkyard scraps. Not only that, but he learned how to do this from science books he checked out at the library. Oh and he couldn't read English so he figured it all out from the diagrams. Pretty amazing, huh? No wonder he's already spoken at TED and published his story in the book, The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind. But wait, there's more, it was at the TED conference that he saw his first computer and learned of the internet. How can you not love this story?!

Move Over TMZ

Amidst all the bad news and the news that isn't even news (balloon boy anyone?), The Huffington Post has finally given those of us looking for meaningful stories a place to go. Earlier this month, they announced HuffPost Impact, a section devoted entirely to news around social change and "services, causes, volunteering, and giving back." So while the latest Levi Johnson/Sarah Palin scandal may still splash the homepage, at least we can venture to the Impact section and read about the people and organizations that are adding social value to our communities and making our world a better place.

10.26.09: Oblivion, baby

I went to an event and when one of the presenters - a mother of two - was at podium, both of her daughters on stage were writhing about, nicely, but oblivious to the audience of nearly 200 and that their mom had something to say.

To me, it was a great illustration of focus; the kids were consciously not listening and doing their own thing. It was great. It showed that our societal view of multi-tasking may not always be the right way. And it showed me that what we do often matters more than what we say.

You want sludge with that?

Earlier this month, Topics' favorite Michael Pollan spoke at Bioneers 2009, a weekend gathering of innovators focused on environmental issues.

Pollan, as you might guess, used his time on stage to talk about the relationship between food and the environment. (You have read The Omnivore's Dilemma, right? Right?) Well, he did more than just talk. He SHOWED the relationship, by pouring the oil equivalent for producing a McDonald's Quarter Pounder with cheese (26 ounces) onto that "tasty" burger. And took a bite!

Ok, so it was really chocolate rather than crude syrup, but we think the message was delivered. Loud and clear. What was once explained as the equivalent of 7 lbs of coal being burned, is now a burger drenched in 26 ounces of "oil" and that we can understand! And even if the demo was a blatant for-shock-effect-only copycat of Bill Gates' now famous malaria speech at TED, if it works, it works. And when it comes to educating an audience, showing them works.

Topics Talks Children and Nature, Outdoor Education

Earlier this month, Josh Thomas, a Partner here at Topics Education and leader of our Environmental Practice Area, brought Richard Louv, author of the bestselling book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder, to our area for a discussion around the mental and physical benefits of children connecting with nature and the unquestionable success of incorporating nature when teaching youth the standard school curriculum. Louv, as well as Thomas, sees this information as a key indicator to how we can create a healthier nation.

Josh discusses his thoughts around the event, here, in the Charlotte Observer.

Listen to Richard Louv's radio appearance on the local NPR station, here.

You can also read more on the subject from Josh's article, "Children In Nature, A Solution for What Ails Us?" previously posted on our blog.

T. Friedman, On the Right Path Again ...

In an op-ed by Thomas Friedman, "Fix Schools As Well As Banks" recently published in the Charlotte Observer, he proposes that the success of the new workforce relies on the success of our education system and even quotes our hero around the office, Dan Pink, and his book A Whole New Mind.

That is the key to understanding our full education challenge today. Those who are waiting for this recession to end so someone can again hand them work could have a long wait. Those with the imagination to make themselves untouchables - to invent smarter ways to do old jobs, energy-saving ways to provide new services, new ways to attract old customers or new ways to combine existing technologies - will thrive. Therefore, we not only need a higher percentage of our kids graduating from high school and college - more education - but we need more of them with the right education.

Full piece, here.

One Love: Music as uniter

Great concept. Great execution.

10.16.09: How We See Ourselves

I am continuously amazed that my children show me a lens on the world that's unexpected, irreverent, and (often) refreshing. This day my five-year old borrowed my camera, and with a deft click created a self-portrait. It accurately shows him in the one stance we rarely see, standing still.

And yet it also shows me a little more about him too, that he has a reflective side sometimes as well.

More on motivation

Motivating people to take the stairs.

And here's another look at motivation, re-posted for your satisfaction:

10.09.09: First in Class

There is a first, a precedent for everything, right? It seems that in many ways, my five-year old wants to validate that theory.

So today, after an 'altercation' on the playground slide during recess, something transpired. Not exactly sure what, but the net result is that he landed in the principal's office. It was a warning, with a nice, official, disciplinary form that basically said he was out of line.

I know kids grow up fast, that kids need to play safe, yet it was a rude awakening, especially when the child thought he did nothing wrong. Of course, I might have said the same thing then too...

10.08.09: All Together Now

I attended a community forum related to a school rezoning issue. At this event, there were no facilitators, there was little framework for consensus and the presenters - the planning department - had strong affinity for the options that they have constructed.

And yet, to me, the interesting thing is that the way the content is provided, the way the conversation approached, it seemed as if the part of the process was geared to pit group against group, school against school and neighborhood against neighborhood. Solutions almost needed to have a clear winner and clear loser as the process was both set up and executed...

There should be a better way.

Top Five: Favorite Magazines

In light of recent magazine closings, we'd like to share our favorites for this month's top five, in hopes that we can help keep them alive and well!

Josh Thomas: Orion Magazine

Scott Wilkening: Paste Magazine

Billy Stephen: Fire Engineering and Wired

Winn Maddrey (snoozing with ID, top right):
Dwell, Food and Wine and ID

Bruce Nofsinger:
Vanity Fair and The New Yorker

Phelps Sprinkle: The New Yorker

Liz Barrett (reading Good, middle right):
Good Magazine and New York Magazine

Jenna Johnson (reading Dwell, bottom right):
Body & Soul and Cottage Living - This one went to magazine heaven about a year ago, but with a large disappointed fanbase, Jenna is convinced it can reignite someday.

Children in Nature, A Solution for What Ails Us?

By Josh Thomas, Principal, Topics Education

Seems like 2009 has been the year of bad news. The state of the economy, of course, is front and center for many of us, but our bad news hasn’t been confined to the economy.

We’ve seen bad education news and bad health news, too. In fact, some of it has been really bad. Near the beginning of this year, our local school system released results from last year’s state middle school science exams. Forty-one largely poor, largely minority schools had pass rates below 25 percent. Eight schools fell below 10 percent. System-wide, only 44 percent of the system’s middle school students passed the science exam. If it’s true what we’re being told, that many of the jobs in the 21st century will be in fields related to science and engineering — so called STEM jobs — we’re failing our kids by not preparing them to be productive in that type of workforce.

As for the health news, in July, we learned that the number of hospitalizations due to childhood obesity had nearly doubled between 1999 and 2005. And not only that, but in all the talk around our nation’s health care system, we learned in a recent New York Times op-ed by Michael Pollan, “Big Food vs. Big Insurance” that “we’re spending $147 billion to treat obesity, $116 billion to treat diabetes, and hundreds of billions more to treat cardiovascular disease.” Pollan goes on to talk about our Western Diet in relation to that, but who says we can’t use those numbers to encourage more physical activity, too? For it is activity that can help prevent such illness, and that’s where Richard Louv comes in.

Louv, bestselling author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder, will tell you that it’s not only their physical health that benefits from youth spending time outside, he’ll also talk about the benefits of nature on mental issues and learning disabilities and self-esteem and character development. Oh, and the outdoors are fun, too.

So, while Obama and the rest of our government try to fix health care and our education system, perhaps we should all take a moment and listen to Richard Louv instead. He makes it very apparent that getting our kids outside can be a big (and cheap!) step towards better health and better education. And that’s what all of us at Topics Education plan to do on October 14th, when Louv comes to Charlotte for a speaking event; we will take time out to listen and contemplate some innovative solutions to our nation’s social challenges. Here’s some of what we’ve been thinking about in preparation for the event:

· Studies have shown that access to natural settings can improve school success. Daily exposure to natural settings, for instance, has been linked both to children’s ability to focus and with children’s enhanced cognitive abilities.

· In more recent studies, research has shown that schools that used outdoor classrooms and other forms of nature-based experiential education were associated with significant gains in social studies, language arts, math, and science. In fact, a study by the American Institutes for Research published in 2005 found that students in outdoor science programs improved their science testing scores by 27 percent.

· As for urban school systems, research suggest that cities themselves may actually impair our thinking. A city, the research suggests, is so overloaded with stimuli – flashing signs, heavy traffic, ipods, and cell phones – that our brains are drained by the amount of energy required to filter through all this “noise” in order focus on our required tasks.

· And as part of the study conducted by the University of Michigan, scientists gave students GPS receivers. Some of the undergrads took a stroll in an arboretum, while others walked the busy streets of downtown Ann Arbor. What they found was that people who had walked through the city were in a worse mood and scored significantly lower on tests of attention and working memory. In fact, just glancing at a photograph of an urban scene led to measurable impairments.

· In contrast to the urban environments, natural settings don’t require the same amount of cognitive effort. Natural settings are full of objects that grab our attention – birds chirping, flowers blooming, creeks trickling over smoothed stones – without causing a negative emotional response. The area of the brain dealing with attention can effectively exhale fully, relax deeply, and replenish itself.

We understand that Louv’s expertise areas cover large sweeping ideas, so as a sponsor and promoter for the event, we have planned a gathering directly after the meeting to give interested parents, educators, faith leaders, health professionals, environmentalists, and others a chance to work together on making Louv’s vision a reality in our region.

It’s such an important topic and the day will provide such a wonderful opportunity to kickstart both conversation and action aimed at addressing it. I can’t wait.

10.06.09: It's all marketing anyway

I had a meeting in Topeka, KS and parked my rental car in a spot outside of the meeting. When I came out to add change to the meter, I saw that my new friends at the police department, cited me with a ticket. Upon closer inspection, the ticket revealed that it was only a warning. And upon closer inspection, the ticket revealed that it was a quasi-economic development play. I could take the ticket to Visit Topeka and get a free visitor's info kit.

I guess marketing promotions can occur anywhere.

10.05.09: The Last Bastion Falls

As I was waiting for my connection in Atlanta to Kansas City, a woman approached me with a card, querying me, "would you like to try our free wireless on our flight today?"

My stomach turned, my lower back knotted up, five to six gray hairs instantly popped out on my head. What? I thought. Really? Internet access on a plane? The death knell has come to the last place where phones, email and internet have thus far failed to reach.

"Sure, why not," I replied, noting that direct marketing, which involves politely offering free stuff, goes a long way.

Once at 20,000+ feet (as opposed to the normal consultant "30,000 foot view"), I turned on my laptop and logged in. It was kind of nice, getting a few things out that needed to be done and then turning it off and escaping back to the old days. Having a choice though was a bonus.

Thanks to GoGo Inflight, www.gogoinflight.com.

10.02.09: Wrong Place/Off the Mark

I was supposed to have a prospective partner meeting this morning. I showed up at coffee place A, while the partner went to coffee place B. Seems one of us wrote it down wrong, although I am not 100% sure that I am wrong.

At any rate, it showed me how sometimes even simple things like meeting or going for the ball, do not always go like I expect. And I keep trying to convert that to an actionable lesson, beyond reconfirming an appointment.