Community Biking Forum On Sunday

From RideRichmond.net:

Richmond’s Bike-Ped Coordinator will be present, as will members of Virginia Bicycling Federation and BikeVirginia. With the General Assembly for the Commonwealth in Richmond, we have to make use of our community strength to effectively lobby and show that as cyclists, we’re also humans, and deserve rights and legislation that protects us on the road.

Flying Brick Library Schedules Screenings of “The Century of the Self”

From their website:

Join the Flying Brick Library for a four-part workshop/screening of “The Century of the Self,” a British documentary mini-series that covers the western psychological theories of the 20th century as they relate to capitalism and democracy… specifically, in terms of consumerism, propaganda, mass media, advertising and ideas about normalcy and identity.

Each session will start with a screening of an hour-long episode, followed by discussion. You don’t need to attend all four events to attend one, although each flows into the next.

When: 4pm on Dec 10, 13, 17 and 20 (Mon and Thurs)

Congratulations to Ram Bhagat

Ram Bhagat, celebrated Open High teacher, founder of Drums No Guns and the Richmond Youth Peace Project, recently received one of this year’s Pollak Awards. (Click here for article).

Here is a an earlier profile from a Richmond Magazine article on standout teachers:

Although Ram Bhagat’s students don’t always relish their time in his demanding science classes, the Open High School teacher says “99 percent” of them like him after the classes are over. In his large classroom lined with windows, Bhagat teaches chemistry and AP environmental science.

Open High, part of the Richmond Public Schools system, has always taken an expansive approach to education, allowing students to follow their interests and learn subjects in creative ways. So, when Bhagat’s students study how water molecules behave, they may invent a dance or go to the James River. A teacher for 27 years, Bhagat is a Virginia State University graduate who grew up in New Haven, Conn. In college, Bhagat says, he became engaged in learning, particularly about microbiology, his major. The teachers there were “very inspirational by the way that they taught and cared.”