We Must Unlearn To Learn - Vivan Ng

Vanessa Salamy       Alie Matthews       Ray Chau       Krista Schlaeger       Eric Ehrenreich

Step into a classroom in the early 2000's.  Imagination bubbles are frantically bouncing around the room as the little humans are giddy in their chairs flipping page after page in their dragon, princess, magic lamps and school buss and tree-house books.  Today you walk into that same classroom.  There is no crinkling of pages, sudden bursts of giggles, or imagination surfacing among the children.  The classroom is rigid and concrete; systematic.  There is no sprawling landscape before the eyes of the curious.  There is no victorious, fearless leader preparing their soldiers for battle.  Instead, standing before these blossoming minds is a dictation of knowledge that they must regurgitate on command.  They will repeat and drill that knowledge into their brains until judgement day. There has been a switch, a change in how things are practiced in education.  Children are being robbed of their own natural beauty to process information and create alternate worlds that aid their learning.  What are you going to do about it?

At UAlbany, the Communications 304 Conference and Group Leadership class decided to intervene.  We were the ones who were giggling with our noses glued to books, our little minds wandering to alternate universes, we begged to have independent reading throughout the school day.  Today we know just how valuable our imagination was aiding our learning.  We want to help recreate that for other young learners.  

To tackle this mission we knew that the one thing that brought us the joy of learning and exploring is the same thing we need to bring to others.  Not imaginative educators, not pretty classrooms.  It's Books.  Books have the ultimate power to release a mind into another realm.  Creativity stems from one's imagination and ability to unleash that natural talent.  Too many minds are molded to a concrete timeline of standards and core educational goals.  This book project will be able to help us step over this steel threshold and break into the future of education.

Milk and Bookies

Group 1 

Organization: Milk + Bookies (http://www.milkandbookies.org)

Mission Statement: "MILK+BOOKIES is a non-profit organization that exposes young children to how great it feels to give back while celebrating the love of a good book."

Book Requirements:

• New or gently used (i.e. no tears, stains, writing, etc.) children's books.
• Preschool to high school age books.

Donation Extra Requirements:

• Organization will send a receipt acknowledging the donation.

• MUST request the receipt within the donation box.

Contact Information:

Alesha Dailey

Operations Manager

Milk + Bookies

alesha@milkandbookies.org

www.milkandbookies.org

Office Voicemail: 323-863-5742

Cell Phone: 661-886-3645

Donation Office: 
1448 15th St. #202, 
Santa Monica, CA 90404

Out Reach Community Service: The Literate Earth Project

We have chosen to team up with the Literate Earth Project, seeing as we too, wish " to establish literate communities in developing countries by putting books in the hands and minds of children".  Based in Philadelphia, they supply developing countries with books, libraries, and education. They promote community building and "active citizenship". They run off of monetary donations and book drives that they coordinate on various campuses. The donations in turn contribute to books, shelving, training, and material transport. If you ever wish to donate or work with the Literate Earth Project, Visit : www.info@theliterateearthproject.org

Our group is simply an extension or facilitator for the Literate Earth Project at UAlbany. We chose to collaborate with the organization because we wanted to make a difference in poverty stricken communities. The organization was a perfect fit in our efforts to make a difference. By sending in these books, we're improving children's educational opportunities, which in turn will improve their quality of life.

Group 3: Rochester City School District

The Rochester City School District Library System is based in Rochester County, New York. With students ranging grades K through 12 in thirteen different schools, the Rochester City School District has a wide range of students with different backgrounds, interests, and appeals. In  an effort to better the education of it's students, this library system follows a mission "to create a positive learning environment in the libraries of Rochester City School through resource development sharing, staff development and technical support"(www.rcsdk2.org).

We chose this organization due to its open availability and commitment to education through all sorts of literature. The Rochester City School District Library System has little restrictions on the types of books they are willing to receive in order to develop a diverse selection of books for their students to chose from; ranging from recreational novels to educational textbooks.