Responsible Citizenship

I've done a variety of different things in my professional teaching career. With a BS in Secondary Ed/Drama I spent 10 years teaching HS English, Speech, Media and doing the School Play, moderating the Speech and Debate Teams and the School Newspaper.  With an MA in Instructional Technology I taught IT/Media to both UG future teachers and Graduate Students hoping to be the school's Media Specialist/Instructional Technologist while, at the same time, administering the university's IT Services Center.  But, by far, the most powerful (and personally influential) teaching experience I've had has been my work as an Education Consultant with Susan Kovalik and her Associates and her brain-compatible learning/curriculum reform model known as HET (Highly Effective Teaching). This program has the ultimate goal of turning students into Responsible Citizens. 

Though I have worked with teachers across the US, my greatest experiences came in my work with the teachers in Slovakia (originally Czechoslovakia when I began there) who asked for help after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Communist Rule in that country. Re-structuring a country's curriculum model after years of of Communist domination was not a simple task.  My experience there went from 1992 through 1999. Helping to train teachers to teach their students to become RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS was an interesting experience! In 1998 I convinced Susan Kovalik and the Kovalik Foundation that we should phase out the US direction of this program and turn the responsibility for administering it to the Slovak teachers themselves. This happened primarily because the Slovak Teachers continued to have a dictatorship/dependent mindset and they needed to be encouraged to deepen their LIFESKILL of RESPONSIBILITY. Happily, I can report that Susan Kovalik has just returned from Slovakia after presenting at the program's annual teachers conference. The program is alive and well more than 15 years after we handed its leadership over to the Slovaks!

So, the idea that I could even consider beginning a MOVEMENT in the US to get the Economically Poor and those who care/support them to become RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS and use THE POWER OF THEIR VOTE to change today's political climate that makes economic inequality (the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer) the norm  is far less a fantasy for me than it might be for you.  I've already confronted the communist influence in an Eastern European country (and I have a medal from that country to verify my success).  I believe in the possibility that such a movement as a PHOENIX PARTY can become a reality.

The need now is simple - I CANNOT MAKE THIS VISION A REALITY ON MY OWN...I NEED YOUR HELP!

The information you'll find in these posts will mainly be my opinions and you may ask yourself why should you believe me? More importantly, you may be asking why you should even consider taking the time and having the courage to take the action steps I may call for in these posts?  Well, the first reason I would share with you is that MY opinions are well informed opinions.  While you and I might disagree, I assure you that I've spent a lot of time thinking about, reading about, watching newscasts about and LIKING Facebook pages that share information about these issues.  As both an English teacher and a professional who spent almost 20 years with an office located in a Library, let me assure you that I do know how to do RESEARCH.? 

However, I've decided not to fill these posts with the bibliographic references that have helped inform my opinions.  Instead I have created a Facebook Page - The PHOENIX PARTY  -  www.facebook.com/phoenixpeople . One of the purposes of that page will be a teaching tool to share the articles, videos and charts that support my opinions.  Eventually, I plan to also add a second page to this blog that will also have links to those resources as well.

I've also decided to put in the effort to do this work because I am a Nun (I belong to the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) in Scranton, PA.)  Like many religious communities, I belong to a group of religious women whose Mission Statement includes our commitment to Serve the Poor and whose Core Values includes Social Justice.  Helping the economically poor is not just a project for me...it's a MISSION. 

Most importantly, I've set about this adventure because I think the time has come where I can no longer sit back and just be frustrated. The time has come to take some action!

So....if you've been looking around and noticing that you, your friends and relatives, the people in your town and the populations talked about in your local newspapers are becoming poorer then becoming a part of this movement may just be the way to change this condition. I'm not exactly sure how the TEA PARTY or the OCCUPY WALL STREET movements got started, but my assumption is that they began with one person who had an idea who convinced other people to believe that idea and then the number of those people who believed that idea continued to grow and build so that this now united-in-a-vision group of people were energized to take action and bring about the CHANGE they believed in. That's what I hope will happen now.

If you read these posts and agree with my thoughts feel free to add your helpful insights in the COMMENTS section below.  If you disagree, don't just take the time to put these ideas down. Explain what you think should happen and why.

If you not only agree with me but you hope this vision DOES become a REALITY, then HELP ME! Sign up to get these posts by e-mail then forward that email to your contacts. Check out the Facebook Page...LIKE it to get it's updates on your Newsfeed and SHARE those posts on your Timeline or as a personal message to FRIENDS you know who can have a powerful influence because of who they are and who they know and what they do for a living. Include your own personal endorsement and encouragement when your SHARE.  I need your assistance to grow the FB page and this blog's FOLLOWERS. At this point I haven't moved into any kind of fundraising. I need to think of ways to help support this project that don't violate my sense of my Vow of Poverty.

Yesterday at Mass the priest told a story about Jesus Ascending into Heaven and meeting the Archangel Michael there.  Michael told Jesus that because of His Life on Earth people will know that God Loves Them! Jesus told Michael that .."only a HANDFUL believe that God Loves them.." Michael was concerned and wondered how others would come to know of God's Love for them.? Jesus told Michael not to worry. The HANDFUL would make that happen.  So..that's my invitation to you...do you want to be part of the HANDFUL? I hope so!