How Are YOU Smart?

Dr. Howard Gardner, a psychologist and professor of neuroscience from Harvard University, developed the theory of Multiple Intelligences, which challenged traditional beliefs in the fields of education and cognitive science. Unlike the established understanding of intelligence -- people are born with a uniform cognitive capacity that can be easily measured by short-answer tests -- MI reconsiders our educational practice of the last century and provides an alternative. This approach resonates highly with Heart House and has been adopted as one of our core beliefs about how we will work with children.

“Intelligence is the capacity to do something useful in the society in which we live. Intelligence is the ability to respond successfully to new situations and the capacity to learn from one’s past experiences.”—Dr. Howard Gardner

According to Howard Gardner, human beings have nine different kinds of intelligence that reflect different ways of interacting with the world. Each person has a unique combination, or profile. Although we each have all nine intelligences, no two individuals have them in the same exact configuration -- similar to our fingerprints. (For an overview of these nine intelligences, see our previous blog posting, The Many Kinds of Smart.)

For Gardner, intelligence is:

• the ability to create an effective product or offer a service that is valued in a culture;
• a set of skills that make it possible for a person to solve problems in life;
• the potential for finding or creating solutions for problems, which involves gathering new knowledge.

Your turn: How are YOU smart?

There's a great online assessment we found which can help you determine your strongest intelligences. We found that it took an average of five minutes to complete, and was very fun to see the results. Find this assessment at http://literacyworks.org/mi/assessment/findyourstrengths.html

Student Spotlight: Lanny and Anthony

These are just some of the wonderful children you help support with your gifts of time and funding. THANK YOU for making a difference for these future citizens!

Lanny has made great progress toward improving his attitude and behavior this month. He is quiet and working hard during homework hour everyday and is setting a great example for others who want to make better choices.

Anthony has been attending Heart House for almost 3 years! Anthony is well known for his intellectual vocabulary, funny anecdotes on life, and his eagerness to take on leadership roles. In fact, he was just currently elected in charge of the Heart House reading center. He has impressed us all by taking the lead and working hard to make the reading center creative, quiet, and special. He has informed us that he has “hired” some other students on to help him make sure the reading center is working effectively whenever he is absent. Also, he created some outstanding journalism work during our newspaper project and even though we have already completed the project, he continues to take an interest in reading the newspaper and creating his own newsletters.

Read more Student Spotlight posts on the Heart House blog.

This Month's Photo Scrapbook

Bulletin board decorators

Homework support with volunteer Mr. Denné




James in the Reading Center

Below: “Titanic Challenge", a teambuilding game this month—2
pictures

Symone updates the Word Wall

Rosa and Michelle

Heart House South students plan a special “Kits for Kids”
project in anticipation of Earth Day 2009

Desire, Terran and Thomas plan for Earth Day

Armando practices spelling using the Word Wall

Angel, Zach and Marissa use the Word Wall to plan their Earth
Day project

Older girls hanging out

School-Year Scrapbook

We asked the children to vote on their favorite thematic units from this school year. Here’s what they said:


#1 Forces of Nature
This was one of the coolest themes EVER, according to the kids. We studied extreme weather, which included making tornadoes in a bottle, watching home videos of tsunamis in Asia, learning hurricane safety, making seismographs to measure earthquakes and creating PSAs to educate others on extreme weather safety.
Sponsor for Forces of Nature: SpawMaxwell


#2 Super Citizens
We studied the characteristics that make good citizens: honesty, responsibility, respect, compassion and courage. The unit culminated with elections (on real voting machines!) of student council members from each Heart House who embody these characteristics.
Sponsor for Super Citizens: Hart InterCivic


#3 Inventors and Inventions
Students got the chance to study famous inventors, like Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison, and create their own inventions to help others solve problems. Sponsor for Inventors and Inventions: SourcePulse



#4 Read, Write, Rock On
Heart House kids sharpened their reading and writing skills by creating word-bingo games, discussing banned books, writing each other’s biographies, making tongue twisters and even creating a Heart House newspaper! Sponsor for Super Citizens: Michael and Susan Dell Foundation


#5 Create a Holiday
Each grade group was able to create its very own holiday---naming the day and why and how it is celebrated. Some of the holidays included Kids vs. Teachers Day and Snowflake Day. Sponsor for Create a Holiday: Foundation Communities

Thank you to our sponsors who made these great learning months possible. For more information on sponsoring a month of learning at Heart House, contact Diane Cannon, Executive Director, at (512) 929-8187 or dcannon@hearthouse.org.

Just as Green, Maybe a Little Smaller

Green thumbs abounded at the spring planting on April 15th at Heart House North. The Heart House Garden Club, with the help of our partners, Green Corn Project, planted cherry tomatoes, watermelon, cantaloupe, green beans, basil, cilantro, and oregano. Special thanks to the ever cheerful, ever patient Mitch Mills, who has nurtured our garden club and is the current President of Green Corn Project. Produce from the Heart House garden club will be featured at our upcoming BBQ on June 13th (see Events.) Be sure to stop by!

See more pictures at: www.hearthouse.org/photos.htm

Matching Donation Drive for Camp Heart House

It’s time again this spring to look ahead to the summer!

We are currently planning our exciting summer program called Camp Heart House. During our 8 week summer camp we are able to offer youth so many fun and interesting choices in activities and programs. Camp Heart House boasts engaging programs like Mad Science, Rad Readers, Heart House Idol, foreign languages, summer service learning, and fitness. We are also enthused to announce that this summer we are able to offer some new programs such as comedy and improv, cooking, counseling groups and leadership. We are also planning some enriching field trips to explore Austin’s rich culture and history and of course will be going swimming on a regular basis!

Each spring we begin planning our summer program, reaching out to organizations and individuals to collaborate and support our program. So far, these are the awesome organizations that have teamed up with us to provide cool programs for this summer:

• LifeWorks
• Texas AgriLife Extension
• 4-H Capital Area
• Youth Interactive
• Notre Dame Summer Service Learning Program
• Computer Corps & American Youthworks (an extension of AmeriCorps)
  

Summer is an exceptionally challenging time for the Heart House families. Most school-year programs close for the summer, and summer child-care costs average $700/month per child. The working-class families in the Heart House neighborhoods simply cannot afford quality care for their school-age children during the summer. Without Heart House, parents would likely have to choose between safe child care and their employment.

Camp Heart House operates Monday-Friday, 9am-3pm, June 15-August 8. The camp helps to bridge a wide gap: supporting both the child’s social and academic growth and the family’s financial security. We need to raise an additional $25,000 to fully fund Camp Heart House.

It only takes $75 to send a child to Camp Heart House for a week. For every $75 you donate in May, an anonymous donor has agreed to match it, dollar for dollar. This donor invites you to financially support Heart House because she believes so strongly in our programs and purposes. Together, we can make a big difference in the lives of Austin's deserving children.

Games and Sportsmanship

We've just wrapped up April’s theme of “Games and Sportsmanship” which focused on what different games and sports can teach us about ourselves and each other. We spent the first few weeks focused on learning about good sportsmanship, teamwork, and games that can teach us about cultures around the world. We wrapped up our theme by experiencing some athletic games and creating our very own unique Heart House Olympics!

Special Guest Highlight:

Journalist Nick Boeglin visited Heart House North recently to help facilitate a Fun Friday called “In the Newsroom”. Both he and our Program Leader, Ms. Emily, dressed up to get the kids excited about feeling like real journalists, working on various news stories.

Join Our Learning Community
We love special guests at Heart House! In the past, we've had everyone from ballerinas to slam poets to Scuba Steve visit us. You're invited to join us one day after school to share your talent and passion with the children. If you would like to be a special guest or organize a special project with your friends, please let us know. You can call our Volunteer Coordinator at (512) 929-8187 or email us at volunteer@hearthouse.org. We look forward to hearing from you.

Read Along with Heart House! Books About Games and Sportsmanship

Let the Games Begin! by Maya Ajmera, Michael Regan, and Global Fund for Children

Following an introduction by former senator Bill Bradley, Ajmera and Regan elaborate on the philosophy of sport, addressing one aspect (practice, sportsmanship, teamwork, competition, rules) on each two-page spread. The text, which assumes a budding interest in sport participation, directly addresses the reader, in a tone that is friendly, reassuring, and encouraging. Each spread is illustrated by five photographs of children from around the world who are involved in a sport. Each also features a highlighted quote from a child, which offers insightful advice to the reader on navigating the ups and downs of participation. The title and the picture of a gymnast on the cover are a bit misleading in suggesting that the book concerns the Olympics, but, in fact, the authors have accessibly depicted sport as a fundamental, unifying human endeavor that reflects the ideals the Olympic games embody.



Eco-Fun: Great Projects, Experiments, and Games for a Greener Earth by David Suzuki and Kathy Vanderlinden

These 48 activities are designed to stimulate understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of our ecosystem. They are organized into five chapters: "A Breath of Fresh Air," "Waterworks," "Earthborn," "All Fired Up," and "Our Fine Feathered (and Leafy) Friends." A two-page explanatory overview precedes each section. Activities include making a solar water heater, paper, a composting can, and natural cleansers. Each project has a list of supplies needed, step-by-step instructions, an explanation of what's going on, and "More ideas-" that offers additional things to do. Safety tips are included and the more dangerous procedures recommend adult assistance. Illustrations enhance the lively text, which can be used in the classroom or at home.

Do you want to make a contribution to the Heart House library and reading program?
We would be proud for you to be a reading buddy by donating funds or a gift certificate to Heart House so we can expand our reading program. For more information, please contact Diane Cannon, our Executive Director, at dcannon@hearthouse.org or (512) 929-8187.

Sense Without Cents

In a Tightening Economy, Relationships and Non-Monetary Resources Guide Successful Social Innovation Among Nonprofit Partners

Heart House is preparing to expand its two Austin and three Dallas fully-operational neighborhood centers to 25 dotting Texas by 2020 through its participation in the Growth Learning Collaborative.

The Growth Learning Collaborative is a social innovation project, organic in nature, pooling together various Austin-based nonprofit partners to seek solutions to growth challenges in a stiffening economy. The initial objective for Growth Learning collaborators was to secure space — physical and time — to talk with and learn from experts and peers regarding options for growing organizations. Project members have met monthly at various locations since June 2008.

“The idea of the Growth Learning Collaborative has been more than simply expanding our organizations,” Anna Land, originator of the collaborative plus Heart House USA CEO and founder, said. “I wanted us to meet to discuss and plan implementation of best-practice techniques to help grow and — more fundamentally — replicate our organizations. In our case, children across Texas need a resource like Heart House. To that end, we focus on how we can
naturally nurture and maintain our sense of organizational culture, our enactment of our missions and values, through cycles of leadership and volunteers across Heart House USA hubs.”

The Growth Learning Collaborative develops at a crucial moment in Central Texas. Opportunities for nonprofits to receive contributions of time, money and other resources dwindle. The need to maximize what resources nonprofits have to survive, let alone envision expansion or long-term existence, escalates.

“The current financial crisis could actually be seen as an opportunity,” Nell Edgington, president of Social Velocity, said. “Because of the recent failings of the financial markets, investors are beginning to look for social return in addition to, or even in place of, financial return. Venture philanthropy or growth capital for nonprofits, the funding that will help organizations like Heart House USA grow, is becoming increasingly needed and valued. With the number and complexity of social problems — like those Heart House is attempting to resolve — on the rise, nonprofits that have found solutions should be encouraged to grow to meet more needs. And they need growth capital to do so.”

Growth capital is an idea coming of age in the nonprofit world. One of several nonprofit partners currently participating in Austin’s leading-edge social innovation project is KDK-Harman Foundation, Central Texas’ 13th largest family philanthropy.

“One of our chief objectives is to promote a culture of giving excellence, an environment in which nonprofit supporters can help contribute best-practice solutions to turn challenges into opportunities,” Janet Harman, KDK-Harman president and founder, said. “Funding to help organizations is not our only focus. Rather, we aim to learn, adopt and promulgate proven solutions to empower nonprofit organizations to maximize their capacities to provide educational opportunities to low-income Central Texans. It’s our high-engagement philanthropic approach.”

Austin Partners in Education, a nonprofit that connects Austin community and classrooms to promote academic excellence and personal success for all students in the Austin Independent School District, is a current Growth Learning Collaborative member.

“We are honored to have been invited to participate in the collaborative because of our deep respect for the participants, for their talent and what they’ve achieved,” Kathrin Brewer, Austin Partners in Education executive director, said. “Through the Growth Learning Collaborative, we aim to have an opportunity to ask questions and share our challenges. We enjoy learning from participants’ experience and ideas, sharing practices and to getting their feedback on our strategies.”

Badgerdog Literary Publishing, a nonprofit that puts writers in the schools, providing access to best-in-class literary arts programming for young low-income and minority Central Texans, also participates in the social innovation project.

“As a fast-growing social enterprise, Badgerdog has moved out of the start-up phase with a healthy blend of earned and contributed revenue,” said Melanie Moore, founder and president. “Faced with the next phase of growth at a time when the financial and the publishing landscapes are in dramatic flux, Anna’s idea to establish the Growth Learning Collaborative has provided the participants a valuable opportunity to pool our experience and our inquiries in a real-time, generative knowledgebase that informs our decisions — and visions — for our respective organizations.”

The Growth Learning Collaborative meets on a monthly basis. For more information about Heart House's growth plans in Texas generally and Austin specifically, please email anna@hearthouse.org.