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Writers in the Schools is a program that was started at the University of Houston's Creative Writing department. They train writers and teachers to teach children how to write creatively. The kids write poems, stories, essays and work on making them better throughout the year.
It's a fantastic program which enjoys great success because of one simple rule: people who learn how to write love to write. There are exceptions, I know, but most of the time, if a child is given the opportunity to expand their expectations about reading and writing, they not only take to the craft, they also progress in other areas and that's the point: make writing and reading easier so children can learn better.
One reason the program has been been a great success is because it came out of the best writing school in the country, but it's also well run by its current staff. Writers In The Schools can be found online at www.WITSHouston.org
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Have a great week - it should get sunny towards the end.
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The Podcast got a major update today, with 3 new shows added to the archive.
The first is the latest interview I conducted with Kelly McCann who is the head of AIDS Foundation Houston. We continue our discussion of the state of HIV AIDS awareness in Houston and how the message is not reaching the African American community. It represents about 12% of the US population but comprise nearly half of HIV / Infections in the US. Click here to read an article about this subject.
We also had an interesting time discussing the supposed existence of an AIDS education program being supposedly funded by homeless people raising money by... panhandling. Needless to say, the organization does not exist and we conclude that giving money to panhandlers is always a bad idea, no matter what their sign reads. Click here to hear all about it.
The second show is the interview I conducted with the lovely Melanie Rushé. She is the head of the Houston human Society's public relations department. We talk about the need for Houstonians to be responsible pet owners, how to adopt a furry creature from the shelter, how they're working with the Houston Police Department to crack down on animal abuse... and a lot of other interesting things you probably didn't know about the Houston Humane Society. Click here to hear it now.
Finally, the third show is this weekend's broadcast. It is a moving interview I recorded with Rick Morris who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year. He is fighting it and doing well so far. He contacted me to talk about pancreatic cancer because it's a disease that cannot be detected easily and is, in most cases, found after the cancer has developed to stage 4 (the last and most deadly stage of the disease). This is what happened to Rick and this is a brave conversation about a life worth living. To hear Rick talk about how pancreatic cancer has changed his life and his family's, click here. To find out more about the deadly disease, head over to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Until next week, be good, be safe and please be nice to somebody you don't know.
_The Fontainebleau Forrest: where the impressionist movement got started.
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Helga Aurisch has been on the show before and she is always a great guest. This time, she tells us about the new exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston: "In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet." She is one of the people who put it together and it's fascinating to find out where the impressionist movement started. The title suggests it and that's what you'll see: paintings and photographs created in the famously beautiful forest of Fontainebleau. The works on display are by many of the artists who like Monet, were some of the great personalities of the impressionist movement. Impressionism was born out of their work and directly follows this period of history in French and European art.
The museum has a fantastic website which you can visit by clicking here. And keep in mind that the museum is open for free all day on Thursdays, until 9 PM. Since Fountainebleau is not a ticketed event, you can see it for free on any Thursday - how's that for a good deal?
To hear the show and learn a lot more, click here.
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