Archive for December 27th, 2010

Teaching Creativity Through the Arts

27/12/2010

Master Instructor Teaches More Than Drumming
By R. Richards
Drumming Instructor Bob Bloom teaches a lot more than drumming.  Bloom, who will be teaching Mountain Spirit Institute’s Drumming Jamaica program on February 7-11 at Treasure Beach,  has  been a regular keynote instructor on classes in creativity at Southern Connecticut State University. The semester course is instructed by the dynamic leadership of Phyllis Gelineau, PhD.  The class consists of students from various disciplines in the university system. The premise of the class, says Bloom,  “How are you going to take what you do, or what you teach, and get creative about it?”
Bob was certified in 1997 as a Master Teaching Artist by the state of Connecticut. “A Teaching Artist” says Bloom, “uses an art form to teach and illustrate something else, such as engineering, or marketing for example.

“We teach students how to apply creativity in their work, for example using a circus act to teach mathematics.” Bloom adds,  “I’ve used drumming to illustrate the democratic method on how to vote…this movement is huge, it’s burgeoning in the field of education.

Bloom is on a mission –  teaching others how to be teaching artists.  He has a marketing background, so he’s also teaching educators and administrators how to get the word out about artistic education.

The video clip was shot after Bob had been teaching a group of students for a three hour creativity through drumming class the university.

Posted in Experiential Education, Inspirational People, MSI News, Music, Sustainable Travel, Traveling | 2 Comments »

Hello. We’re back… but not in U.S.

27/12/2010

Greetings from Australia, Mate.
By R. Richards

Caution in Australia...

Sorry we’ve been a bit out of touch. We’ve been busy packing up our New Hampshire home, updating our programs’ webpages and heading to the Southern Hemisphere for a while. We’ve been on the eastern coast of Australia for the Holidays, and will be headed to New Zealand on January 10th.

We’ve got an exciting  drumming program in Jamaica with master drumming instructor Bob Bloom, and a Personal Sustainability program called Creating a Sustainable Lifestyle in Vermont this spring in the northern hemisphere.

This is my first time in AU, and my first impressions are that the people are very generous, sincere and welcoming. the power of the continent is overwhelming. My first time sitting down to meditate, I clearly heard the words, “It’s about time you showed up.” I take this to mean, not only arriving in Australia but taking the time to sit down since my arrival and sit quietly with the place. More on this in an upcoming post.

Anyway, expect to see posts more regularly from here on out. We’ll be posting from New Zealand of course. Rumors have it that board member Bob Stremba might even come down for a visit and recon some program areas with me.

Sydney Stopover

We had a stopover in Sydney for a week seeing Amanda’s friends, (my newly found friends), before heading north to stay with family for the holidays. A very expensive city but such generous people with a welcoming attitude. It’s Amanda’s ol’ stomping ground, and she still has to show me around a bit, when we head back there on our way to New Zealand.  We happened to arrive just as Oprah Winfrey was shooting a week-long segment of her show here. As it turned out, she was welcomed with opened arms, along with 300 of her audience members. I mention her because of some of the good work she’s doing, such as bringing Eckhart Tolle’s message to a broader audience, and encouraging more conscious living. The people and government of Australia were happy to have her here. The coverage will be invaluable for Australia’s tourism exposure.

The continent is proving itself to be powerful and beautiful. Although I’ve only seen a portion of it, I can feel its power taking hold.

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Posted in Animals, Focus on MSI People, MSI News | Leave a Comment »