Three Minneapolis libraries re-open!

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To the delight of library staff and their loyal patrons, Roosevelt, Southeast and Webber Park public libraries reopened on Thursday, January 3. ‘It’s great to be back,’ exulted Eric Heideman, Southeast’s librarian. In all three libraries, within the first hour of doors opening at noon, patrons were using the services. The libraries closed in 2006 due to budget issues, and their reopening is one of the highlights of the merger between Hennepin County Library and the Minneapolis Public Library. The merged system has more than five million books, serves more than one million customers and is in 41 different cultural centers and buildings. Continue Reading

Little Latisha is a poor reader — where’s the help?

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The results of Little Latisha’s recent school tests indicate that she is reading below her grade level. She’s not alone: Approximately one half of all students in the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) did not meet the standards on the 2007 MCA-II reading tests. In Grade 10, 39 percent, and in grade three, 59 percent of students met or exceeded the standards. Little Latisha’s school is a Title I school. Her parents ask, “Are there funds under Title I to provide a tutor for our daughter?”
The direct answer to that question is — it depends. Continue Reading

La Natividad celebrates Christmas traditions on Lake Street

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La Natividad is a remarkable bilingual production for all ages that honors community, religion, and tradition. Audience/participants in the third-annual event will walk the streets, sing, eat and enjoy a colorful and festive show that combines puppetry and street theatre. Re-creation of the time-honored biblical story of the nativity proceeds along a cultural, theatrical and spiritual course that includes a traditional Latino “La Posada” procession. (La posada means ‘inn’ in Spanish.)
For two hours, La Natividad theatergoers will embark on a journey led by masked performers and move through the four sites of the play – the Mercado Central; Plaza Verde; HOBT theatre; and two blocks along 15th Avenue to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. Continue Reading

Theater note: Guthrie’s ‘Christmas Carol’ is still cheery after all these years

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I recently saw A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie Theater, and like almost everyone, I was familiar with the story before entering the theater. But if I thought the old story would be boring, I couldn’t have been more wrong. This is the 33rd year that the Guthrie has staged this classic tale of redemption, Charles Dickens’s vision of the true meaning of Christmas. Forty-two adults and child actors, through skillful drama and lively music, deliver real joy to the audience. The play is set in nineteenth-century London on Christmas Eve, when the selfish Ebenezer Scrooge is forced to examine his uncaring attitude and his relationship with himself and others. Continue Reading

Educators commit to helping all kids succeed

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Participants urged to make the right choice at MMEP’s 20th anniversary celebration
The Minnesota Minority Education Partnership (MMEP) was founded in 1987 to create a collaborative tool with major educational institutions in Minnesota to increase the success of students in schools, especially students of color. On Thursday, November 15, MMEP celebrated its 20th year at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in downtown Minneapolis with a large gathering of educators who share the vision that, in order for the country to be successful, it is imperative that the framework must change from “college for some” to “college for all.”
Minnesota College Access Network (MCAN), an initiative of MMEP, held its first annual conference on Thursday and Friday as a wraparound event to MMEP’s anniversary. Jennifer Godinez, executive director of MCAN and associate director of MMEP, asserted that “all our children dream of something much better” and that both nonprofit organizations are here to help them realize those dreams.
At the anniversary dinner celebration, MMEP Executive Director Carlos Mariani-Rosa reaffirmed their mission: to increase college access for more low-income youth of color, to provide programs that will increase the number of students attending and completing education in Minnesota, and to improve those students’ success in college. “Education is the most important thing we can do in this country,” opined Dr. Julianne Malveaux, keynote speaker at the breakfast session. She added that the largest gaps in education are with people of color, and that continued failure to engage and educate our youth is equivalent to suicide. Continue Reading

‘Madeline’s Christmas’ delights

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Madeline’s Christmas, the Stages Theatre Company’s lively musical for children and their families, opened at the Hopkins Center for the Arts on November 16. It is a magical story of Christmas seen through the eyes of twelve little girls who have fallen ill, all except for one—Madeline. On Christmas Eve, Madeline receives a gift from an unexpected visitor and that leads to an enchanting adventure and life lessons for the girls. A delightful Twin Cities seventh grader, Elaine Patterson, infuses Madeline with energy, excitement and joy. Elaine believes that Christmas is the greatest time of year and she couldn’t imagine spending Christmas without being with her family. Continue Reading

Ta-Coumba Aiken: Call and Response opens in Minneapolis

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On a sunny morning in the fall of 1969, 16-year-old Ta-coumba, who wound up in Minneapolis accidentally, went for a walk in the neighborhood of the Leamington Hotel where he anxiously spent the previous night. He was comforted by the serenity of the park with the large beautiful oak trees and artfully placed benches. The columns and large steps of the museum across from Fair Oaks Park mesmerized him. Local artist-muralist-illustrator Ta-Coumba Aiken is getting a lot of attention these days. His exhibition, Call and Response, opens at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts on Thursday, November 15 and runs through January 13, 2008. Continue Reading

Pipedreams festival winds up Sunday

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The pipe organ is not simply an instrument that is played in churches. It also provides astonishingly beautiful music, as it has done for centuries. More than five hundred people who attended the first concert of the Piping Hot Festival on November 4 in West St. Paul will attest to that. For more information about Piping Hot, go to its websiteor call 651-290-1087.

Final performance: Sunday, November 11, 4 p.m., House of Hope Presbyterian Church, St. Continue Reading

Black kids excel at St. Paul’s Washington Middle School

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‘Disciplinary literacy’ method gets students more engaged
Fifty-four percent of African American students at Washington Technology Magnet Middle School did better in reading than their peers in the state, based on the results of the MCA-II tests in 2006. In math, 57 percent of Washington’s African American students did better than their peers in the same testing period. Washington Middle School has a student population of 600 seventh and eighth graders, 25 percent of whom are African Americans; the majority is Asian American. Principal Mike McCollor attributes the high performance of these students in part to the “disciplinary literacy” teaching approach implemented at Washington Middle three years ago. McCollor explained that the disciplinary literacy approach was introduced in 2002 by the Institute for Learning at the University of Pittsburgh. Continue Reading

From Peru to St. Paul

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The intricately, hand carved gourds of Lucio, his wife Monica and their relatives will be proudly displayed at the St. Paul Art Crawl this weekend. Lucio and his family live and work in the small village of Cochas Chico, Huancayo, Peru. The gourds feature the designs of Twin Cities artists and residents Juan Llerena and his wife Rita as well as the Lucio family. The collection of artwork is owned and exhibited by Expo Peru Collection. Continue Reading