Posts Tagged ‘Community Education’
ReUse Center Closed after 15 years
by Harvey Winje The Reuse Center in Phillips closed on Dec. 11th, held a one week on-line auction, gave away the remains, and was ended by Dec 31st. The Mpls. Reuse Center, which began as the first retail sales store selling reusable building materials in an urban shopping center in the United States, opened at the Hi-Lake Shopping Center on October 15, 1995. An Elder from Little Earth, Gladys Cain, opened the program with a traditional American Indian smudging and blessing followed with remarks by Senator Paul Wellstone, David Morris, city, county and state political representatives, environmental activists and community residents. This event topped off the culmination of 2 years of writing a business plan, fundraising, and conducting a pilot project in local warehouses in Phillips. The ReUse Center did not originate from an idea of a few nor did it come from an entirely environmental perspective. Instead, it arose out of a controversy between Hennepin County and the City of [...]
A Letter of Gratitude to the Phillips Community”¦from Leon Oman
by Leon Oman Dear Community of Phillips, Let me express my deepest thanks and gratitude to the Phillips community upon my retirement from Community Education at Andersen School. It has been a profound joy and honor to serve with you over the past 28+ years. I appreciate all the well-wishes that people have shared, both formally and informally, for this next chapter of life. As I reflect on these many past years, gratitude also swells up within me for all of the ways that Phillips, both you as individuals and you as organizations, have supported Community Education: You have participated in classes and activities; involved yourself as volunteers, teachers and staff; used our gym and meeting facilities; provided input and feedback for programming, both informally as well as formally through our Advisory Council; partnered with us on out-of-school time programs for youth and lifelong learning for adults; provided financial support for many initiatives; collaborated on events; and [...]
Leon Oman retires after 28 years in Community Education at Andersen Elementary
By Harvey Winje Two hundred people greeted and cheered Leon Oman on his last day of 28 years as a Minneapolis Schools Community Education Coordinator at Andersen School in the Phillips Community. His years as a community educator brought together his passion for education, his seven years experience as a social worker, as well as, his involvement in citizen participation in the Rice Park neighborhood. Five presenters reminisced about years spent, experiences shared and generally agreed that there were no skeletons about which they could “roast” Leon. However, they altered a shared experience while on a car trip in order to be sure we all knew Leon had made at least one mistake in his career. The Webster Open School Cafeteria was gaily decorated setting the mood for an upbeat celebration that included several of Leon”'s family members, Phillips Community residents, community leaders from many neighborhoods, past interns, students, current and former colleagues and [...]
