Adventures in Expeditionary Learning

Our children are students at Two Rivers Community School (TRCS), a North Carolina public charter school. Established only five years ago, to our eyes, this innovative, ambitious academic experiment has already delivered many amazing results. At TRCS, our kids and some 250 others are enjoying a rare learning curriculum uniquely integrating a pioneering expeditionary learning approach with advanced brain-compatible instructional strategies also known as educational kinesiology or Brain Gym.

Focused on teamwork, community and the pursuit of shared academic and character-improvement goals, TRCS students and faculty-members are contributing to society by learning more everyday about the world, their community and themselves as individuals. Despite the excellence in faculty and curriculum development,

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Moving forward: World Water Day 2010

In honor of World Water Day, it’s my pleasure to share this video that takes a hard look at the bottled water industry and proposes some simple and powerful alternative ideas that can greatly impact the Earth, our communities, and our pocketbooks.

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Designing characters, stories and more with Jose Sebastian Gomez

WeMakeItGoodIf you haven’t seen the book “We Make It Good” from the filmmakers at creative production company Shilo, you are hereby enthusiastially encouraged to check it out.

As you’ll see there, much of the company’s extraordinary content leverages the character design talents of Co-Founder, Creative Director and Director Jose Sebastian Gomez.

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The power of dreams…

At an early age, I decided I was going to be a writer. Somewhere along the way, I also took a strong interest in filmmaking, and being very ambitious, by the time I was 20 years old, I developed a clear vision of myself as novelist and filmmaker. While I have made great strides on achieving those dreams over the years, I must admit that I have a long way to go in seeing them through; nonetheless, those dreams have driven me into situations that I never would have imagined, and while I’ve not yet fully accomplished those missions, I feel very fortunate to have progressed as far as I have.

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Laura Longsworth: Thanks for the Documentary

Thanks once again to Sundance Channel, I recently had another life-altering experience from a documentary film they chose to program. This time, the film is entitled “Luckey,” it was produced, written and directed by filmmaker Laura Longsworth, and it documents the challenges faced by sculptor Tom Luckey to carry on with his life, his artistry and his business after experiencing a major spinal injury.

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Much love to and from The Children’s Playhouse

A creative play space for families, and a powerful force for community goodness in Boone, North Carolina, USA

After helping my wife Beth Darnell, and her sister Ann Kiefert, their comrade Kathy Parham, and many others from our then-new hometown of Boone, North Carolina, open The Children’s Playhouse in November of 2002, I am very proud to see how Kathy has led the venture in countless ways which continue adding precious dimensions to our community. The video featured here was produced by our friend Beth Jacquot in 2003, and much has happened since then. I invite you to visit the official site www.GoPlayhouse.org and explore the Facebook group, and I also wanted to share news from a recent event that reveals a lot about our community, and Kathy.

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Start cultivating your creativity right now…

Over the past two years, I began a little family tradition which has paid off for me personally with some pretty great dividends. My wife’s family gets together during the year-end holidays in the lovely Isle of Palms area of Charleston, South Carolina. In the nearby town of Mount Pleasant, I have discovered a Goodwill store, and for the past two years, I have shopped in the book section and picked out books for each of those staying with us. Last year, for myself, I selected a water-damaged copy of a book that seemed vaguely familiar, written by Julia Cameron and entitled “The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity.

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Tommy Ewasko, Imagemaker Extraordinaire…

This Friday and Saturday nights, and by private appointments thereafter, The Wine Cave in Montrose, California, will proudly host Artist’s Receptions and Charitable Fine Art Sales honoring master Getty Images imagemaker Tommy Ewasko and his work, and benefiting Amazing Grace Children’s Foundation. On display and available to collectors on a first-come, first-served basis are numerous … Read moreTommy Ewasko, Imagemaker Extraordinaire…

Joining iParticipate.org in honoring Veterans today and tomorrow…

In my humble opinion, iParticipate.org has been doing an outstanding job of promoting its very important mission and inciting us all to consider volunteering to support members of the military who have done so much for us all through their military commitments. The above public service announcement (PSA) was released back in September, and I wanted to share it, and also include its transcript.

Read moreJoining iParticipate.org in honoring Veterans today and tomorrow…