This blog will focus on life issues ranging from adolescence to adulthood, spirituality, story, and education. Posts will be made by Jay D'Ambrosio, history teacher, mentor, and author. The views expressed are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Hampton Township School District.
"The universe is made of stories, not atoms." - Muriel Rukeyser
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Rethinking Fresh Air
The Fresh Air Fund, an organization dedicated to bringing urban kids into a direct experience with the great outdoors, is looking for counselors for its summer program. Take a moment and consider supporting this worthy endeavor.
A recent survey apparently showed that children in our modern society are beginning to "lose touch with the natural world." It seems that very few young people were able to identify even common animals. Only two out of three children ages 9-11 were able to identify a frog. How did this happen???
Sometimes we lose the things that are truly precious...slowly. We get busy. We get distracted with the cares of this world. We gradually exchange the things that are magnificent and magical for the things that are profitable and practical.
Remember, this is the season of Hope. There is a great program available to the youth of New York City called the Fresh Air Fund. The Fresh Air Fund provides the opportunity for inner city students to experience the great outdoors. What a gift!
Watch the video below. If a picture says a thousand words, then a video should say about a million! Please consider supporting this effort to broaden the horizons of our nation's most valuable natural resource...our kids.
Jay D’Ambrosio has been a history teacher for the past twenty-seven years. He holds an M.A. in history and a B.A. in social science education; is certified in critical incident stress management, school crisis response, and conflict mediation; and is a state-certified member of the Student Assistance Program.
In 2010, Jay was named one of the "50 Most Innovative Teachers in the Nation" by PBS. He also delivered the keynote speech for the 2010 Pennsylvania Middle School Association Regional Conference entitled "Teaching with Direction: Using the Brain as a Guide." He was nominated for a Pennsylvania Teacher Excellence Center Award in 2005 and in 2002 was nominated for Disney’s American Teacher Awards. USA Today named two of Jay’s web sites “Best Bets in Education” in 2000 and 2002.
Jay has written Rethinking Adolescence: Using Story to Navigate Life’s Uncharted Years (Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2006), E-Teaching: Creating Web Sites and Student Web Portfolios Using Microsoft PowerPoint (Linworth Publishing, 2003), Ordered Disorder: Finding Divine Patterns in the Midst of Life’s Chaos (Amazon Kindle, 2010).
The Fresh Air Fund, an organization dedicated to bringing urban kids into a direct experience with the great outdoors, is looking for counselors for its summer program. Take a moment and consider supporting this worthy endeavor.
