Questions and Answers
1. What are simple examples of ideas for working
together explored in Ideas for America 1? In the
public sphere the value of annual reports. In our
private lives the willingness to learn a little basic
massage to help a spouse or partner feel better. These
are some unoriginal, common sense approaches that can
make a big difference if our hearts are in the right
place.
2. What do you offer Salem and
the City Council?
Language skills. I speak a number languages well,
the most relevant of which are Spanish, Portuguese and
Russian.
Bringing "timebanking" to Salem (and Marblehead), which
is why I founded
the Salem
Timebank. Everyone needs to be able to invest in
themselves and a Timebank can help with that. Every city
should have one!
3. What is your teaching background? I've been a language
teacher for fifteen years now, and have worked
pretty in much every venue, including grammar, middle
and high schools. In 2009 I worked under a federal
grant as a Russian translator and
Title 1 tutor. I work for a language school
now, but am developing my own full service language
school,
. In my writing on education, the greatest influence
has been the work of MassInc.
Their research gave me the core principles upon
which other research and ideas have been built.
4. What are the most troubling statistics out
there for you? Family breakup
statistics. Half of all American
children will see their parents divorce and half of those
children that experience it will see it again.
(Furstenberg, Peterson, Nord, and Zill, Life Course) For
one very simple idea that families with
space can utilize now, check out Mother
Earth's
Vegetable Garden Planner.
5. What opinions or ideas do you
have that we might not know about? I have a serious
problem with the way animals are treated. I eat meat
every day, but we need to find ways to drastically
reduce the suffering of animals. This is why Chapter 11
of Ideas for America 1 was updated in 2009
with ways to prevent the unnecessary euthanization of
dogs.
6. What is the best thing we can
do to respond to the economic crisis? Check out the
Crisis Responses page of this site or those in
Chapter 12 of
Amazon.com: Ideas for America I: New Hope Rises.
The Second is Edition is out but the Third Edition even more useful
and informative.
|
