Our Towns Turns One!
One year ago, we launched the Our Towns Civic Foundation, aimed at celebrating the American innovations that we believe will lead to American recovery.
One year ago, we launched the Our Towns Civic Foundation, aimed at celebrating the American innovations that we believe will lead to American recovery and renewal, and at connecting the people at the heart of these efforts. Over the last year, we have reported on innovations in education, technology, the environment, civic life, public institutions, economic plans, health care, the arts, town renewal, and of course, brewpubs. We have described creative collaborations, how-to models, and brand new ideas.
Now, we are experimenting with richer ways to tell the stories with maps, open conversations among far-flung actors, listen to storytellers in their own voices, build our own collaborations with unusual partners, and encourage brave people taking brave steps.
We are extremely grateful to every single one of you supporting us with your generous contributions and your belief in the small but mighty band working (remotely) together on this exciting venture. With you behind us, we are growing, carefully and enthusiastically.
Right now, we’re building our first story maps with the help of Esri, the geospatial mapping company from Jim’s hometown of Redlands, California. Here is Jim’s new description of StoryMaps, and a few examples of how we are seeing them deployed from Kent, Ohio and Redlands, California.
We returned to Thomas Easterling, at the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. Nearly eight years ago, Thomas let us present the first-person stories from his high school students about their hometowns in their own written words. Now, we are hearing from his students in original podcasts, many produced remotely, in their own voices. This project was born out of the pandemic, an example of “Inspiration During Isolation”, that the Class of 2020 from Bucksport Maine coined and engraved in stone along their town’s Riverwalk.
We also take inspiration from Deb’s mom, Angie Zerad, who at 100 years old, decided to play the Ukrainian national anthem in her daily piano concerts for the residents of her assisted living home, and announced she’ll continue playing every single day until Putin leaves Ukraine. By the way, all the residents stand themselves up for both the American and Ukrainian anthems, no small feat when you’re well on in years. We are also inspired by the youngest citizens of the country, and the communities and teachers who are introducing them to ideas of citizenship on terms they can handle.
Thank you for joining us as we start a new (and better) second year.
Deb & Jim Fallows
Story Map Reports
Why Story Maps Matter
Where a picture can be worth a thousand words, the right kind of map can be worth even more. Some of the right kinds of maps, for this era, are the "StoryMaps" developed by our friends at the digital-mapping company Esri.
JAMES FALLOWS | GEOJOURNALISM
Story Maps are at the Center of Community Collaboration in Kent, Ohio
In Kent, Ohio, a community-wide collaboration among Kent State University, Main Street Kent, and the Kent Historical Society & Museum uses story maps to teach residents about the town’s rich history.
ALLIE KUROFF | COLLABORATIONS & PARTNERSHIPS
Never Too Soon: Engaging America's Youngest Citizens Early and Often
Americans know that retaining their young people requires getting them involved in the civic process early and often. But how early is early enough? Communities across the country are showing that engaging kids as early as grades K-6 in civic activities and conversations is not only possible, but may be right on time.
ALLIE KUROFF | YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
Voices from America
Think Global, Perform Local
Angie Zerad, Deb Fallows's mother who recently turned 100, plays the Ukrainian national anthem every day, and is sometimes accompanied by Ukrainian staff singers who join in. The Progress Network shared the video that made its way across the internet, and we wrote about it here.
BEN SPEGGEN | ARTS
Real Voices from Real Mississippi
An extraordinary high school teacher in Mississippi abandoned his successful classroom teaching to introduce podcasting, which taught his students so much more than the critiques of Coriolanus that they typically mastered.
THOMAS EASTERLING | EDUCATION
Real Mississippi Podcasts: You Can Go Back Home Again
In the first installment of a series highlighting some of the Real Mississippi Podcasts, here is student Raegan Calvert's podcast, "You Can Go Back Home," which explores the challenges and opportunities in her hometown of Wiggins, Mississippi.
BEN SPEGGEN | EDUCATION
More on American Renewal...
How to bridge the rural-urban divide? From Rural Assembly's Everywhere Radio, Whitney Kimball Coe interviews Anthony Flaccavento about his work understanding and working towards solving this problem.
How is the journalism work force expanding? Jon Marcus writes for AARP that older Americans are stepping up to help cover local news.
Where are college students settling after graduation? Richard Florida writes in Bloomberg CityLab how the concentration of America's young workforce it is subtly changing.