{"id":708,"date":"2009-04-20T16:47:52","date_gmt":"2009-04-20T20:47:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/?p=708"},"modified":"2009-04-20T16:47:52","modified_gmt":"2009-04-20T20:47:52","slug":"bottom-up-empowerment-penny-harvest-engages-school-children-in-service-learning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/bottom-up-empowerment-penny-harvest-engages-school-children-in-service-learning\/","title":{"rendered":"BOTTOM-UP EMPOWERMENT: PENNY HARVEST ENGAGES SCHOOL CHILDREN IN SERVICE-LEARNING"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0Empowerment Organization<\/a> is a method for motivating people “from the bottom up.” It includes “The One Small Thing” exercise, looking for a small\u00a0action that many people will feel able to take as the first step in building grass-roots, bottom-up empowerment and community involvement.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Here is a wonderful example of “One Small Thing,” The Penny Harvest fund-raiser\u00a0sponsored at elementary schools throughout the USA \u00a0by the Common Cents <\/a>Organization. Begun in 1991 when four-year-old Nora Gross asked her father, co-founder Teddy Gross, \u00a0for help in feeding a homeless man, since then, over $7 million in pennies has been collected by school children and used to found a variety of projects in their local area.<\/p>\n

Not only are pennies collected throughout neighborhoods, but then the\u00a0students spend weeks\u00a0 learning about the grant-making process from the bottom up, eventually deciding on their own\u00a0where Penny Harvest grants will be made.<\/p>\n

I quote from the article written by Darcy Tomky for the Holyoke Enterprise (MA)\u00a0newspaper , “Elementary Students Explore The Penny Harvest Grant-Making Process<\/a>” (I have removed the names of students mentioned):<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With 1,020 pounds of pennies collected, Holyoke elementary and high school students have dived into the second phase of the Penny Harvest philanthropic project.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The students have the opportunity to award a $1,000 grant to a non-profit organization. Now the question is: who should receive the money?
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A roundtable committee made up of 14 elementary students has been formed to answer that question. Meeting once a week with high school sponsor T_____ and her high school leadership class student coaches, they are learning about the grant making process…
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 …The students have devoted themselves to being \u201ca group of committed people working together to help meet important needs in the community.\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On their fourth week of the project, T_____ noted the students have learned about the democratic process by taking oaths and assigning roles such as president and secretary. They have also explored terms like community and philanthropy.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to high schooler B_____, the project is not just about giving away money; it is also focused on service. One of the objectives of the Penny Harvest is to improve neighborhoods through service projects the students will plan and execute in addition to awarding a grant.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The next step in the grant making process is to \u201cidentify the issue the kids as a whole care about,\u201d said T____. The roundtable discussed the question, \u201cWhat do you see around you that you want to see changed?\u201d
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The roundtable developed a survey to find out what issues other elementary students care about. The survey, distributed by roundtable members on Thursday, March 5, gave students several options of who they would like to receive the funds such as sick animals, people without homes, disabled children and elderly people.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once the issues are narrowed down, students will research the them to find what causes the problems and ways to solve or improve the situation. The high school coaches will also research specific non-profit organizations that address those issues.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The next step in the process will be to conduct an application and interview process with the non-profits. Students will follow up with letters of acceptance or decline.
\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Once a non-profit is chosen, the roundtable will finish up by planning a celebration party for elementary students and the recipient of the Penny Harvest grant. They hope to award the check in late spring.”<\/p>\n

This is bottom-up motivation: everyone can donate and collect pennies. With that first step comes community involvement in the larger project, helping students learn about service and providing services for those in need.<\/p>\n

See Empowerment Organization<\/a> for more examples and “The One Small Thing” Focusing exercise.<\/p>\n

Creative Edge Focusing (TM)’s Culture of Creativity<\/a> \u00a0fights apathy by\u00a0engaging every person \u00a0at the Creative Edge of individual experiencing. Whether in Creative Edge Education<\/a> or Creative Edge Organizations<\/a>, Listening\/Focusing Turns are used as a basic method for helping people to find and articulate their own Creative Edge.<\/p>\n

Creative Edge Focusing<\/a> and Creative Edge Listening<\/a> can be used for problem solving at home and at work, alone, in parenting and relationships, during interpersonal conflict, and in group or community decision making situations. The Creative Edge Pyramid<\/span><\/a>\u00a0describes applications from Focusing Alone to Creative Edge Organizations.<\/p>\n

For application in business settings, see my article, \u201cCreative Edge Organizations: Businesses and Organizations As A \u2018Kind\u2019 Of Focusing Community\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0from The Folio: Thirtieth Anniversity Tribute edition at The Focusing Institute, www.focusing.org<\/span><\/a> .<\/p>\n

CREATIVE EDGE FOCUSING(tm): \u00a0SELF-HELP SKILLS FOR HOME AND WORK<\/strong><\/p>\n

Free Downloads:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Instant \u201cAhah!\u201d Mini-Manual<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n

Complete Focusing Instructions Manual (17 pages)<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAjas\u201d Instantaneos Mini-Manual<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Creative Edge Focusing (<\/strong>www.cefocusing.com<\/strong><\/span><\/a> )<\/strong> teaches two basic self-help skills, Intuitive Focusing<\/span><\/a> and Focused Listening<\/span><\/a>, which can be applied at home and at work through The Creative Edge Focusing Pyramid<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Based upon Gendlin\u2019s Experiential Focusing (<\/strong>www.focusing.org<\/strong><\/span><\/a> )\u00a0and Rogers\u2019 Empathic Listening,<\/strong> our website is packed with Free Resources and instructions in these basic self-help skills. Learn\u00a0how to build Support Groups<\/span><\/a>, Conscious Relationships<\/span><\/a>, and Creative Edge Organizations <\/span><\/a>based upon these basic skills of emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n

You can try out\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong>\u201cFocusing: Find Out What Is Bothering You.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Click here to subscribe to\u00a0Creative Edge Focusing(TM)\u2019s \u00a0Instant \u201cAhah!\u201d e-newsletter and get the latest exercises first!!!<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Click here for a free Intuitive Focusing Mini-Course<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Click here for a free Focused Listening Mini-Course<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0See \u00a0Core Concept: Conflict Resolution<\/span><\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to find a complete mini-course on Interpersonal Focusing and Conflict Resolution, including Rosenberg\u2019s Non-Violent Communication, Blanchard\u2019s \u201cOne Minute Apology,\u201d Patricia Evan\u2019s books on Verbally Abuse and Controlling Relationships, McMahon\u2019s Beyond The Myth Of Dominance, <\/em>and much more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

See\u00a0 Core Concept: Intimate Relationship<\/span><\/a> to find a complete mini-course on increasing intimacy and sexuality, including the \u201cSharing Your Day\u201d exercise, Listening\/Focusing Partnerships for The Way of Relationship, untangling and equalizing desire, tantric sexuality, and much more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Download complete Instant \u201cAhah!\u201d Mini-Manual, in <\/strong>English<\/strong><\/span><\/a> and <\/strong>Spanish<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, from CEF Website, or download from links at top of this blog.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Find links to <\/strong>free articles, personality tests, multi-media\u00a0Self-Help training, Classes and workshops<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Dr. Kathy McGuire<\/span><\/a>, Director<\/p>\n

Creative Edge Focusing (TM)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

www.cefocusing.com<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apathy is avoided when each person in an organization is engaged at their own passionate, individual Creative Edge. Empowerment Organization motivates people “from the bottom up” by finding “One Small Thing” as a first step toward engagement. The Penny Harvest fund-raiser used in elementary schools nationwide is used as an example of using “The One Small Thing” method to motivate children and communities to learn about giving and helping others, life-long philanthropy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,45,116,1],"tags":[661,406,740,659,755,181,658,657,663,662,660,664],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=708"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":719,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/708\/revisions\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cefocusing.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}