Chicago singer and educator Maggie Brown will be the MVBS Blues in the Schools artist-in residence in Quad City area schools during the week of November 26-30. She will also appear at four open-to-the-public performances:

·         Monday Nov. 26, 6:30 p.m.?Davenport Public Library Eastern Ave. Branch, 6000 Eastern Ave.,

·         Wednesday Nov. 28, 10:00-11:00 a.m.?CASI, 1035 W. Kimberly, Davenport

·         Thursday Nov. 29, 7:00-9:00 p.m.?River Music Experience Café , 2nd and Main, Davenport

The MVBS Education Committee was introduced to Maggie Brown originally when Nate Lawrence brought her to Davenport for the Polyrhythms Third Sunday Jazz program at the River Music Experience.  We were so impressed with her performance that we asked Maggie to come back to conduct three days of workshops for kids the week of the 2012 BluesFest, and then to bring those kids and her talent to BlueSKool at the festival.

Maggie Brown is a tremendously talented singer and performer using her gift to not only entertain, but educate as well. Maggie is the daughter of the late Oscar Brown, Jr. a world renowned composer, social activist, and legendary giant of the jazz music scene. Mr. Brown passed on his artistic integrity to his daughter, who now uses her own voice to create images that excite and inspire. For 20 years, Maggie has nationally toured her one-woman show, "LEGACY: Our Wealth of Music," which follows the history and evolution of African American music and covers a wide range of musical forms.

Mother of three young boys, Maggie sees the need to work through the arts to make an impact on young lives. Her message fosters care and respect for words, music, history and life. Maggie describes what she does as "edutainment."  She calls on all of her talents to demonstrate how black people courageously and virtuously responded to the horrors of slavery, segregation and disenfranchisement by creating inspiring and thriving art forms which have become part of our American cultural heritage.

Maggie is called upon by various arts organizations and schools to serve as artist-in-residence.  Maggie enjoys using those classroom opportunities to engage young minds with poetry and songs that help them recognize and hopefully value their place in the world. Tracing the history of African-American creativity, Maggie examines the roots of black musical culture and its greatest flowerings, from African chant to early ragtime, from blues to jazz.

Major funding for Maggie Brown's Blues in the Schools residency comes from the Riverboat Development Authority.  Thanks also to our sponsors The Iowa Arts Council, The Moline Foundation, Alcoa, The Lodge, River Music Experience, and KALA radio.

(Moline, IL) Just in time for Halloween..... John Deere Middle School has created a "Zombie Survival Club". Zombie Survival Club is made available through a partnership between Lights ON for Learning 21st Century Community Learning Centers and the Moline Public Library.

The program was created by Jan Laroche, the teen services librarian who has an interest in Zombie movies and recognized the trends in teen literature about zombies. She says the club will focus on STEM lessons (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) in a fun setting. "Zombie Survival Club is intended to be a lighthearted, activity based program that develops educational skills through a fun after school curriculum."

Some of the lessons being taught to zombie so they can survive include :

•  Come up with list of essential needs for zombie survival-- water, food, first aid, tools, safe locations, transportation, power/electricity. Create list for an emergency kit.

•  Discuss types of zombies and spread of infection.

•  Discuss safe drinking water and food supplies. Include how much water is needed, how to find it, and how to make it.

•  Use CDC guidelines to figure out how much water would be needed for a short-term stay.

•  Use math skills to figure out different sizes of bottles and groups of people.

•  Use survival books to discuss how to find safe water in different locations, and discuss purification methods.

•  Discuss food supplies. Include what food to keep on hand in your kit, where to find additional food in both urban and rural settings, and how to grow food.

•  Use calorie guidelines and nutrition information to figure out how long a supply would last. Discuss where food stores might be found and use survival books to identify edible wild plants. Plan a garden for future food supplies. (If necessary, discuss hunting and trapping skills.)

•  Discuss safe locations. Include being prepared to fortify for the short term, ideal locations for immediate retreat, and long-term plans for relocation. Also include discussion about transportation.

•  Discuss power/electricity issues. Include ways to survive without electricity and ways to generate power.

•  Have students research how long electricity would continue after an apocalypse. Make a potato battery and look at plans for a bicycle generator.

•  Discuss power/electricity issues. Include ways to survive without electricity and ways to generate power.

• Discuss long-term survival plans. Include ways to communicate with other survivors, finding information, and the pros and cons of joining with others.

The John Deere Zombie Survival Club meets every two weeks for one hour (4:15-5:15).

Who: John Deere Middle "Lights ON" Students

What: Zombie Survival Skills class

When: Tuesday, October 30, 2012 at 4:15 pm

Where: John Deere Middle School Moline-- Room 17 ground floor

2035 11th Street, Moline.

Why: It's ghouly fun...and the students learn science, technology,
engineering and math skills

Special Ed Students, Diversity & the Benefits of Inclusion
Friendship, Learning are a Two-Way Street, Says Doctor

For orthopedic surgeon Sean Adelman - a father of three, including Dev, a high-school age daughter with Down syndrome - life lessons are not the exclusive province of the young.

"As a dad, I have often been reminded of the poet William Wordsworth and his line, 'The child is father of the man,' " says Adelman, author of Sam's Top Secret Journal (www.raiseexpectations.com), the first in a the first in a Nancy Drew-style children's book series featuring a protagonist with Down syndrome.

"I think most parents have this experience that, while it's our job to teach our children how to grow up and function in a society, we are constantly learning ourselves. They force us to rethink the basics as we help mold them into mature human beings."

Of course, much of a child's development is out of the hands of parents, he says. School and other social functions provide many first worldly experiences that are so important to developing students. And that makes diversity so important.

Various studies have shown that not only do those with learning challenges benefit from "inclusive education" - a movement that integrates special-ed students with non-special-ed students - but also the rest of the student body.

Adelman explores how inclusion benefits the entire student body:

• Empathic development: To a significant extent, society is a social contract among citizens. That means, at the very least, good behavior is required of individuals. At best, however, citizens recognize that we are social creatures who need each other, and the best way to a better society is to have empathy for our fellow human beings. During the 1990s, inclusion of special-ed students jumped from 48 percent to 70 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Despite concerns at the time about teachers' ability to attend to the needs of all their students in such classes, a Zigmond and Baker study showed teachers did not lose their effectiveness. The famous study also showed that the students treated each other better in general. Children learn that everyone needs help from time to time, and it's as gratifying to provide it as to receive it.

• Diversity and the real world: Children who attend inclusive schools, where all children are mainstreamed, are better able to navigate the complexities of our diverse adult society. Students with and without special needs benefit from exposure to classmates who face different life circumstances. Studies from the National Center for Special Education Research, among others from throughout the world, support claims of mutual benefit from special-ed and non-special-ed students with integration. For a well-rounded character and personality, young people need to be exposed to the many faces of humanity in terms of race, economic background and those with special needs. In addition to this personal edification, a professional career demands social grace and comfort in a diverse work environment.

• The meaning of friendship: Children need to develop social skills and to know how to create and sustain meaningful friendships for a healthy adult life. We may lose wealth, youth, health, and spouses. Friends, however, are often the most reliable emotional resource in life. Friends must learn to accept one another's limitations and flaws, and to complement one another's weaknesses by contributing their strengths. Friends also quickly learn that superficial differences are far less important than shared values, trust and humor.

About Sean Adelman

Sean Adelman is a practicing orthopedic surgeon and advocate for exceptional kids in Seattle. He and his wife, Susan, have three children. Adelman wrote the "Sam's Top Secret Journal" series to show the similarities the protagonist shares with other children, and to explore how differently-abled individuals benefit society.