August 20 to 27, 2016
The Chairs for LOAS 2, 2016 are
Alison Green and
Nora Schmidt
"Creating a Pandemic of Global
Compassion
through Education & Media"
David Lehman, PhD,
will discuss the essentials of global compassion and its critical role
in emotional and societal health. He’ll highlight
this by sharing examples from several organizations fostering
compassion, from schools for all ages from around the world, and
from his decades of experience in education. Join us to be
inspired and to bring home ideas for change!
Theme Speaker
David Lehman, PhD.
David
Lehman, PhD, eminent educational consultant, founder of two alternative
schools, and long-time UU, will discuss global compassion and its
critical role in emotional and societal health. He’ll highlight this
by sharing examples from organizations fostering compassion, schools for
all ages from around the world, and from his decades of experience in
education. Dave earned his BA in Religion from Ohio Wesleyan University,
his MEd in Biology Education from the University of Virginia and
finally, a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of
Texas in Austin. He founded two alternative schools and served as
principal of one in Ithaca, NY for several decades, as well as published
numerous articles and trained a wide array of educators. Dave has been
invited to speak to diverse audiences all over the country and greatly
enjoys and excels at engaging with people of all ages.
A
long-time member of the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca where he
served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees for 2 terms, Dave was an
active member of the Social Justice Council and RE Committee. Please
join us in welcoming Dave and his wife, Judy, to Star Island. Get ready
to be inspired and to bring home ideas for change in your own
community.
Minister Of The
Week
Rev.
Frank Clarkson has been serving the UU Church of Haverhill, MA, for the
past eight years. He received his M.Div. from Episcopal Divinity School
in 2004, was ordained to the UU ministry in 2005, and was the assistant
minister at the North Parish of North Andover, MA, for three years
before being called to serve the Haverhill congregation. Previously a
freelance photographer, Frank is grateful to be a parish minister
because he believes in the power of religious community to transform
lives and our world.
Frank has been married to Tracey for 29 years and
they are the proud parents of 2 young adult children. Frank is
passionate about fly fishing and also craves silence, southern food, and
time to read.
LOAS
II Youth Group Team
Workshops and Starbursts:
WORKSHOPS
Week long classes offered daily |
The
Writing Circle
with Ellen Schmidt
E.M.
Forster once wrote, "How do I know what I think till I see what
I say?" We are often amazed at what we say in our own
writing. In the Writing Circle you can write from your heart
in a warm, supportive, and creative setting.
Enjoy the magic of writing in a group. People do some of their
best writing this way. The Writing Circle is a unique way of getting
to know each other and ourselves better. Write spontaneously and
without judging. There is no wrong way to do this. Each day I
will provide a spark –a special stimulus that is practically
guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing.
Everyone is welcome, whether you write often or think you might like
to give it a try. Come one day, several, or all week.
Ellen Schmidt www.WritingRoomWorkshops.com
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Compassion Meditation
Led by Rev. Allen Wells
A
practical way, within a community of loving support, for developing
strength from stillness, for gaining insights into the basic
nurturing side of our being and for fostering compassion in our
daily living.
In the Buddhist tradition, compassion practice is one of four
“virtuous abidings” (Brahma Viharas) that include loving
kindness (metta), sympathetic joy (mudita),
compassion (karuna) and equanimity (upekka).
We will explore the nature of all four since they are
interrelated, and at times, we need one more than the other. We’ll
also distinguish between the attitudes of compassion, empathy, and
sympathy, that we sometimes confuse, to our detriment.
Practicing the “Brahma Viharas” will provide learning
from the heart to complement our theme talk and infuse our activism
with love. To quote the Dalai Lama, “My religion is loving
kindness.”
Rev. Allen Wells has been practicing insight
meditation (vipassana) for the past 25 years.
He is a mind/body oriented psychotherapist and affiliated
Community Minister of The Morristown Unitarian Fellowship, NJ. He is
a graduate of the Integrated Study/Practice Program of The Barre
Center for Buddhist studies.
He has also traveled to India to investigate the practices of
The Buddha on site.
He enjoys teaching meditation and he likes to mix
spirituality with humor.
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YOGA:
with Nicola Hayward
In
this workshop we will focus on practical relaxation and awareness
techniques to help you bring yoga off the mat and into your daily
life. We will also explore the relationship between the
acceptance and compassion we show ourselves and how we impact the
world. This workshop is open to every level of
experience. We will begin each day by cultivating awareness to
our bodies and the relationship between body and mind using drawing,
writing, breathing, relaxation, and meditation. We will then
deepen our awareness through the practice of Hatha yoga.
This means holding postures or asanas to gently and
persistently touch and release tension and to train the mind to
remain relaxed, comfortable, steady, and still under pressure.
The practice also includes movement flows, or vinyasas, to circulate
the energy we build and periods of relaxation to allow us to
integrate and experience the effects of our work. This is a
time to love the clay you are made of, to feel the imprints of your
life upon it, and to realize, experience, and harness your constant
remaking.
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"Soapstone
Carving":
with Candis Dixon
For safety reasons, the island
management has requested that we not do soapstone carving this
year.
But never fear! Candis is cooking up a surprise
workshop to tempt everyone’s creative spirits—stay tuned!

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Comics Workshop
led by John Bent
The
aim of this workshop is to look at comics/graphic novels as a medium
uniquely suited to exploring personal narratives and engendering
empathy and understanding. The workshop will look at how comics,
through the use of image and text, draw upon both written language
and the more abstract and open-ended visual language inherent in
drawing and visual art to communicate complicated and nuanced
subject matter. An exploration of the visual language of comics and
sequential art will help participants understand how comic artists
use panels, gutters (the space between panels), page layouts and
drawing style to communicate time, frame and the emotional content
of a narrative. Participants will be provided with a packet of comic
stories from a wide and diverse collection of authors. The packet
will be divided into different narrative threads of comic writing,
including Social Justice, Personal Narrative/Memoir,
Surrealism/Fantasy, and Journalism. A discussion of the comics in
the packet from the perspective of comics technique will help
participants to understand how comics can communicate powerful
messages in ways that novels, films and other media cannot.
Participants may also have the option to write and draw their own
one to two page story, if time allows.
Paid
for, in part, by an ISA grant. Thank you ISA!!!
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Improv Workshop
by Alexandra Landau
Alexandra
Landau is so excited to be leading her improvisation workshop again
this year! Last year it was great to see all her workshoppers open
up and feel free to try out new things and take risks in a fun,
accepting environment. Participants will take part in imagination
exercises to unlock their minds so that they can use all their
senses to imagine new and interesting possibilities, which will aid
them not only in making interesting decisions in acting exercises,
but in communicating with people in everyday life and looking at
life through a more creative lens. They will also engage in
activities to open up their physicality for use in acting exercises.
They will practice the skill of listening and responding to a
partner truthfully, which is the basis of all acting, and of
meaningful, open communication in life. Everyone of all ages and
experience levels is welcome to come to the workshop in order to try
out something fun and new that they haven’t done before, so that
they can laugh, build community, and learn to accept, listen, and
play with others.
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Workshop on "Angel Investing"
led by Tom Blum Tom
Blum has been an active angel investor in start-up companies for
over 15 years. He will discuss the ABCs of Angel Investing, current
trends, why fortunes made by first round funders in Uber and
Pinterest doesn't mean your nephew's company will succeed, and
unicorn hunting.
Expect discussions on topics such as how angels
differ from venture capitalists, what are "crowdfunding, angel
groups, accelerators and incubators", and how the current angel
euphoria is changing the US economy.
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Just
What We Need: A Bunch of White People
Talking About Race…
led
by John Freund
No
doubt: we can debate about how to explain it, or to define it,
or over how bad it really is, and why it is. But the fact is,
racism continues to play a role in how our society is structured and
how we relate to each other on a daily basis. The privilege
that white people regularly enjoy is the ability to be blithe about
race.
It's The System, right? Yes. But what is my part
in the system? How have I
benefited?
How has it hurt me? And how have I helped to sustain it, even
if I didn't create it?
This workshop will challenge us to ask these questions of the
person in the mirror. There will be presentations in the form of
music, words and images, as well as moderated Covenant-Circle-style,
safe-space, honest discussion. Anyone
and everyone is welcome to attend but we request that you commit to
attending every day for the entire week as each day will build on
the previous one.
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MINI-Workshop
Getting Older: Topics We Care About
led by Michelle Kunz
Day 1: Hospital Induced Delirium Prevention
Workshop or
“Why Grandpa wasn’t the same after he got home from his hip
replacement surgery”
Hospital-induced
delirium is a sudden and severe change in mental status which
affects more than 7 million hospitalized Americans each year. In
fact, older people who show no signs of confusion at home may become
quite disoriented or forgetful in the hospital.
This workshop, conducted by Michelle Kunz,
Certified Senior Advisor and Professional Patient Advocate, and
owner of Senior Care Management, will give you the tools to
understand what hospital induced delirium is, why it happens, what
outcomes can be expected and what can be done to prevent delirium.
Day 2: Shoalers’ Choice
Michelle will
talk on a topic or topics that are requested by conferees. Since
there is such a diversity of issues surrounding aging, Michelle
would like to have discussions and share information on topics that
are of current interest to those attending. So
get your ideas and questions to Michelle via email at mkunz@srcaremgmt.com
not later than August 10, and she will pick the one(s) that seems
most relevant to the most people. She will have the topic
available to conferees on the first day of the conference.
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S T AR B U R S T S
Single, 45 Minute Mini-Workshops to fill in your days
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The
Musical History Tour in 3 Installments by Diane Taraz:
Star Island Melodies, Songs of the Sea, Step
Back in Time
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Book
Group led by Jane Elkin:
"All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
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Online
Dating for Adults led by Laird and Susie
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Henna
Tattoos for Adults with Terri Behm
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Painting
Stone Mandalas with CeCe Braun
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Film Noir - with David Landau
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