Monthly Archives: July 2017

Kathleen Mitchell believed in the power of education to change lives and saw access to the arts as crucial to achieving her goal

Kathleen Mitchell, who has died aged 100, was a pioneering figure in the early years of comprehensive education in England. A radical thinker, as head of Pimlico school, central London, in the 1970s she created in effect the first state specialist music school. She had been equally innovative in developing pastoral care and social education at Starcross school in north London.

Kathleen came from a generation of strong, articulate women who dominated state education in London in the 60s and 70s. She believed in the power of education to change lives and saw access to the arts as crucial to achieving her goal.

When she became head at Pimlico in 1974 she inherited a big school with discipline problems. In response, she developed a rich curriculum to engage students from all backgrounds. The school had its own symphony orchestra, and a chamber orchestra, and had close links to the London Schools Symphony Orchestra. Every year 15 students were picked by the Inner London Education Authority (Ilea) to become part of the schools special course for musicians, and many went on to become professionals.

Kathleens personal life revolved around music: her second husband, Donald Mitchell, was a well-known writer on music, particularly on Gustav Mahler, and went on to set up the publishing house Faber Music with Benjamin Britten. The Mitchells became good friends with Britten and his partner, Peter Pears, and the Pimlico schools choir and orchestra appeared in Brittens Noyes Fludde at the Aldeburgh festival. The work is based on the account of Noahs flood given in the Chester Mystery Plays, and towards the end of his life the composer had been planning a new stage work, A Christmas Sequence, for the school, adapted from the same source.

The adult world that Kathleen inhabited was a huge contrast to her beginnings she was living proof of her belief in personal empowerment. Born in London, she grew up in West Norwood. She was always close to her mother, Trudy (nee Johnson), who ran a coffee shop. Her father, Charles Burbidge, a post office worker, was fond of the local pub and a less than constant presence in her life. Her brother Reg, an RAF pilot, was killed in the second world war.

Kathleen loved her local grammar school, but university was out of the question until she earned some money. She worked at the London County council as a secretary, then enrolled in evening classes at Birkbeck College, where she studied history and met her future husband, David Livingston.

He had always wanted to start his own school and Mitchell was enthused. In 1939 they set up Oakfield school, in Dulwich, south-east London. It flourished and became a draw for talented teachers.

The couple married in 1940, with Kathleen already pregnant with her son, Mark. She did not care much for convention and what would have been considered scandalous in peacetime was noticed less during the war.

Among the teachers who came to Oakfield school was Donald, who was younger, and a conscientious objector during the war. They began a passionate affair and around 1950 she left her first marriage.

Kathleen and Donald set up home together and she began teaching at Hammersmith comprehensive; they married in 1956. She was talent-spotted by a school inspector and became deputy head at Dick Sheppard comprehensive in Tulse Hill. While there, she and her husband adopted two boys, Bernie and Keith.

In 1964 Kathleen became head of Starcross girls school in Camden. The following year it merged with another school, Risinghill, to create a 1,200 girls comprehensive under the Starcross name, which later became the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school in Islington.

When Gladys West joined the school as a teacher in 1967, she found Kathleen to be an inspirational head. After she addressed us at the beginning of the year we walked out feeling that we could conquer the world. We felt empowered and enabled.

The school was a laboratory for Kathleens ideas. Many of the girls came from extremely deprived backgrounds and she was empathetic and supportive. Arts was embedded in the curriculum, including dance. Sir Peter Newsam, who became chief education officer for the Ilea in 1975, remembered his first visit to the school. I went to her school and there were two very overweight girls dancing to I Am a Rock, and they were bloody good. I still remember the look on the faces of those two girls when the audience of children and parents applauded them. It was a school that valued people.

This was Kathleens trademark: everyone mattered. To that end she developed strong pastoral support for the girls, and for the most disaffected she devised an alternative curriculum covering sex education, citizenship and community service. It was so successful that the number of girls leaving school at 15 dwindled, and Mitchell extended it to the whole school, a precursor of what became known as personal, social and health education PSHE.

Kathleen would explore many ways to motivate difficult students rather than exclude them. Some girls could attend college for part of the week and she established an off-site unit staffed by experts in behaviour management. At the same time she introduced programmes for high-achieving girls and established a link with Sussex University. If they came from homes where no one had been to university, she ensured they had extra support.

But all this did not mean discipline was lax. Mitchell believed structures were important for children. My job as head is to set up an organisation that works. I dont think it would be any good having marvellous ideas if one couldnt be efficient in a school. But its no good organising so that the humanity is out of it ... the human side is important and takes priority on every occasion.

Kathleen became a magnet for ambitious teachers, many of whom went on to become heads themselves. She set up a pioneering workplace nursery to encourage teachers who had had children to return to work. She attracted staff who had made their names in other fields, among them the feminist historian Sheila Rowbotham and the cartoonist Glen Baxter.

At Pimlico, she still had fresh ideas in abundance: she ensured form tutors stayed with their class for a full five years; she brought in architects to develop the Front Door project, getting children to draw their journey to school and think about how its environment could be improved; and she invited students from Imperial College to work with students in science lessons.

During her time at the school she developed painful arthritis. John Bancrofts grade II listed building was full of stairs and became difficult for her, and she retired as a head in 1979. She continued, though, to develop a sixth-form enrichment programme across London.

In the late 80s her activities were curtailed by her loss of sight following a bout of shingles. After 50 years of living in Bloomsbury, she and Donald moved to a nursing home in Camden earlier this year.

She is survived by Donald and their son Keith, her son, Mark, from her first marriage, and three granddaughters and five grandsons. Bernie died in 2014.

Kathleen Gertrude Mitchell, educationist, born 26 November 1916; died 22 May 2017

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Kathleen Mitchell obituary - The Guardian

Team building programs that require strategic thinking and improvisation re-create the military experience, helping veterans to gain confidence and reintegrate into the civilian world. Empower Adventure explains the difficulties these veterans can have.

Middleburg, VA (PRWEB) July 25, 2017

After the shock and horror experienced on the battlefield, many veterans return home with intrusive memories or flashbacks, feelings of hypervigilance, negative changes to beliefs or feelings, and a desire to avoid situations that trigger memories of a traumatic wartime event.1,2 These are symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD. Between 11-20% of veterans who served in Operations Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Enduring Freedom (OEF) suffer from PTSD.3 As 60% of men and 50% of women experience some kind of trauma in their lifetime, it is not surprising that about 8 million U.S. adults have PTSD during a given year.3 Aside from PTSD, many soldiers returning from the front lines have a hard time with commonplace emotional connections, making it hard for them to connect with friends and family members the way they did prior to deployment. Normal every day interactions and small talk is often difficult for veterans until they find a way to overcome the emotional barriers created by combat.

"When soldiers are deployed, their reality changes," says Joe DeRing, Founder and President of Empower Adventures. "They become instruments of war and are expected to perform and behave in ways that are otherwise unimaginable. This reality changes you emotionally and, after 10, 12 or 14 months away, can make one lose sight of who they were prior to deployment. This is painful to deal with upon returning home and takes patience and understanding on behalf of loved ones to help the service member overcome these challenges."

Because of the emotional stress induced by combat, soldiers - with or without PTSD - often have difficulty reintegrating to civilian life: a Pew Research study found that 44% of post-911 war veteran struggled to readjust to civilian life.4 Meeting everyday needs that were once taken care of by the military, like preparing meals and earning money, can cause culture shock and stress.4

To re-acclimate to civilian life and reconnect with loved ones, experts recommend engaging in military-like activities with friends and family, or former vets.4 The programs offered at an adventure park offer a setting where veterans can form or strengthen meaningful bonds that eventually create a new reality built with love, compassion and a new sense for who they are. In addition, adventure park survival challenges mimic the type of team building exercise common in military training. The canopy tours and zip lining offered at these parks tap into the courage that veterans exhibited during combat.

"Having served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, I know the mental strain combat can create and how tough it can be to readjust to civilian life," adds DeRing. "I founded Empower Adventures so that people could truly empower themselves. We all limit ourselves in so many ways in everyday life. The Army taught me that limitations we put on ourselves are nonsense. Statements like, I'm afraid of heights' or I can't do it' are excuses that hold us back from being the best versions of ourselves."

DeRing believes that veterans need to learn to think positively and reconnect with the inner strength that helped them get through military training in order to take on the emotional demons that hinder them.

The management team at Empower Adventures works with different groups of people, including veterans, to help them find personal empowerment through physical challenges while overcoming emotional or mental obstacles. DeRing encourages participants to push themselves outside of their comfort zone in order to transform their outlook and gain a sense of accomplishment that allows them to reach their true potential. For veterans, the experience parallels a military operation where there is a clear mission involved, requiring strategic thinking and improvisation, which can only be accomplished with your team.

About Joe DeRing:

Joe is a true American hero. Having served multiple tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Joe returned from service seeking to use his leadership skills in a way that would allow him to contribute to society. Partnering with advisors Dev Pathik and Jason Clement, Joe developed Empower Leadership Sports in Middletown, Connecticut. Later, the team created Empower Adventures in Tampa Bay. The center and Joe's incredible personal journey from battlefield to inspirational adventure operator has now been featured on CNN, FOX, and numerous other media outlets across the U.S.

About Empower Adventures:

Empower Adventures operates canopy tours, zip lines, ropes courses, and leadership development and adventure activities at the central location in Tampa Bay, Florida, Connecticut and Virginia (in the Washington D.C. area). At Leadership Sports in Connecticut alone, Empower Adventures has served over 75,000 guests since 2009. The company's goal is to help guests overcome fears in order to gain confidence and empower themselves: In the past three years, 10,000 guests have visited the Virginia Empower Adventures location and only four did not continue to the Tree Top Zip Tour.

Empower Adventures utilizes best-in-class techniques to train guides and offers the highest standard of safety protocols within the outdoor adventure industry. Empower Adventures provides a guide for each adventure group, regardless of size. The adventure center guides at Empower Adventures aim to provide customers with a powerful, memorable and inspirational experience which engenders a positive attitude and encourages teamwork. Outdoor adventure guides are specially trained to cultivate the creativity and problem-solving skills that are necessary to overcome challenges and develop leadership skills. Special team building sessions are also available to facilitate bonding in any group.

1."Posttraumatic Stress Disorder." NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2017.

2."Symptoms of PTSD." PTSD: National Center for PTSD. N.p., 15 May 2012. Web. 15 July 2017.

3."How Common Is PTSD?" PTSD: National Center for PTSD. N.p., 05 July 2007. Web. 15 July 2017.

4.Price, Brook. "4 Tactics to Help Veterans Transition to Civilian Life." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 01 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 July 2017.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/07/prweb14537961.htm

Continued here:

Study Shows Team Building Facilitates Veterans with Acclimating to ... - Benzinga

The Federal Government, on Tuesday, said it had set aside the sum of N1.6 billion for women empowerment programme called the National Women Empowerment Fund (NAWEF).

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Sen. Aisha Jummai Alhassan, made this disclosure at a town hall meeting with women groups in Dutse.

Alhassan said that NAWEF is part of the FGs Social Investment Intervention Programme known as the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP).

She explained that the programme was being implemented by the ministry in collaboration with the Bank of Industry (BoI), the administrating bank for the fund.

The GEEP is a micro-credit programme for men and women, boys and girls and out of the GEEP fund, a sum of N1.6bn, has been set aside exclusively for women.

Both NAWEF and GEEP are financial inclusion and microcredit programmes,she said.

She said the aims of NAWEF and GEEP were to provide micro-credit facilities for men and women; reduce poverty among rural dwellers and provide skills development, training and business support, especially for women.

According to her, the aims are also to assist in rebuilding the economies of rural areas through financial inclusion.

Alhassan said that the programmes were meant to build strong partnership between the federal and state ministries of women affairs, the BoI and development partners.

The partners, according to the minister are, the World Bank, African Development Bank, UN Women, UNIDO among others to provide a solid platform for implementing the programmes.

She added that the NAWEF and GEEP had 13 important features that every beneficiary needed to know.

NAWEF is exclusively for women, who engage in production enterprises while GEEP is for both men and women; artisans, farmers, market women or entrepreneurs, who engage in productive enterprise.

According to her, each beneficiary can get between N10,000 and N100,000 as loan, which is payable within six months, with one month grace after disbursement, before repayment starts.

However, the minister said that each beneficiary should belong to a registered association; cooperative society or any other trade organisation, which had a minimum of 10 members and a maximum of 20 members.

Every group, she said, must have a group leader, but not compulsory for existing organisations with a large membership.

That is those who have more than 20 members and with national spread, for example, women organisations such as NCWS, FOMWAN.

Application can be made in groups of 20 members from their different branches at State or Local Government levels, she explained.

According to her, the loans will be paid directly into beneficiaries personal accounts, not the group account.

Alhassan stated that each applicant must have his or her personal account, which must have BVN that could be used for verification.

The loans will be disbursed and repayment will be collected through local banks and money agents in order to reach remote areas with no banking facilities.

The loans are interest free and no collateral is required but there is an administrative charge of five per cent, which is to cover the banks expenses for administering the fund.

The application forms are also free and accounts can be opened in any commercial or Micro-finance bank.

These are some features one needs to know about the two programmes, Alhassan told the women group.

According to her, the Federal Governments aim is to reach those who have no income or working capital to undertake productive means of livelihood.

The minister, however, warned that the NAWEF or GEEP should not be seen as the distribution of free money or government largesse for buying wrappers and other luxury goods.

Therefore, to ensure the sustainability of this programme and to depart from the past failed ones, sanctions have been put in place to prevent abuse of the programme.

These two initiatives will also help rebuild the Nigerian economy and complement other economic empowerment strategies of the Federal and State Governments, as well as those of development partners.

I am hopeful that the NAWEF and GEEP programmes will be successful, so that they can be expanded in the near future.

Already, identification forms are pouring into my ministry, demonstrating a huge demand for financial services to cater for the Nigerian women and men.

I encourage all the states of the federation to participate actively in these programmes, as it will promote financial inclusion and livelihood opportunities for women, especially in the non-oil sectors to reduce poverty.

Originally posted here:

FG sets aside N1.6b for women empowerment - Vanguard News - Vanguard

Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, Ogun State Deputy Governor.

The Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, has tasked philanthropic organisations to empower women because of their vulnerability.

Onanuga gave the advice at the installation of Mrs Fathiat Rufai as the 34th District Chairman of Inner Wheel District 911, Nigeria and Fund-Raising held in Lagos.

She said that women were vulnerable to social vices such as the untimely death of their husbands and wars and, therefore, they needed to be treated justly by the society.

Women are so vulnerable, they need to be properly taken care of by the society,she said.

She applauded the impact and contributions of the Inner Wheel Club toward the development/empowerment of women in the society and the other less privileged.

Onanuga urged various philanthropic organisations to support any positive initiatives aimed at improving the status of women and better the larger society.

As the deputy governor, I also have an orphanage called: Child Uplifting Development Foundation.

The idea behind its establishment is to assist women and the less privileged in order to give them a befitting living, she said.

Onanuga said that her foundation had empowered many women through several vocational programmes.

Also, Mrs Fathiat Rufai who is the newly installed 34th District Chairman of Inner Wheel pledged to deliver on her mandate diligently.

Rufai said that part of her objectives was to promote true friendship, encourage ideas of personal service and foster international understanding among members.

She said that together with her executive, she would lift the flag of togetherness, hard work, leadership and encouragement to greater heights.

She listed her plans to include: the training and empowerment of youths and women, health talk/safe school and breast cancer sensitisation/work.

The International Inner Wheel consists of more than 3,895 clubs in 168 districts in 102 countries with membership strength of more than 103,000 worldwide.

The first Inner Wheel Club in Nigeria was formed in Lagos in 1969 with Mrs Deji Alakija as it Charter President.

Excerpt from:

Women empowerment: Ogun Deputy Governor tasks organisations - P.M. News

Technology might not be directly tied to fashion, but it has had tremendous impacts on the fashion industry. Even just a decade back, ecommerce was unheard of, marketing budgets went towards fashion weeks and storefronts, and inventory took about 2 years to go from concept to the shelf.

In this modern world, clothing is powered by data, with Zara famously changing its product offerings every 14 days. Even more, social media has shaped both the business practices of fashion brands and consumer preferences. Since young people can now easily see what people are wearing and how different styles perform based on likes, shares, and influencer endorsement.

I sat down with the founder of DHTK, Elie Neufeld, to discuss how he sees social media shifting the fashion world and he has worked to develop and launch his brand in a digital era.

Due to the rapid dispersion of information on social media, it has become easier than ever for new fashion brands to startup and for unique styles to be shared. This means that both the fashion calendar is changing and general lifecycles for trends are getting shorter. One of the best examples of this is with streetwear and athleisure. Athleisure refers to the lifestyle behind yoga pants, gym shorts, joggers, and overall athletic gear worn more for comfort and style associations than for the purpose of exercising.

In 2015, most fashion brands finally acknowledged the superiority of athleisure as a dominant trend. However, even just two years later, athleisure has hit the curb and is replaced by streetwear.

Whereas Lululemon was a dominant fashion brand in 2015, Supreme reigns in 2017. Yet, the times are changing already and streetwear is quickly shifting from skateboarding influence to cultural influence.

Before the age of social media, brands and styles would last years and decades rather than pivot multiple times per years.

This has made DHTK pay close attention to style and cultural events to ensure they never miss changes in the fashion lifecycle. Whenever a major cultural event happens or new look comes into style, DHTK pays attention and adapts to the ever-changing environment.

If you think back a few decades, major fashion houses were run by older men and the cost of launching of a brand was so high, that fashion players had to go through established avenues in order to rise the ranks.

In the age of social media, not only has it become easy to launch a brand or gain brand awareness, but the social media power-users are truly the ones pushing forward design trends.

Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid have developed careers as both style influencers and runway models due to their ability to shape consumer preferences through their social media channels. In fact, most of the powerful fashion players are youthful. This is largely due to performance on social media being important for curating style and pushing brand sales.

As young people become more obsessed with technology and Gen Z is on average spending 8 hours or more in front of screens, they have begun to approach fashion in a different manner. Just as wearing the same shirt as a classmate was a disaster in school, young people need to have entirely separate styles online, because posting a picture with the same outfit as someone is a disaster. This has led to people viewing social media as requiring unique self-expression and completely distinct styles.

What is even more evident with this progression of fashion styles becoming even more niche, is that fashion brands can now pop-up and build a following around specific lifestyles. No longer does a brand need to appeal to millions of people in order to make a profit. Rather, finding an intensely passionate group of consumers is sufficient to reify a brand. This has led to the development of lifestyle brands that cater to specific individual needs.

For instance, DHTK helps channel a vibe of personal empowerment shared by many athletic individuals. Its ability to move beyond just the fashion and truly create a product to engage with a specific lifestyle has helped build brand engagement and cater to its specific audience. Elie recommends brands take the initiative to think about everything its consumer enjoy doing, beyond just the clothing, because that added depth will help your brand thrive.

Digital trends have become one of the most important things for fashion brands to understand in order for them to succeed. Social media in particular has shifted the paradigms of the fashion world and DHTK has displayed how entrepreneurs can leverage these changes to find success.

Read the rest here:

How Social Media is Changing the Fashion World - TG Daily (blog)