We are Humanism at Work

The Starfish Impact School (SI) is officially at the mid-year mark, and we’ve learned and achieved so much in just six months. Our school opened in January 2017 with a cohort of 48 young women entering the 7th grade. Each year, SI will expand by one grade level, until it is a fully operational 7th through 12th grade school. There is no organizational model in Central America for an institution like the SI. We are integrating systems, structures, and resources from high-performing organizations around the world. It has been an process of ongoing learning, and we’ve identified new challenges along the way. SI students are, on average, 14 years old. Based on the baseline demographic data, students started school on average at age 6.5, which explains the slightly older age relative to their current grade. The average household has seven members, and the mothers of SI students were, on average, 19 years old when they started their families.

I have many favorite quotes about children and nature, but here are two very simple yet insightful ones:

“What is the extinction of a condor to a child who has never seen a wren?” – Robert Michael Pyle, author

“How can we expect [children] to really care about their natural environment if they’ve never had an experience in it?” – Martin LeBlanc, Sierra Club

Taking your child or children on an afternoon trip to the zoo is a great thing to do, but what does that matter if a child is not connected in some way to the animals that live near their home? Why should we care to learn about pandas and cheetahs and polar bears if we haven’t learned about salmon and owls and dragonflies? 

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June marked the end of another school year at DC Public Schools, DC Central Kitchen’s seventh year preparing healthy, scratch-cooked, and locally-sourced food for DC Public Schools.

As the school year ends, we’re proud to report on the incredible work of our dedicated team of chefs, dieticians, and cooks who together provide the healthy, carefully prepared food and hands-on nutrition education our city’s children need to thrive in school and in life.

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June was an eventful month for the Beyond Belief Network (BBN) teams. From outreach to exposure to service, the teams of Foundation Beyond Belief ramped up their impact, despite the climbing temperature. Let's take a summer "road trip" to check out all the great things they've been up to!

First stop is the Sunshine State where we visit Central Florida Freethought Community (CFFC). They had a busy start to June, partnering with a fellow BBN team, BE Orlando, for a Pulse Remembrance Blood Drive and STEM book drive. They set up a tent for Humanist advocacy and enjoyed the day collecting books and donating blood. They gave away rainbow support ribbons, Humanist Blood Donor bumper stickers, re-usable grocery bags, and spent the day building community and sharing an opportunity to make a positive difference. Following up on Be Orlando's support rally and drive last June, this was the first Pulse Remembrance blood drive in Central Florida, and the new STILL STRONG blood donor shirts made their debut at this drive.

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