Decades ago, in 1981, I led a retreat for 30 high school students from Los Angeles and Orange County. We stayed in a wooded retreat center for three days to launch a year-long program of students engaged as school service leaders.
Seeking a higher level of engagement in uncovering what it means to be a leader, my colleague Megan Swezey Fogarty and I asked students to “build-a-leader” with long sheets of paper and markers. This initial experience has continued in a myriad of forms ever since, always generating insight and in-depth conversations. The biggest plus is seeing 100% of the youth engaged as they collaborate simultaneously to add and connect ideas, inevitably laughing along the way. During this first experience, students added knees for “flexibility,” a bald spot for “open-mindedness,” and one group turned their paper over and added a buttocks as something “to fall back on.”
When led with adults in workshops around the world, whatever the focus, the results are the same: same laughter, same ping-pong of ideas, same collaboration with 100% engagement, same meaningful conversations and range of insights.
In the years of this “build-a-___,” participants (grade 3 and up) have built leaders and learners. They have built advisors and advisees. They have built friends, teachers, and graduates. At a Back-To-School Night, in one room parents built “teens” while their offspring built “parents” in another room with a dynamic a conversation to follow. As the CBK Associates team leads professional development for the NYC Youth Leadership Councils program, we guide police officers in building “facilitators” before leading this same experience with their youth council members. This is a process for everyone.
In 2019, at the Nagoya (Japan) Service Learning and Advisory two-day workshops, a few adult groups used animals as their form, for example, one group “built-an-administrator” in the form of a dolphin, and another an octopus. One group went full abstract and built a service learning brain! An entire new world of possibilities!
After a visit to Chadwick International School in Incheon, South Korea, I received a visual from educators Emily Nunn and Jessica Sonneveld with this note: “Emily and I have been reading ‘The Power of Inquiry’. Instead of writing out what an inquiry teacher looks like, we decided to use the tool we learnt during your workshop and made our learning visible by drawing what we think an inquiry teacher looks like. Although she doesn’t look like the average human, it truly shows how incredible teachers with an inquiry mindset are! I have attached a photo for your viewing pleasure.”
Send comments, questions, or to receive a description of how to “Build-a __” with your students or group, email cathy[at]cbk.associates.
For years, I have assembled book titles and a book talk for a giveaway hosted by The City of West Hollywood. This list, from January 16, 2020, had books on three topics: Environment, Voting and Democracy, and A Better World.
Environment
Coral Reefs: Cities of Our Ocean (Science Comics)by Maris Wicks. “We need to protect biodiversity to maintain food sources, symbioses, habitat, and so on.” This graphic comic book is filled with colorful images and surprising information (did you know coral is an animal?). Learn about biodiversity, underwater creatures, and in Chapter 5, CHALLENGES facing our home: Earth! Grades 4 and up
Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands by Cathryn Berger Kaye and Phillipe Cousteau. More than a “how to,” Going Blue is an adventure guide into the world of water. Travel from the Mekong River to Lake Superior to the Great Barrier Reef to learn how we are interconnected by water. And find out how teens around the world are diving in to protect our most valuable resource – and what you can do. Grades 6-12
Make a Splash: A Kid’s Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands by Cathryn Berger Kaye and Phillipe Cousteau. Water, water, everywhere! At every age we can become water stewards to care for our greatest resource. Learn about the benefits of clean water for a healthy planet, and find out about trash, climate change, animals in danger, and kids taking action. Grades K-5
Our House Is On Fire: Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet by Jeanette Winter. Can one voice start a movement? Greta’s has. This young courageous girl stepped forth to interrupt negligence for our planet. A direct and compelling description of the challenges we face and a call to action. Picture book
The Wartville Wizardby Don Madden. The town of Wartville is buried in litter — until one frustrated fellow realizes Mother Nature has given him the power over trash and the results are hilarious and cause the town to consider their messy behaviors. A picture book for everyone
We Are All Greta: Be Inspired to Save the Worldby Valentina Giannella, illustrated by Manuela Marazzi. A young girl wakes a generation with a shocking message about the planet: we can’t wait for politicians, our future depends on actions we take now. In short chapters, the author explains the science, the politics and action being generated and neededto protect and preserve our planet and wellbeing. Grades 4-8
What a Waste: Trash, recycling, and protecting by Jess French. The author writes: “Humans are now producing more waste than ever before and our planet is suffering.” Visually appealing and informative, find out essential facts to inspire action. Consider that: 92% of the world’s population are breathing polluted air; 15 billion trees are cut down every year; around 20,000 plastic bottles are bought per second and less than half are recycled. All ages
Voting and Democracy
Granddaddy’s Turn – a Journey to the Ballot Box by Michael Bandy and Eric Stein illustrated by James E. Ransome. Based on one family’s struggle for voting rights in the civil rights–era South, this tale shines an emotional spotlight on past challenges so we can link with challenges that remain today. When Michael walks to town with his grandfather to cast his first vote, he struggles to have patience when it seems justice cannot come fast enough. Picture book
Lillian’s Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Shane E. Evans. This visual history of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 traces an elderly African American woman en route to vote. While making the “long haul up a steep hill” to her polling place, she sees her family history – the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, her great-grandfather voting for the first time, her parents trying to register to vote. And she sees herself marching in protest from Selma to Montgomery. All ages
One Person, No Vote: How Not All Voters are Treated Equallyby Carol Anderson with Tonya Bolden. This young adult version of the author’s bestselling book provides an extensive review of rollbacks to African American participation in voting since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Anderson explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. She explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans as the nation readied for the 2020 presidential election season. Includes ideas to getting involved. Grades 7-12
President of the Jungle by André Rodrigues, Larissa Ribeiro, Paula Desgualdo, and Pedro Markun. In this fabulous and funny introduction to how elections work, the animals decide they are tired of their king and that it is time to vote for a president. This funny, non-partisan story features lively illustrations, a helpful glossary, and colorful characters who have an infectious enthusiasm for the election process. Picture book
Who’s in Charge? Big Questions about Politics DK Publishing. Learn about political systems around the world, from the Sumerian Empire to modern governments. Who’s in Charge? is packed with information on evolving notions of citizenship, rights, power, and elections, along with the difference between democracy, monarchy, and anarchy. Learn how politics can become global when countries band together. Grades 4-12
Winning the Vote for Womenby Caryn Jenner. Winning the Vote for Women reveals stories of strong-willed people from around the world who fought for the right to vote. Through photography, illustrations, and narrative, meet women and men who fought both for and against the suffrage movement, and those continuing the fight today. From New Zealand in 1894 to Saudi Arabia in 2014, discover the global petitions, campaigns, peaceful protests and marches, as well as extreme measures taken by suffragists and suffragettes in their determination to change history. Grades 6-12
A Better World
Any Small Goodness, a novel of the barrio by Tony Johnston. Meet Arturo Rodriguez, a middle school student from a loving family who reside in the Los Angeles barrio, where acts of generosity and goodwill improve the lives of the community. Arturo’s father reminds him “In life there is Bueno and there is malo. If you do not find enough of the good, you must yourself create it . . . any goodness is of value.” Filled with humor and wisdom and enough Spanish to warrant a glossary in the back. Grades 6-12 (an easy read for upper grades, but the compelling story is relatable and memorable)
Douglas, You’re a Geniusby Ged Adamson. A ball goes through the hole in a high fence and someone sends the ball back. “But, who?” Nancy wonders. Determined to find out, Nancy invents a series of plans that her dog Douglas must carry out (think water jets and trampolines). A fun escapade with a reminder about neighbors and fences and walls. Includes a Spanish glossary. Picture book
Hey, Little Ant by Philip and Hannah Hoose. “Hey, little ant, down in the crack; can you hear me can you talk back? See my shoe, can you see that? Well now it’s gonna squish you flat!” So begins the book and the song of Hey, Little Ant written by a father/daughter team. Will the ant get squished? Will the lyrics change the boy’s mind? A must read and sing (for all ages) to find out!
Little Libraries, Big Heroes by Miranda Paul, illustrated by John Parra. Have you seen Little Free Libraries popping up in many neighborhoods? Meet Todd Bol, who had difficulty reading as a boy. Fortunately, his mother told him gave him confidence and assurance that he “had something big to offer to the world.” As an adult, Todd built a small little schoolhouse to share books in his neighborhood. Now Little Free Libraries have been built around the U.S. and near the US-Mexico border, in Uganda, Brazil, South Korea, and the South Sudan. A picture book for everyone
Please send comments, questions, and ideas to cathy[at]cbkassociates.com.
