North Dakota Study Group Annual Meeting
February 16 - 19, 2012
University of St. Mary of the Lake
Mundelein, Illinois
"Forty Years and We've Just Begun"
A Welcome from the NDSG Planning Committee:
The 2012 Planning Committee invites you to attend the 40th meeting of the North Dakota Study Group, which is held every President's Day weekend. This year’s meeting will again happen at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, in Mundelein, northwest of Chicago. Forty years is an important marker, and accordingly, a prominent theme in this year’s meeting will be mapping the experience that is NDSG by examining where we’ve come from and where we are at, and consider where we are moving toward and how best to do so. Looking back at the existence of NDSG, it is clear that while some educational issues persist, the larger social and political environment in which these issues exist is constantly changing, requiring us to continuously work to understand the context in which we all work.
John Dewey: "Of what use is the map? Well, we may tell first what the map is not. The map is not a substitute for personal experience. The map does not take the place of an actual journey...But the map, a summary, an arranged and orderly view of previous experiences, serves as a guide to future experience...Through the map every new traveler may get for his own journey the benefits of the results of others' explorations."
Our meeting will bring all the variety and intellectual stimulation, deep personal exchanges, as well as passion and rejuvenation, that you’ve come to expect at an NDSG meeting. To begin with, we will feature a historical kaleidoscope of key events and history of the NDSG, including remembering the major force that started and sustained the group for many years, Vito Perrone, who passed away this summer. Grounded in a sense of the historical work of NDSG, we will examine our current situation in the present. This will involve continuing what has become a stronger NDSG tradition, built on the work of the Highlander School and Myles Horton: telling our own stories and analyzing our own life experiences, in order to take more intelligent, decisive, and impactful actions, within the classroom, the community, and the nation. While modeling a more progressive approach to schooling, we learn from one another as we also learn from our presenters.
Myles Horton: "You only learn from experiences you learn from."
Several of our guest speakers will help us further ground our work in the present. Scott Nine from the Institute for Democratic Education in America will lead us in a session that allows us to build a map of the work that each of us does, allowing for easier exploration of our commonalities, connections, and the exchange of ideas and tactics. In addition, Scott will also lead a special pre-conference workshop on mapping methodology on Thursday, February 16, 2012. This wonderful opportunity is an included benefit in your registration cost.
In addition, we will host youth from varying locations across the country involved with Engaging Communities in Education, a national network of education and community development organizations dedicated to place based, sustainable change initiatives that respect and work with local people. These youth will help ground our work in the present and showcase programs that shift educational discourse and action within communities.
Last year the NDSG meeting coincided with major protest movement in Madison, WI that followed on the heels of the governor's attempt to curtail the rights of social service and teachers' unions to bargain. This year, we have invited John Nichols, a political analyst and writer for The Nation to present not just on that continuing situation, but on the continuously changing political landscape and its impacts on US schooling.
Through our sessions with these speakers, home groups, Works in Progress, action planning, great meals, evening socials, and other opportunities to meet and catch up with the fabulous members of the North Dakota Study Group, we will historically situate the work we do, and increase our understanding and ability to influence the educational systems with which we work. Whether this is your first or fortieth meeting, the stimulating conversations, thought provoking presentations, informative workshops, and hard thinking will leave you challenged and invigorated.
Hendrik Visser: "If there is any secret to successfully navigating change from within a complex, tiered system, it is in constantly reading the environment. This means being able to analyse for unanticipated, emerging events, and for people with informal influence who are ready to get involved in creating pathways forward."
Because of the special nature of this NDSG meeting, we are particularly interested in your pre-conference contributions to make this meeting possible, and request that you consider contiributing in two ways. Whether or not you are able to attend the meeting, we would love for you to share anecdotes, short stories, yarns, or sketches that illustrate an important historical action or concept of NDSG. We are looking for anecdotes that capture pivotal moments for you, the group, or your work, that illustrate the values and processes of NDSG, that highlight points of agreement and disagreement, that describe how our continued work has impacted you, and more. We invite you to submit as many anecdotes as you’d like; please read below for how to contribute. All anecdotes are welcomed and encouraged, and will also contribute to the historical mapping of the NDSG.
In addition, we are also requesting that those who attend the conference provide additional information about their work and their context in the registration process. While we know that this means registration will take longer than normal, your participation will allow for a richer meeting to facilitate understanding the work we do throughout the country and beyond, throughout the year.
Each year the conference receives feedback that expresses the value received from spending a winter weekend with this diverse group of teachers, activists, teacher educators, college students and youth from across the country. We eagerly anticipate gathering together for this very special experience.
Sincerely,
The 2012 North Dakota Study Group Planning Committee
Please join us! We look forward to seeing you all at our always-invigorating meeting.
Co-Chairs: Sid Massey, John Lockhart, and Stephanie Lee
Members: Laura Baker, Lyn DeLorme, Francisco Guajardo, Helen Featherstone, Jay Featherstone, Mary Harris, Ken Jones, Barbara Lancaster, Greta McHaney-Trice, Monty Neill, Scott Nine, Esther Ohito, Debra Stoleroff, Lynne Strieb, David Wasserman, Elsa Weber, and Ann Wiener
Thanks once again to Carol Kennett, Carol Montag, Bill Bennett and the Buxton School staff for hosting our summer planning meeting and your years of service to NDSG.
LOGISTICS
COST:
Even in tough economic times, the cost of this conference remains reasonable. Food and lodging are included in the early registration fee of $440.00 per person, for double occupancy, and $540.00 per person for a single room. After Tuesday January 3, a late fee of $25.00 will be applied to the cost of registration. We offer a one-day Conference Fee of $115 including meals for that day without an overnight stay. If you plan to stay overnight, we ask that you register for the full conference.
REGISTRATION:
Online registration is no longer available.
ANECDOTES (short stories, sketches, yarns)
Commemorating 40 years of NDSG and Vito’s vision: We are looking for anecdotes that capture pivotal moments for you, the group, or your work that illustrate the values and processes of NDSG. Please consider highlighting a point(s) that describes how this continued work has impacted you personally, your work, or the political landscape, especially with regard to equitable and quality education for all students. Please contribute anecdotes through one of the following methods:
- Submit your anecdotes and stories online (select this link, stories are NOT publicly published).
- Visit the NDSG Ning site (instructions available here) to contribute onto our active social media site. Please note that Ning is PUBLIC, so others can read the anecdotes posted on Ning.
- Email your anecdotes to the NDSG Webmaster
- Write your anecdote on paper and bring it to the NDSG conference.
FINANCIAL AID:
NDSG maintains a scholarship fund to help ensure diversity at the annual meeting. If you would like to request financial aid, please address a request, before December 31, to Mary Harris (mary.harris@unt.edu). Preference will be given to requests received before that date. Diversity is conceived broadly and can include ethnic and cultural background, age, region, social class, etc. We expect those who receive financial aid to contribute at least partially to the conference costs. In your application for financial aid, please let us know how you would contribute to the diversity of the Conference. Please include your background, what you are doing now, and why you would like to attend the NDSG Conference. Please be specific about the amount you need. Submit requests for aid in writing, before December 31, 2011, to Mary Harris (mary.harris@unt.edu). Preference will be given to requests received before that date. If awarded, you will receive a special registration code for registration.
FINANCIAL AID CONTRIBUTIONS:
Please consider contributing to the financial aid fund to assist in procuring diversity among the conference participants. Simply include it with your registration or make a separate check payable to the Financial Aid Fund, NDSG and send it to NDSG, Buxton School, 291 South Street, Williamstown, MA 01267. We do need contributions as they are vital to sustaining the conference and no contribution is too small.
WORKS IN PROGRESS (WIP):
If you would like to share your ongoing work with your colleagues in a small WIP session, send a description of the session to Helen Featherstone (feather1@msu.edu). Please include your proposed format, suggested duration (between one and 1.5 hours), and any equipment or set-up you need.
HOME GROUPS:
Each participant is assigned a home group for small discussions centered on the theme of the conference. They are designed to provide opportunity for everyone to interact and engage more fully with the topics.
AFFINITY GROUPS:
Affinity groups at NDSG started as a way for people of similar racial heritage to discuss ways race and ethnicity impact and are affected by issues and concerns. Affinity groups have at times been controversial and sometimes hard, but ultimately, NDSG participants continue to appreciate and ask for them in feedback surveys.
READINGS:
Each year the conference unites participants around shared reading materials correlated to the planned theme: "Forty Years and We've Just Begun". Please begin thinking on your own stories around this theme. They will be used as talking pieces for much of the Home and Affinity Group discussion. Select this link to view this year's reading list.
BUS & TRANSPORTATION:
Flights should be booked to O'Hare. We advise you to arrive on Thursday evening to be ready for the early morning session on Friday.
Please remember as you make your reservations that there will be one bus from O'Hare Airport at 7:30 PM Thursday night and one bus back to O'Hare on Sunday leaving at 11:00 AM, arriving there in time for 1:00 PM or later flights. The bus will be outside of the baggage claim area of American Airlines at Door 3A, lower level on Thursday night. There will be no bus service on Friday or Saturday. The cost for the bus is $25.00 each way.
If you miss the bus, you can call H & M Limo Service at 888-428-4785, McHenry Limo Service at 1-800-344-4466 or GNT Limo Service at 815-455-4060. The cost of a limo for one person is approximately $50.00.
There is a light supper available when you arrive Thursday evening. Please pre-register. Cost is $10.00.
SPECIAL EXCURSION OPPORTUNITY!
PRE-CONFERENCE MAPPING INSTITUTE:
The rate of change in education is so fast and complex it can be challenging for those committed to social justice to stay attuned to what is happening across the country. Yet, knowledge about what different networks, communities, and organizations are doing is critical to help progressive-minded students, teachers, organizers, communities, and organizations be more strategic, effective, and collaborative. The ultimate goal is to improve our capacity to create and sustain academic and social environments that support children in living whole and healthy lives. In this one-day working institute, participants will:
- Explore conceptual and concrete tools to map what is happening in their community
- Share in creating and making meaning of maps on the larger national landscape
- Locate their work on the map they've created
If this sounds interesting to you, and you're going to be in Chicago by or on the morning of Thursday, February 16, then please email Esther Ohito (esther.ohito@gmail.com) and/or Sid Massey (smassey33@hotmail.com) by January 30, 2012.
ABOUT THE 2012 PRESENTERS
Scott Nine
is the Executive Director of the Institute for Democratic Education in America. A dynamic public speaker and organizer, he enjoys teaching and learning about leadership, social justice, community, educational reform, environmental sanity, personal growth, entrepreneurship, and how we get along with one another. Scott has a Masters Degree in Social Work from Arizona State University. He has experience teaching, advising, and creating learning communities for people ages 5 to 95. Raised by two public school educators, Scott fell in love with his partner Hollie while growing up in Apache Junction, Arizona. He lives in Portland, Oregon where Kristofer, KD, and Ellanore teach him new lessons on an almost daily basis. IDEA is focused on generating a coherent and compelling narrative that speaks to what education by, for, and with young people and communities looks like and spurs the strategic and collaborative actions needed to realize this vision.
John Nichols
a pioneering political blogger, has written the Beat since 1999. His posts have been circulated internationally, quoted in numerous books and mentioned in debates on the floor of Congress. Nichols writes about politics for The Nation magazine as its Washington correspondent. He is a contributing writer for The Progressive and In These Times and the associate editor of the Capital Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin. Nichols is a frequent guest on radio and television programs as a commentator on politics and media issues. The keynote speaker at the 2004 Congress of the International Federation of Journalists in Athens, Nichols has been a featured presenter at conventions, conferences and public forums on media issues sponsored by the Federal Communications Commission, the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Consumers International, the Future of Music Coalition, the AFL-CIO, the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, the Newspaper Guild [CWA] and dozens of other organizations. Nichols is the author of several books including a best-selling biography of Vice President Dick Cheney, Dick: The Man Who is President (The New Press), which has recently been published in French and Arabic. In addition, John Nichols is a strong voice and advocate for media reform, speaking at and organizing conferences and networks to advance this cause. Of Nichols, author Gore Vidal says: "Of all the giant slayers now afoot in the great American desert, John Nichols's sword is the sharpest."
Ikaika Sugui
was born an raised in Wai'anae, Hawaii, is a 2010 graduate of Wai'anae High School, and was a member of the Searider Productions team through the Digital Media and Searider News at Wai'anae HS. Ikaika is currently a college intern at Seariders Productions, is enrolled at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, and is a member of the Engaging Communities in Education national network.
Cesar Guerrero
is a student at Edcouch-Elsa High School in south Texas, an intern with the Llano Grande Center, and a participant with the Engaging Communities in Education national network. Cesar is the son of Mexican immigrants and points to his grandfather's story as a Bracero as an important source of inspiration.
Kamuela Joseph Nui Enos
was born and raised in Wai'anae, on the island of O'ahu. He has a BA in Hawaiian Studies, and an MA in Urban and Regional Planning. His MA Thesis is "Utilizing Traditional Hawaiian Land Use Practices to Create Sustainability Paradigms for the 21st Century." He is currently the director of Social Enterprise at MA'O Organic Farms/Kauhale Youth Education and Entrepreneurship Initiative, where he manages the intersect between our revenue generating enterprises and youth development internships. Kamuela serves as Commissioner on President Obama's Commission on Asian and Pacific Islanders.
Michelle Arasato
was raised in the beautiful countryside of Wai'anae. She is 21 years old, graduated from Wai'anae High School in 2008, and is currently a student at Leeward Community College while working as a part time farmer at MA’O organic farms. She plans to become an organic farmer to grow good food as well as good people.
Malcolm Burton
is a junior at Morgan State University in Baltimore Maryland. He is a student of the School of Social Work where he hopes to continue to gain his Masters in social work. Being from Cleveland, Ohio, His experience with social service was a result of his many summers at East End Neighborhood House (a local neighborhood center on Cleveland's Eastside) youth summer programs, where he also began his work experience as a volunteer, eventually becoming one of the summer teachers himself when he returned from Morgan State after his first year. While in high school, in Copley Ohio (a suburban community), where students of color represent 25 percent of the population, Malcolm recognized many challenges being exhibited by his peers in their relationship among themselves and others in their school environment. Malcolm decided to utilize the principles of culture and values to start My Brother My Sister (MBMS) in 2008, a mentor leadership youth group, with a “woods” component while simultaneously using popular media forums to design youth competent workshops. Malcolm decided that a space needed to be provided for young students where they could feel affirmed as a person, where they could freely express themselves and where they could ultimately collaborate to help others. Hence the mission of MBMS: To promote unity and self determination among young men and women of color in order to provide a sense of responsibility and servant leadership; dedicated to solving local, national and global issues. To date over 100 members have been positively affected by MBMS and an entire community has been challenged to redefine itself by the diversity of its residents. Malcolm continues to be involved with My Brother My Sister. At Morgan Malcolm is currently working on the expansion of MBMS with the work of a Vanguard of MBMS college member chapter to help with student retention including the involvement of other college students from the hometown local campuses of Kent State University and Akron University. At Morgan MBMS Vanguards are dedicated to becoming community leaders on campus and in the community as they have adopted a local elementary school (Cecil Elementary) on Baltimore City’s Eastside in order to provide positive role models meeting monthly with elementary youth. All to provide an enriching experience derived in tradition and culture extended with positive community work and responsible youth identity promotion.
Vito Perrone
the founder of the North Dakota Study Group and a progressive educator, passed away on August 24, 2011. While Dean of Education at the University of North Dakota, Vito brought together educators from many parts of the U.S. to discuss common concerns about accountability of schools and assessment of children, beginning a tradition that has continued. "Vito rallied the wing of the reform movement that was largely underrepresented in the 'reform' debate that you hear about today," said Jay Featherstone, emeritus professor of education at Michigan State University. "But he kept the progressive vision alive. And he turned a generation of teachers into activists." NDSG will honor and remember Vito as part of our examination and commemoration of forty years of NDSG history.