The Cincinnati Enquirer
Good News Monday
Brewing Stone Soup in Cincinnati
Monday, December 13, 1999
On a scale rating inspiration
and hope, the recent Stone Soup leadership training in Cincinnati was a weekend
of 10s. About 70 teen-agers, educators, mentors, youth workers, business and
government leaders and parents spent two and one-half days learning how
individuals, working together in public service, can change their schools and
communities for the better. Just like the community heroes in Marianne Larned's
popular book, Stone Soup for the World: Life-Changing Stories of Kindness
& Courageous Acts of Service.
People across the country are using the collection of
100 short, real-life stories to teach young people positive values and
citizenship, to build character and motivate them to become involved in public
service. The materials are used by organizations such as Big Brothers, Big
Sisters, churches, schools and others who are guiding young people.
It's adapted from the folktale Stone Soup, about a hungry
traveler who inspires poor villagers to each give something - and create a
feast for the entire village. They learn to make soup from a stone, with a
little imagination, cooperation and good will. Using the stone soup metaphor,
Ms. Larned helps us see that when we work together in a community, we can do
way more than we thought was possible to make things better for
everyone.
Weekend participants heard some of the real
"heroes" featured in the Stone Soup book, share their powerful
stories and how they implemented change against impossible odds.
The Stone Soup Leadership Institute is the
learning-in-action arm of the Stone Soup Foundation. Through workshops,
trainings and fellows programs, they bring the Stone Soup fable to life –
using it as a teaching tool about public service and social activism.
Training participants now can move on to Stone Soup
fellowships – one to two-year projects where the Stone Soup series is
integrated into schools and other community programs. Fellows typically are
teen leaders, teachers, religious educators, juvenile justice and child welfare
advocates and companies and organizations which want to collaborate on
community projects. Fellowships hone skills at creating, organizing and
coaching larger groups of people committed to community service.
Anyone witnessing the Cincinnati Stone Soup training
would be optimistic about the unlimited potential for Cincinnati to be a
community known for character and compassion. Like the traveler in the
folktale, we're reminded that we can all make a difference for good. But often
we need a boost, like the Stone Soup one, to rekindle our "can-do"
spirit. Even the most apathetic among us would be moved by listening to Will
Morles' story. He was a 14-year-old illiterate gang member until a
"lifer" taught him to read. Now, at 28, he's a law student, new
father, and founder of Boston's Urban Edge Youth Police Partnership.
"Each person can add something to the incredible
‘soup' we are creating together," said Cincinnati businessman /
entrepreneur Gale E. Smith, founder and CEO of the Smith Family Foundation. He
encountered the Stone Soup lessons at Cincinnati's Marva Collins Prep School
and wanted it to be shared with others in the region. He hopes Cincinnati, like
dozens of other cities, will become a "Stone Soup community."
Thanks to the Smith Family Foundation and other sponsors
such as Meijer stores, for caring enough to help make it happen. For more
information about Stone Soup programs, call Gale Smith at 513-564-8747 or Stone
Soup Foundation in Maryland, 508-696-8514.
|
