June 27, 2018 Happy Wednesday! In a previous blog I wrote about the values of Mistletoe Enterprises and Victory & Valor. If you’re a regular follower here, you have probably read it but here’s the link just in case you haven’t: http://www.mistletoetom.com/victory-and-valor-blog/values-of-mistletoe-enterprises-and-victory-valor To save time, Mistletoe Enterprises values education, truth, history, nature, art, science and technology, sportsmanship, teamwork, loyalty, humor, and courage. I believe the content of our blogs and our posts reflect those values, and I believe our values are consistent with our mission to educate others by spreading cheer and telling the stories of history and heroes. I hope you agree. Notice among those things we value is art. The Arts. Music, poetry, photography, painting and a host of other art forms are creative ways to express oneself. And the arts support education too. In that same blog I linked, I stated that people learn things in different ways. So, we offer a variety of topics to appeal to a variety of tastes and multiple capacities for learning. We base this practice on the theory of noted developmental psychologist Howard Gardener who proposed there are nine types of intelligence (intelligence is a capacity for learning) categorized as: naturalist; musical; logical-mathematical; existential; interpersonal; athletic; linguistic; intrapersonal; and spatial. In practice, Gardener believes that some people are more naturally inclined to learn based on their “strong suit.” Some people are naturally gifted mathematically; others spatially or artistically; and others athletically, etc. Thus, we assemble our content as best we can to appeal to people’s various strengths. We agree with Gardener and value his theory about educating others based on their type of intelligence. That’s one reason we are strong advocates of The Arts. I am reminded that several years ago I went to Dayton, Ohio to be interviewed for the Veterans History Project by students from the Stivers School for the Arts. The history teacher who invited me to tell my story to these students is Bridget Federspiel: a National Teacher of the Year Award winner. For more than a dozen years under her guidance, her students have interviewed hundreds of veterans and documented the stories for preservation in the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. But wait? Military history? At a school for the arts? Students at that high school have strength in music, dance, painting, visual arts, and other creative skills. How could an interview with a military veteran reach their strength to aid learning? For one thing, they practiced photography and videography during the interview. Not only did they learn my story, but they documented it. They framed it, packaged it and submitted it within the guidelines set by the Library of Congress. They learned many valuable lessons in a variety of areas by paying attention to my story. Long before that, before cameras were invented, many of history’s famous events were depicted on canvass by acclaimed painters. We have featured several paintings and drawings associated with the founding of our country in posts we’ve shared. As well, we have featured patriotic songs by the choirs from the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Military Academy singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic": a poem by Julia Ward Howe (painting below) later set to music; we’ve featured poetry by Katherine Lee Bates that has also been put to music we know as “America the Beautiful”; and we have featured orchestral pieces and even popular music of more contemporary artists who mark our moments in time. All these things should explain why we appreciate the arts. The arts help us tell the stories of history & heroes That said, here’s a little history: On September 29, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the National Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act, creating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Mistletoe Enterprises LLC and Victory & Valor are proud to advocate for the art programs that enrich our lives. Without further ado, in this installment of the Victory & Valor Blog, compliments of the National Endowment for the Arts, we are pleased to share the words of Norene Cashen, a writer-in-residence with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit: "Since 2008, I've been a writer-in-residence with the InsideOut Literary Arts Project in Detroit. My job is to join Detroit Public School classrooms and teach children how to write poems. We also publish their poems and drawings in an annual journal. Most of the time, the students teach me much more than I teach them. When I ask them to step outside the realm of the literal and invite them to enter a new and completely creative space, something magical happens. They take chances. Our mottos are "trust yourself" and "keep on writing." We stand up and raise our hands to the sky to reach for an idea. We make crazy word lists. We make wild metaphors. We turn into superheroes. We say, "My heart is a river, my heart is a moon, my heart is an airplane." We follow those ideas to powerful places. Through our words, we are always going somewhere or transforming ourselves. By the end of the school year, I see a light in the students' faces I didn't see before. I see more of the courage needed to put the pencil to the page. When I am in a difficult place in my own life, I have learned to say, "This problem is a tunnel I am traveling through. This sadness is a rainstorm that will pass over me." And yes, at times I even imagine I am a superhero with all the powers I need to make a difference in the world." Norene Cashen Detroit, Michigan That’s one more reason we love the arts. Congratulations on your work, Ms. Cashen! That’s all for today. See you again Friday
2 Comments
Irene
6/28/2018 05:29:41 pm
Felicitations, "keep on writing."!
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Tom
6/29/2018 12:24:17 pm
Merci!
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AuthorTom Davis is the owner of Mistletoe Enterprises LLC. He also publishes and distributes the Victory & Valor Flyer, it tells the stories of heroes from all walks of life. Archives
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