by Renee Owen | Jan 1, 2014 | Director's Blog
Jeffrey Sachs, one of Time’s “Most Influential People,” is the world’s most important economist. He works for the UN and countries around the world to promote sustainability, and he is on a life-long mission to wipe out poverty. Dr. Sachs is the originator of the Happiness Index — the concept that we should be quantifying a nation’s success on the measure of their happiness rather than their GNP. I was fortunate to meet Jeffrey Sachs when I was at Harvard this summer for the Future of Learning program, and was so inspired that I am going to be taking on online course with him beginning in a few weeks called the Age of Sustainable Development. Columbia University is offering the course free of charge, and it is open to anyone who desires a deep holistic understanding of how to move into the future sustainably. To resister for the course, go to https://www.coursera.org/course/susdev. If you are a teacher, Dr. Sachs and Columbia’s Earth Institute are allowing teachers to use the course materials to incorporate into their own instruction without copyright infringement. They are on a mission to spread the message. ~Renee Owen, Rainbow Community School
by Renee Owen | Dec 24, 2013 | Director's Blog, News
We raised the $200,000 down payment to purchase the church!
We did it on time! Just as the Holiday Performance was about to begin, the final $6,000 was donated on the December 20th deadline!
We did it under budget. Thanks to so many great sponsors, volunteers, and a great staff, we spent less on the campaign than expected.
We did it as a community! By the end, almost 100% of parents had donated, as well as many grandparents, business owners, community members, all staff members, and children — many, many children brought in coins, birthday money, or their savings!
Today, we received the loan commitment letter from the Bank of North Carolina. All that remains are the results from some environmental tests, and if those are clean, we will close in January!
Thank you EVERYONE — This has been an amazing community experience!
by Renee Owen | Dec 16, 2013 | Director's Blog, News
Look who came to visit! Nura Laird (formerly Ashrita Laird), blessed us with a visit in November. Ms. Laird is one of the brilliant women who founded Rainbow in 1977. She was executive director for the majority of the Rainbow’s first 14 years and an extraordinary leader and visionary. Rainbow simply wouldn’t be here without her. Nura has dedicated her life to education and spirituality. Nura and her husband John now live in California, where they are leaders at a Sufi university. It was a joy and an honor to show Nura and John Rainbow as it is today.
by mark | Dec 10, 2013 | Director's Blog, News
Bob Hanna Interview With Renee Owen
…and having a conversation!
Click on this link to listen to a Podcast from Asheville Fm’s Living Well program. Host Bob Hanna spends an hour with Rainbow Community School executive director, Renee Owen, interviewing her about her own fascinating history and her approach to education. She talks about her experience working with educators from around the World at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and explains why Rainbow’s inclusion of spirituality in the classroom is a key factor to holistic education.
by Renee Owen | Nov 11, 2013 | Director's Blog
Photo by xedos4
From a fellow classmate at Harvard, “The only way for humans to compete with technology is to become more human.” (From the Future of Learning, Summer, 2013)
As I have written lately, the more technologically advanced society becomes, the less humans are valued for doing jobs that can be outsourced to computers. So the question we educators are constantly grappling with is, “What do we need to teach the youth of today, in order for them to be competitive in our new high tech world?
The overly obvious answer seems to be “computer skills,” but life is much more complex than that! Mika, one of my classmates this summer helped us realize that being MORE human, and therefore, more HUMANE, was the solution. As educators, the moral curriculum is more important than ever.
by Renee Owen | Nov 11, 2013 | Director's Blog
…was my response to this video. Thank you, John Johnson, from Odyssey Community School for sharing it with me.
