...keeping up with Civitas
We now have an RSS ("Really Simple Syndication") feed that keeps you up to date with Civitas happenings. You can subscribe by clicking on the icon above or the one on our home page. You'll receive information on upcoming events as well as helpful reminders. |
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Tuesday, February 2, 2010 |
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Congrats to all on Pulitzer Climate Project |
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Climate change is about weather, and we got a break last week and three terrific journalists from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting were able to meet with students from all fourteen scheduled schools over four days. Special thanks to journalists Anna-Katarina Gravgaard, Jennifer Redfearn, and William Wheeler as well as Jon Sawyer and Tatum Taylor from the Pulitzer Center.
Additional thanks to a remarkable group of faculty advisors who prepared their students for the visit. The work of the Pulitzer ambassador students is also much appreciated. Finally, the enthusiasm and knowledge of most students at participating schools was encouraging and key to the success of the program.
As time goes on, we will report more about the visit and look forward to more contributions on the topic from students. For now, you can check out photos by clicking here. |
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Very Neat New Program From Pulitzer Launched |
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The Pulitzer Center just announced on Monday an intriguing partnership with YouTube for aspiring young journalists. We'll give you a couple of quick highlights and then the link to more information:
- Ten finalists will be chosen from the first round to receive technology prizes from Sony and Intel, and will compete to receive one of five $10,000 grants to work with the Pulitzer Center on an under-reported international story. Winners will be featured on the YouTube homepage.
- Round 1 launched yesterday (Feb. 1). The assignment: Document a single day in the life of a compelling person the world should meet and showcase how that person is making a positive impact in his or her community. All videos must be three minutes or less. Submissions will be open through February 28.
You can get complete information on the contest by clicking here. Civitas staff will be happy to help students who are interested in entering the contest.
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First Prep Session for Genocide Conference
last Saturday |
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Thanks to all students who came to our first prep session last Saturday for the Genocide Conference. It's encouraging to have so many students who are engaged in the topic and thanks to some fine advance work by Lisa and Gloria, we had excellent materials with which to work.
Without going into detail, we can say that the discussion included considerable dialogue about nationalism and high school spirit. We'll leave it at that for now; be we're rather confident that this will be an ongoing issue as we further explore the topic.
Our second and final prep session is at Crossroads School (map) on Saturday morning, February 13 from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM.
The conference is Feb. 19 - 20 at Spazio's / Comfort Inn in Maryland Heights (map).
You can access more photos from Saturday by clicking here.
Special Note: Jane Garvin, teacher at St. Joseph's Academy, has sent us information about an optional follow-up activity to the conference. This would be a program for students on Fri., April 9 at Maryville University on "Genocide Revisited, Healing for Tomorrow." Click here to see the flyer.
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U.S. at war with Albania ... or so it seemed
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In one of the finest political spoofs of recent years, U.S. political leaders created a "virtual war" with Albania; a war that the media fell for as if it was Balloon Boy.
We had another fine movie crowd last Friday evening as students gathered to watch "Wag the Dog." It truly was a lesson in the politics of distraction.
Click here for some photos from our "Wag the Dog" evening. |
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Next Film: "Charlie Wilson's War" |
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Our next movie will be "Charlie Wilson's War" on Friday, Feb. 12, at the Civitas office (map) from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. Pizza will be in abundance.
Tom Hanks stars, and at times you may think that you're watching pure fiction, but in reality it is a "docu-drama." The film shows the circuitous way in which the United States supported "freedom fighters" in Afghanistan against the Russian invasion in 1979. It will provide you with an interesting backdrop to America's current presence in Afghanistan, but your introspection will be frequently interrupted by laughter.
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Black: High School Blue: Middle School Date | Time | Place | Activity | | | | | Fri.,
02/12/10 | 6:00 PM
9:00 PM | Civitas Office (map) | Pizza & Movie (Charlie Wilson's War) |
Sat.,
02/13/10 | 9:00 AM-
11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Prep Session #2 for Genocide Conference |
Fri.,
02/19/10 -
Sat.,
02/20/10 | 4:00 PM (F) - 3:00 PM (S) | Comfort Inn / Spazio's (map) | ActiveCitizen360 Conference on Genocide |
Mon.
02/22/10 | 4:00 PM -
5:00 PM | Richmond Hts.
Community Ctr. (map) | Middle School Model U.N. Teacher Prep Meeting |
Sat.,
03/06/10 | 9:00 AM -
11:00 AM | Crossroads (map) | Civitas Discussion #10 | | | | |
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