There's no place like home

I wonder if we have made a big mistake in thinking of school as being like a
workplace. What if we thought of school as being like home instead.

I can just imagine what you may be thinking at this point: Gee, Tom, I already spend enough time at school as it is. I don't want to start thinking
of it as my home, too.

But before you close this window, please read a little further.

I'm not suggesting that we live at school. Rather, I'm suggesting that we base our model for learning more on the way learning takes place for little kids at home. Such learning is often more spontaneous, more self-directed, more creative and more arts-centered. That's quite different than the learning model most of us have experienced in college or in high school.

So what if we based teaching and learning on this model of "home." I think it would change the way we see education. I'd like to suggest six concepts which flow from such a change in perspective:

1. Break down all the walls you can.

Learning at school takes place both formally and informally, just as at home. It can take place not only in the classroom, but also in the hall, and even outside the building. It can take place not only during class, but also in the minutes before, the minutes after, and even during breaks. But to take advantage of these opportunities, I think we have to break down our idea that learning takes place only during the actual moments when a class is in session.

2. Build and clean "house" together

Part of living in a home is taking care of the place together. Let's take the same idea into the classroom. Let's allow classes to literally take over the room, making it like "home." This could include decorating the walls and windows and filling the bulletin boards. It could also include making murals and growing flowers. It could also include better efforts at picking up after ourselves, including recycling.

3. Put a theme into the weeks

When you're little and at home, you're very conscious of the weather. Decisions about where and how you play are very dependent on the weather. But as we get older and go to school, we become less and less connected from the world around us. By the time we get to college, the months and the seasons are seldom acknowledged. One way to restore a connection would be to tie classes more to the season of the year. We can look for higher education equivalents of building snow people and jumping in leaves. Another idea would be to note events which occurred on the same day or during the same week as the day of class. I tried that idea last year, introducing each class with a segment called "This week in social policy." It focused on key social policy events which had occurred that week in US history. Examples from one week included US Senate approval of Social Security (1935) and the US Supreme Court Miranda decision (1966).

4. Celebrate student work

There is so much wonderful work which is part of classes. But all too often only the teacher gets to see it. I'd like to see more student research presented, more student writing published, and more student posters on display beyond the specific class. Think of this as a vastly expanded version of putting one's work on the refrigerator at home.

5. Arts builds community

Social work's founders, starting with Jane Addams, were big on theater and other arts as ways to communicate, ways to motivate, and ways to inspire. Several years ago, I suggested we create a play based on "our own story" here in North Hall. "Start with Bill Sackter, mix in the history of this building, season with stories from social work," I wrote. That idea became "Good Evening from Bill's Coffeeshop." Why not set a goal to do something like this every semester in every class. Think of it as the grown-up equivalent of inviting adults to see the fort you built in the backyard or the playhouse under the dining room table.

6. Feed me, I'm yours

Sooner or later in class you'll want a snack. There are some classes which have been doing this on a regular basis; there are others where it has happened spontaneously. How about building this into the plan for a course. Snacks help build a sense of community, snacks make you feel, well, -- "at home." And what could be better than that.(Incidentally, "Feed me, I'm yours" is the title of a book of easy snacks parents can make at home with their children.)

Now it's your turn. What do you think? Perhaps you have your own ideas for reshaping our concepts of teaching and learning. Perhaps you have a better image than "home" to make this work. I'd love to hear from you.

Coffeeshops key in building community

Thinking about community practice in social work? Find yourself a coffeeshop. In communities all over the Midwest, a coffeeshop has been the anchor for community renewal.

Each of these is a homegrown business, owned and operated by people who care about community. The success of each goes beyond the coffeeshop itself. Each of these coffeeshops has also been a key part of community renewal.

In Minneapolis, Minnesota, the Hard Times Cafe has been one of the anchors of community development for more than a decade. In Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Zandbroz Coffeeshop and Variety store has been a centerpiece in the revival of downtown.

In Decorah, Iowa, Magpie Coffeeshop is one of the newer businesses strengthening a remarkably lively downtown. And in Aberdeen, South Dakota, Red Rooster Coffeeshop has been part of the renewal of the city's downtown.

In Iowa City, Uptown Bill's has been a leading partner in the revitalization of a retail corner just south of downtown. The Ralston Creek Street Fair is just one example of this revival.

The success of these coffeeshops, and their role as a catalyst in strengthening communities, suggests models for other communities around Iowa and beyond. One community's coffeeshop could be a cooperative, like the Hard Times. Another could be an employment center for individuals with disabilities, like Uptown Bill's. Yet another could be a project for young people, like Magpie. Others could be organized as typical small businesses, like Red Rooster.

The original Bill's Coffeeshop (also in Iowa City) is a key link between the new coffeeshops of the last decade and those of the 1960s. It's also a link between the coffeeshop as a business enterprise and the coffeeshop as a social work setting.

Jane Addams and her friends at Hull House recognized the value of the coffeeshop. It was one of the early experiments at Hull House and became an integral part of the community.

The Hull House residents saw the coffeeshop not only as a place where people could gather and talk over coffee. They also saw it as a place where people could talk about important civic issues. And as a place where everyone's opinion had equal importance, whatever one's background.

Bill's Coffeeshop has been a continuing experiment around these same ideas. The new coffeeshops emerging in our communities are doing the same thing with amazing results.

One role of community practice in social work could be to strengthen this
coffeeshop work. And to transplant the idea into additional communities
which are also looking for renewal.

Songs inspired by coffee

OUR cup runneth over with reader contributions of coffee songs. Here are some of the contributions we have received recently:

...There's the oft-recorded "Java Jive" (from the Ink Spots to Manhattan Transfer). It's always a hit. Benny Goodman's "Breakfast Feud" is not really a coffee song, but it's almost as lively as a jolt of caffeine -- Kerry Ashmore

Coffee, Cigarettes and Tears -- The Larks Coffeetime - Carmen McRaeCoffee, Cigarettes and Memories -- Jeri Southern Coffee in the Morning (Kisses at Night) -- Boswell Sisters
Morning Coffee -- Barry Harris

...Here's a few. I'm looking forward to the complete list. I've been trying to
put together a CD of coffee songs:
Dog Coffee - Ani DiFranco
Black Coffee in Bed -- Squeeze
Afternoons and Coffeespoons -- Crash Test Dummies
Wake Up and Smell the Coffee -- Cranberries
Black Coffee (cover) -- k.d. lang
-- Ann MacMillan

Another Cup of Coffee - Brook Benton
Coffee Blues -- Lightnin' Hopkins
Cigarettes and Coffee Blues -- Lefty Frizzell
Black Coffee -- Humble Pie
The Coffee Grind - Hank Ballard and the Midnighters

...How about my new song "The Blue Hat Club."
I am a member of the Blue Hat Club
I'm a member of the Blue Hat Club

Each morning just at seven
You'll find me in my heaven
Hearing sighs, telling lies
Drinking coffee, no surprise
-- Tom Walz

Note: If you'd like to hear additional verses to this song, stop by Uptown Bill's at the corner of Gilbert and Court in Iowa City.

Forty Cups of Coffee -- Bill Haley and the Comets
Let's Have Another Cup of Coffee -- Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians
One More Cup of Coffee - Bob Dylan
Starfish and Coffee -- Prince

Finally, for a CD of obscure coffee songs, visit this website:
www.wildcritterproductions.com/coffeewithjoe.

Could there be other songs about coffee? We're betting that there are. So, if
your favorite is missing from this list, let us know. We'll publish a
supplemental listing in the future.

So many wonderful things

So many wonderful things happen each week in Bill's Coffeeshop of Iowa City. There are student groups which meet at all hours. There are the AA and related support groups which meet each weekend. There is the tutoring.

There are also a number of activist groups which have been launched in the coffeeshop during recent years, including a local chapter of the Million Mom March and the student chapter of the ACLU.

But no listing of coffeeshop groups would be complete without a mention of NANO. It's a group of students who are working on novels. One recent semester, NANO participants came to the coffeeshop on Sundays to talk and write.

One of those Sundays they came in outfits which included a lot of capes and
fishnet stockings. It turned out that they were all headed to the Rocky Horror
Picture Show after their writing session.

Bill's is also a place which inspires so many wonderful conversations. On just about any day, one is likely to hear conversations about hopes or dreams or the meaning of life. I see these conversations as the spirit of Bill at work. It is truly remarkable to be a part of this.

Of course, it's not only people who like the coffeeshop. Animals like it, too. In the last few years, there have been birds, bunny rabbits, a squirrel, a bat and assorted other animals who dropped by for a visit. It makes one wonder if the spirit of Bill has a touch of Francis of Assisi in it.

Oh yes, I almost forgot. Now and then a mouse visits to coffeeshop, too. No problem there. The problem comes when one mouse invites the whole family over -- not just for dinner but to live.

That leads to another dilemma: which advice to follow in getting the mouse family to leave. Ah, but that's another story.

A hot cup of coffee quotes

Wine is for aging, not coffee -- Ken Hutchinson (Starsky and Hutch)

I never laugh until I've had my coffee -- Clark Gable

I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless -- Napoleon

Many people are like instant coffee: The minute they get into hot water they dissolve -- Author unknown

Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco and he will endure any privation, suffer any hardship -- US Army Lt. William Whiting

Anchors of community: Co-ops, clinics and coffeeshops

If you take I-80 to San Francisco, the very last exit sends you into the
Haight-Ashbury district. That is where the freeway ends...and so many dreams
have begun.

Haight is a street of dreams. And many of those dreams have been about community.
During the late 60s, it seemed like everyone I knew wanted to go there.

Why? because there seemed to be a sense of community there and all wanted to
experience it. I didn't get to go then, but I remember how much the stories I
heard from the Haight influenced me during the late 60s. I heard those stories
while living in Minneapolis.

I was not only influenced by the stories I heard from the Haight. I was also
influenced by the music, especially by the Jefferson Airplane...

Get Together:
"Everybody get together, try and love one another right now"

Somebody to Love:
"Don't you want somebody to love?"

Today:
"To be anymore than I am would be a lie.
I'm so full of love I could burst apart and start to cry"

Coming back to me:
"Small things, like reasons, are, put in a jar.
Whatever happened to wishes wished on a star?"

I joined others who were also inspired by what we heard from the Haight. We
imagined that we could create some of the same new ways of living right in
Minneapolis. The Haight had a free clinic, so Cedar-Riverside would have one,
too. The Haight had coffeehouses; these inspired the Extempore and others. The
Haight had a free university; the same idea flowered in Minneapolis. The Haight
was experimenting with community living; so we would, too.

A lot of years have passed since then. Many of those new ways to live and work
are gone. But others remain. Some of those organizations are vibrant, some are
seeking renewal.

So what do we do now? First let's strengthen our support for institutions which
build community -- our grocery co-ops, our free clinics, our local coffeeshops.

Then let's talk. We need to talk about the organizations we helped to build then
- and since. We also need to talk with those who are eager to do create a new
generation of co-ops, clinics and coffeehouses. We can encourage these new
community-builders; perhaps even inspire them.

We were given a gift, the gift of community. And that's not a gift we're
supposed to keep for ourselves. Rather, it is something we are supposed to share
wherever we live.

I admit that this is an enormous task. And it's not easy to do. One reason is
that it's hard work to build community. And it hasn't gotten any easier over the
years.

It's also hard because the inspiration from the 1960s has been confused with
marketing. If you go today to the Upper Haight -- Haight and Ashbury -- the
legacy from the Summer of Love seems to be one of bumper stickers and tie-dyed
T-shirts. Merchants are literally trying to sell a sense of community.

And if you go to the lower Haight, say Haight and Fillmore -- you see
another group of people looking for community, too. Some of them are young
and have run away from someplace else. Some are desperately poor and want
something better. Some have been reduced to begging. Often, their hopes
for community have been crushed in a struggle to just stay alive.

Both of these Haights exist in many communities around the country. My dream is
that we can create a new Haight, a true Haight, somewhere in between these two.
I would want to say to those who are shopping for community in the upper Haight:
This is not something you can buy. I would want to say to those who are at the
lower end: This community wants you, needs you. This community wants to take
care of you, nurture you, wants to help you restore your dreams.

Perhaps, just perhaps, if we could bring people together from the two Haights in
our towns, we could see real community at work. They have a lot to give each
other, I think. Wouldn't that be something.

One could easily say that's unrealistic. And I suppose it is kind of crazy
if you look around and see the way things are going. But I think that's
what Jane Addams had in mind with the settlement house. And I think that's
what social work is all about.

Bill's Coffeeshop was once a kindergarten room

IF the original Bill's Coffeeshop were a classroom, it could accommodate a
class of perhaps 35 students. In fact, it was a classroom for many years.
North Hall, where the coffeeshop is located, was originally built as a K-12
school. It was the training school for student teachers at the University of
Iowa.

The third floor, where the coffeeshop is located, was the elementary school; the second floor was the high school. The room where the coffeeshop was located was the kindergarten room. The "cubbies" for each student are still here; though the doors for each are long gone.

It's not uncommon for graduates of the school to drop by and see the old place.
>From time to time, there are even reunions.

I remember one afternoon when two women stopped in to look around. At first, itappeared they were lost. They looked, they looked down, they whispered and they sighed.

"May I help you," I asked them. "Are you looking for..."

The older woman spoke before I was finished. "Oh no," she said, "we're not looking for anything. This was my grade school. I wanted to show my daughter."

She went on to tell a few stories about being in this room nearly 50 years ago. "We had so many young teachers," she recalled. "It was wonderful.

Coffeeshop slogans which caught our fancy

Here's a sampling of coffeeshop slogans we've collected recently:

Great java, no jive -- Dunn Brothers (St. Paul, Minn.)
A perk you deserve - Dark Canyon Coffee (Rapid City, SD)
Raven's Brew Coffee: the last legal high -- www.arizona-coffee.com
Shaky grounds -- Coffeeshop in San Francisco
Come for the coffee, stay for the atmosphere -- 8th Street Coffee (Escanaba,
Mich.)

Have you met Bill's crosstown cousin?

Uptown Bill's Small Mall, 401 S. Gilbert, in Iowa City is an outgrowth of the
original Bill's Coffeeshop. It includes not only a coffeeshop, but several
other small bsinesses owned or operated by individuals with disabilities.
Uptown Bill's is open seven days a week.

Bill's story had tremendous impact

The story of Bill Sackter and Bill's Coffeeshop continues to have an impact,
especially around the Midwest. Whenever I am introduced as connected to Bill's Coffeeshop, people ask me how the coffeeshop is doing and then tell me a story. It could be a story about Bill, a story about the coffeeshop, or a story about one of the Bill movies.

Recently, for example, I met a woman who had been a volunteer at Faribault state hospital more than 30 years ago. That's the Minnesota hospital where Bill had lived for nearly half a century. She had known the story of Bill, and had seen the movie. But she did not know that the hospital where she had volunteered was the one where Bill had lived.

I remember once meeting a man who was delighted to discover that Mickey Rooney had played Bill in the two movies, "Bill" and "Bill on his own." In his late 70s, the man had been a great fan of Rooney's early movies. "I grew up in an orphanage and loved watching his movies," he told me. He also knew the story of Bill, though he had not seen the movies. He was thrilled to learn that the lives of Rooney and Bill Sackter had converged twice.

Occasionally, people have assumed I am Bill. I have even been introduced as Bill. I chuckle at that, and point out that if he were still alive, Bill would now be in his 90s.

All of this is an astonishing legacy for a man who died more than 20 years ago (1983). Who would have guessed that Bill Sackter's story and Bill's coffeeshop would have had such an influence.

This legacy will be explored in a forthcoming documentary, scheduled to be released later this year. "Bill Sackter: A Special Spirit" includes recently discovered film footage of Bill, plus a look at the coffeeshop today and interviews with people who knew Bill. Look for more details in the fall on the film's premiere.