[Durham INC] [durhambikeandped] Fwd: [ABCDdurham] Mayor Bell Invites Feedback on IBM Report for Engaging Durham's Youth

Fri Jun 8 08:25:18 EDT 2012

Thanks so much for that, Marc! I couldn't agree more, of course.
I have been working all year on a vegetable garden, herb garden, and other landscaping projects at Creekside Elementary. The kids help me once/week during their recess time.

I can't get over how much these kids LOVE it. Too bad I can't get any other adults to help me or we'd do it more often.

Yesterday, we were thinning out thyme, mint and oregano, and I offered to put the pieces with roots into pots for the kids to take home and plant. 

They were ecstatic. I was like the pied piper as the kids followed me in a long line to get their pots, fill them with soil and place their little plant within.

When I told them they could eat the leaves of the plants, they got even more excited.

They promised to put the plants in the ground within a week, and I trust that most of them will.

People ask me why I don't hold a garden workday on the weekend or something so I can get more adults to help. The answer is that most of the kids I want/need to reach can't make it to after school or weekend activities. I mean, it seemed that some of these kids had never even held a handful of dirt before.

I hope that Durham can support more gardening programs for our youth -- get the kids outside, encourage them to get their hands dirty and show them the plants that we grow for our pleasure and survival. Or have them participate in water wildlife and water-testing programs like those put on by the Haw, Neuse and Cape Fear River Assemblies -- would make them more aware of our effect on our natural resources and give them experience in biology and chemistry.

Once I leave Creekside, I fear that my gardens will turn to weeds and future students won't get the experience that the current ones so enjoy.

We need OUTDOOR programs for our kids, not more programs that involve them sitting around staring at lighted screens.

Sincerely,
Melissa (Rooney)

________________________________
 From: Marc Dreyfors <marc at greenwayrides.com>
To: durhambikeandped at yahoogroups.com; Frank White <frank at ewhitecap.com> 
Cc: Bill Bell <billbell at udicdc.org>; Beverly.Thompson at DurhamNC.gov; inc-list at rtpnet.org; ABCDdurham at yahoogroups.com; marc at greenwayrides.com 
Sent: Friday, 8 June 2012 12:23 AM
Subject: Re: [Durham INC] [durhambikeandped] Fwd: [ABCDdurham] Mayor Bell Invites Feedback on IBM Report for Engaging Durham's Youth

Hi Frank,

I started reading the report and was immediately overwhelmed by the
    "technology as the solution" to inner city problems.  The Report
    read like a set up/commercial for IBM's corporate view of the
    world/approach.  

"At the heart of this Governance Model is the Youth
Opportunity Corps (YOC), supported by the Executive
Council and the Youth Council. It consists of two units:
one full-time Operations Unit consisting of five roles,
and a part-time Enabling Infrastructure Task Force that
will bring the existing IT and information management
resources together to create the enabling IT infrastructure."

Aack! Focus is on "executive leaders" and healthcare and
    biotech??!!  Are these guys really who we want engaging our youth,
    who have achieved excellence in a broken system that is both
    undermining our Democracy and destroying our health and planet
    simultaneously.

I have a half a dozen kids and under-employed coming by my office
    daily, and more if I didn't put a nix on it because we don't have
    the man-power or resources to engage them.  These kids are way
    over-loaded with technology, You-tubing gangster rape, texting,
    smart-phones, listening to brutal lyrics, Face-booking, They are
    headed for chemical dependency and ADD/ADHD candidates and certainly
    "nature deficit disordered."

Personally, taking these kids out into nature would be the best
    thing for them, getting them exercise, teaching them to fish,
    garden, make things with their hands and feeding them some healthy
    food reagularly. IBM's Report is heavy on the psychological
    leadership pedagogy.  Mentoring is important, but this stuff seems
    way over the top complicated.  What are these guys selling?! There
    are snibits of good data and approach in this Report, but the thing
    should trashed.

Talk with Asheville Go! about engaging at risk youth, its about
    listening. hearing and being real.  We just spent a couple days
    looking into their model with NCCDI  Offering a hope of a job in a
    healthy, sustainable and conscientious community is the best way to
    engage this problem. I just wish we had a green economy that was
    robust enough to provide more entry level jobs (idiot leadership?).  

Best thing Durham has going for it is the growing local foods
    movement, but I see no mention of greening or sustainability in the
    whole damn report!  Outrageous.  Green space reduces crime,
    greenways allow the community to exercise and get out of cars,
    planting trees affects a range of benefits, etc.  Talk about
    disconnect, wait until the real crap hits the fan: famine, drought,
    flood, fire, spiking energy prices and economic collapse.  Think we
    have a problem now?!  We need to give these kids a heads up and a
    leg up on the shit storm we have created.   I guess the IT community
    will have an ap. for that.

Lord help us,

Marc

On 6/5/2012 10:53 PM, Frank White wrote: 

>Normally, I'd consider this FYI outside the scope of this listserv so bear with me as I attempt to bridge a connection to the following release and the pedestrian/cycling community.
>
>A few days ago, ATT trial users were attacked by teens, we
              believe to be "at-risk" youth, while using the ATT. Marc,
              mentioned that something should be done to reach those
              youths. Since this initiative is aimed at "at-risk"
              populations that have made some uncomfortable I wanted to
              make sure news of this program is on your radar. 
>
>Durham is "where great things happen" and a desired result
              will surely be something great.
>
>Frank
>
>
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: Blalock, Amy <Amy.Blalock at durhamnc.gov>
>Date: Tue, Jun 5, 2012 at 3:07 PM
>Subject: [ABCDdurham] Mayor Bell Invites Feedback on IBM
              Report for Engaging Durham's Youth
>To: "Blalock, Amy" <Amy.Blalock at durhamnc.gov>
>
>
>
>  
>  
>CITY OF DURHAM
>Office of Public Affairs
>101 City Hall Plaza
>Durham, NC 27701
> 
> 
>News Release  
>News Media Contact:
>Beverly B. Thompson
>Director
>(919) 560-4123 x 11229
>(919) 475-2362 (cell)
>Beverly.Thompson at DurhamNC.gov 
>Like: http://Facebook.com/CityofDurhamNC 
>Follow: http://Twitter.com/CityofDurhamNC     
> 
>For Immediate Release: June 5, 2012
>  
> 
>Mayor Bell Invites Feedback on IBM Report for Engaging Durham’s Youth
>Full Report and Video Now Online; Feedback Encouraged on New Facebook Page
> 
>DURHAM, N.C. - The City of Durham is inviting public review and comment on a plan submitted by IBM (NYSE: IBM) to improve the education, well being, and job-readiness of Durham’s youth.   
> 
>IBM's plan details steps that the City can take in coordination with schools, workforce-readiness programs, and other public, private and nonprofit stakeholders to better coordinate and measure the success of their efforts. 
> 
>The recommendations include the creation of a Youth Opportunity Corps that would create a centralized mechanism for identifying youth at risk, refer those youth to the right resources, and ensure their long-term success.
> 
>“As the first U.S. city selected by IBM for this study earlier this year, I am pleased to share this important report,” Mayor William V. “Bill” Bell said.  “It is clear that we as a community are going to have to work together to help our youth succeed in education, employment, and life.  This report outlines a coordinated strategy to coalesce our public, private, and non-profit resources for the future of our youth in Durham,” he said.
> 
>Bell said that at this point, public input is critical for the next steps to implement the plan. To encourage feedback and discussion on various aspects of the report, a Facebook page (http://www.Facebook.com/DurhamYouthSucceeding) has been established. The page provides links to IBM's report and to a brief video (http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=3F1bG9uQAz4) that chronicles the challenges that local youth face.
> 
>According to Bell, community leaders will meet in the coming weeks to assess what the next steps should be to take advantage of key recommendations, including how to involve various community stakeholders and organizations, especially youth.
> 
>The recommendations emerged from a study funded by an IBM Smarter Cities Challenge grant, valued at $400,000, awarded to cities such as Durham that have demonstrated progressive thinking and a commitment to embrace change.  
> 
>For the study, six IBM staff members with expertise in finance, technology, and management, spent most of February 2012 living in Durham and interviewing approximately 80 residents, officials, and community leaders.  The team presented its initial findings in March and has submitted a more comprehensive report, now available on the City’s website at http://DurhamNC.gov/ich/cmo/Documents/ibm_scc_report.pdf. 
> 
>Durham was one of 33 cities named as recipients of IBM’s Smarter Cities challenge grants in 2012. Launched in 2011, this three-year $50 million program for 100 U.S. cities is IBM’s single largest philanthropic initiative. It funds in-person engagements staffed by teams of top IBM experts who study and then make detailed recommendations addressing locally important urban issues.
> 
>"We thank the City of Durham for the hospitality shown to the IBM team that visited earlier this year," said Steven Pearson, a North Carolina-based manager for IBM's Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs group.  "We hope that the recommendations that our team prepared will be useful in helping to making Durham as vibrant and successful as it can be. We congratulate the city's leadership for its forward thinking and commitment to innovation."
> 
>###
>
>
>-- 
>
>Frank White
>
>White Cap Solutions
>http://whitecapsolutions.com
>
>
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