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MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
ANSFORMING
SEPTEMBER 24, 2009
Notes from Israe
Side by side for a stronger Southeast Michigan
Michigan State University has been part of the
"The benefits of this project will extend beyond
This is the first column in a series in
fabric of Detroit and Southeast Michigan for
individual youth by helping to expand the talent
which Charles Salmon, the Ellis N.
decades—from vital work with young people at
pool of educated young adults in Detroit that will
Brandt Endowed Chair in Public
YouthVille Detroit to the expanding College of
serve as a magnet for businesses in the creative
Relations at MSU and former dean of
Osteopathic Medicine to myriad MSU Extension
industries," says Buckley.
MSU's College of Communication Arts
programs that serve more than half a million
area residents.
and Sciences, shares stories from Israel,
Urban education
The center also provides new headquarters for
Today, MSU continues to work side by side with
College of Education teaching interns and programs
partners in the region to create solutions that are
in Detroit schools.
improving quality of life by making a positive
impact on the economy, education, environment,
health, and culture in Southeast Michigan.
The new MSU Detroit Center, which will have
its official opening
Using a $1.9 million grant from Detroit's Skillman
Foundation, faculty in the college are working to
increase the number of high-performing schools
in Detroit.
their teams improve teaching and learning across
symbol of the university's
Michigan, and we pay special attention to the
ongoing and expanding
challenges of urban schools," says Barb Markle,
commitment to the region.
assistant dean for K-12 outreach and executive
Located at 3408
director of the Skillman Foundation's Good
Woodward Avenue in
Schools Resource Center.
Urim, May 2009
Today is Shavuot, Israel's harvest holiday, which
I am celebrating in the Urim Kibbutz about six
miles from Gaza. The kibbutz is located in a
semidesert that is one of the largest and most
The Urim Kibbutz includes people from all over
the world, including Americans who arrived in
Israel through the Habonim youth movement
and decided to stay. It includes an assortment of
modest residences, a dairy farm, a factory, an auto
body shop, agricultural fields, a small grocery store,
and public meeting spaces.
the heart of downtown
Detroit, the 22,000-
Celebrating Shavuot in the Urim Kibbutz
important agricultural regions of the country.
"Our college is focused on helping principals and
celebration October 1, is a
where he is on assignment.
In honor of Shavuot, the kibbutz members have
MSU Detroit Center
square-foot facility is designed to host an array of
gone all out. Using bales of straw as building
educational programs and opportunities for
blocks, they have erected a four-story stadium
residents of the neighborhood and community as
where they and their guests can sit and watch the
well as provide offices in Southeast Michigan for MSU
holiday festivities. While it may lack the luxury
admissions, advancement, and governmental affairs.
boxes of MSU's Spartan Stadium, the seats are a
lot closer to the action.
Creative communities
The MSU Detroit Center is home to Community
And what action it is! A kibbutz band of trombone,
Music School Detroit, an outreach initiative of
saxophone, clarinet, accordion, guitar, and drum
MSU's College of Music created in response to the
sets a lively pace with traditional Israeli folk songs,
community's desire for enhanced music education
embellished with eastern European and Arabic
and performance opportunities, says Rhonda
accents. Women wearing long white dresses and
garlands of flowers display traditional dance steps,
Buckley, associate dean for outreach and
engagement for the
Community Music School Detroit offers opportunities to explore jazz.
college. Programming
Through another effort, the college's Urban
ranges from early
Educators Cohort Program is preparing a new
childhood music
generation of teachers for urban schools by
education and jazz for
providing MSU teaching students with specialized
youth to music therapy
and a concert band
for adults.
Outreach programs nurture and
encourage young learners.
training to meet the distinctive social and economic
challenges of the students in their classrooms.
Continued inside
until the beat sounds more hip hop than folk dance.
The celebration honors all that was produced in
the kibbutz in the past year. A speaker reports on
productivity in the barn, the fields, the auto body
shop, and the factory. Next, kibbutz members
lead a parade of exhibits past the appreciative
Conlinue.ti inside