Okay, so EXCO doesn't really have a birthDAY per se, but the organizing started in the Spring of 2006, and continues to build today.

So it's time to celebrate! As we kick-off our Spring 2012 season of classes, come party in the park to honor our work together.

Saturday, March 3, 1-3:30pm
at Matthews Park
(24th St E and 29th Ave S in Minneapolis)

Come meet new friends in the EXCO community! Join a SAORI weaving workshop and portrait drawing workshop, hear spoken word by the performance poetry class, play in games in the park, do some screen printing and eat good food.

If you feel able, bring some food to share. If not, there will be plenty for you to eat.

P.S. Check out EXCO's all new FREE classes this Spring!
Visit !uri for full class listings and to register. Most classes begin in early March.

In this newsletter:

• EXCO at Shut Down, Rise Up! Convergence - July 1
• Summer Classes
• Facilitating Fall classes at Mpls Parks

*** EXCO at Shut Down, Rise UP!

In anticipation of Minnesota's expected government shutdown on July 1st, EXCO community members can contribute to a constructive project during the crisis: "Shut Down, Rise Up!"   Starting on July 1st, we’ll be coming together in Powderhorn Park (3400 15th Ave S, Mpls) every evening to share resources, organize political action, and build community.  We encourage EXCO folks to share your skills and knowledge by putting on skill-shares, workshops, and classes at the convergence. 

A free meal will be provided starting at 5pm every day, followed by a general assembly. We’ll also have music and fun!  Bring what you can and take what you need! - RSVP on facebook

What is Shut Down Rise Up? [para el español, haga clic aquí]

On July 1st, the Minnesota state government will likely shutdown. Tens of thousands of public employees could be laid off, and cutbacks on services ranging from transportation to health coverage, food stamps to nursing homes, homeless shelters to the court system could have devastating effects on many more.

As anti-authoritarians, we recognize both the immediate need people have for the government to return to its regular operations (for many, this is a matter of survival), and also the fact that the government and corporations work in tandem to exploit our communities and strip them of self-sufficiency.

As invested members of our communities, we’re responding by starting to address the needs and issues arising from the shutdown while also presenting our own analysis of the system that has produced this crisis. We are converging to pool resources, services, and political actions that will address some of the immediate needs created by the shutdown. We intend to occupy a shared physical space for the purposes of this resource-sharing and community building, and also to maintain an internet information hub on actions and alternative services related to the shutdown.

For more info and a poster/pamphlet to download, see ShutDownRiseUp.org

For updates, subscribe to an announcements list by sending an email to:
SDRU+subscribe@googlegroups.com

*** Summer Classes - Liberate your education this summer with EXCO's free community-led classes!

Over 40 classes!  Visit http://www.excotc.org for full class listings and to register.  Some awesome classes are starting soon.  Many have already started, but you if you contact the class facilitator they often do not mind late joiners.

Más de 40 clases! Visita http://www.excotc.org para las listas de la clase completa y para inscribirse. Algunas clases son impresionantes punto de empezar. Muchos ya han comenzado, pero si se comunica con el facilitador de clase a menudo no les importa carpinteros tarde.

*** Facilitating Fall Classes at Mpls Parks / Facilitar las clases de otoño en los parques Minneapolis

Are you interested in facilitating an EXCO class in the Fall of 2011 at a Minneapolis park building?  If you would like to use a space in the buildings of Powderhorn Park, Corcoran Park, or others, please let us know by July 1st.  Thanks!
 
We need advance notice in order to communicate with the parks people about it.  We are working out an arrangement with the parks to make it easier to have spaces and to get your classes listed in their publicity.
 
¿Está usted interesado en la facilitación de una clase de EXCO en el otoño de 2011 en un edificio del parque de Minneapolis? Si desea utilizar un espacio en los edificios de Powderhorn Park, Parque de Corcoran, u otros, por favor háganoslo saber por 1 de julio. Gracias!
 
Necesitamos antelación con el fin de comunicarse con la gente parques al respecto. Estamos trabajando en un acuerdo con los parques para que sea más fácil tener espacios y para obtener las clases enumeradas en su publicidad.

Sunday May 22nd, 2-4pm @ Powderhorn Park Community Center

3rd Annual Facilitator Appreciation Event!

Join us for a fantastic afternoon in honor of the wonderful volunteers who share their knowledges and skills with us every session.  If you are a facilitator, past, present, or future please let us know if you plan to attend.   There will be plenty of food to go around!

Participants!  We are looking for people to bring food items to share as a way to say thank you to your facilitators.  What better way to let them know how much you appreciate their work than with a fancy baked good!  Please contact Andrew (andrewmeeker@gmail.com) if you plan to bring a dish.

Does your class have something you'd like to share with the EXCO community?  A performance, project, or idea?  Contact Ayanna (clannaddubh@gmail.com)

Everyone!  Please let us know about your experience with EXCO.  Fill out our online survey by clicking here!

________________________________________________________________________

Domingo22 de mayo, 2-4pm en el Centro Powderhorn Parque

Evento Anual de Apreciación facilitador!

Únase anosotrosparaunatardefantásticaenhonor alos maravillosos voluntariosque compartensusconocimientosyhabilidadesconnosotros en cadasesión. Siusted esunfacilitador, pasado,presenteofuturo,por favor,háganos sabersiustedplaneaasistir. Habrámuchacomidapara todos!

Los participantes! Estamosbuscandoagente paratraeralimentospara compartircomo una maneradedecir graciasasusfacilitadores. ¿Qué mejormaneradehacerlessaberlo muchoqueapreciamossutrabajoque conunlujoal hornobien! Póngase en contacto conAndrew(andrewmeeker@gmail.com) si vaallevar unplato.

¿Tienesuclase detener algoque tegustaríacompartir con lacomunidadEXCO? Unaactuación, proyecto oidea? Póngase en contacto conAyanna(clannaddubh@gmail.com)

Todo el mundo!Por favor,háganossaber acercade suexperienciaconEXCO.Llenenuestra encuestaen líneahaciendo click aquí!

I. Spring Session Classes

II. MayDay Preparations

III. EXCO’s new South Minneapolis/Do It Ourselves chapter (name is in progress)

IV. Whose University? April 20^th Day of Education & Workshops

V. PEJAM's Spring Forum - Stand Up for Public Education: Testimonials from the Struggle to Save Our Schools

VI. TEACH 4 AMERIKA: A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

VII. UMN Solidarity’s Occupation of Social Sciences Tower on U of M’s West Bank

I. Spring Session Classes

There are still opportunities to take part in EXCO’s spring session! If you’re interested in facilitating a class – Summer Session class applications are available here.

Check out www.excotc.org for more classes/workshops that haven’t started yet (but soon!) – including:

IWW Work People's College

Data Security Now! or, What Your Data is Doing Behind Your Back and What You Can Do About It

Good Vibes: Energy Healing & Increasing Bliss

Basic Hand Stitching and Sewing Machine Class

Child Development and Arts Education

Controversy to Canon: Watching Lucinda Childs' "Dance"

Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot (April), Mantenimiento de Bicicletas)

Learn to fix the brakes on your bike!

Go Wild! Sharing Survival Skills for Uncertain Times

Make Media, Make Trouble – Classroom & Action

II. MayDay Preparations

EXCO is hosting an information table at MayDay! We need you to help! Please contact Erin (erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815-302-2481) if you’d like to help out in any of the following ways:

1. Volunteer for 1 or more hours for Heart of the Beast in exchange for our free info table   registration (passing out programs, stuff like that)

2. Do a skill-share at our info table

3. Help pass out EXCO fliers at our info table or during the parade

III. EXCO’s new South Minneapolis/Do It Ourselves chapter (name is in progress)

A new chapter of Experimental Community Education of the TC (EXCO) is in the works!

By forming this new chapter, we seek to bring more organizers, classes and energy to EXCO, where anyone can teach or take a class and all classes are free.

We hope our efforts will support and create resources for other EXCO groups, too, like

Academia Comunitaria (todas las clases se imparten en español) and the proposed Cedar Riverside chapter. Most of all, we want to see more classes that will help strengthen cultures of community

sustainability and resistance.

Come to our next meeting/meal (April 17 at 5:30pm at 3100 5th Ave S., Minneapolis) or contact Jaime Hokanson at haloka@riseup.net or 612-655-1080 for more information.

IV. Whose University? April 20^th Day of Education & Workshops

Wednesday, April 20^th – 11am to 4pm at Coffman Memorial Union, University of Minnesota

Whose University? is organizing a “Day of Education & Workshops” at the University of Minnesota April 20th, focused on the reality of racial and economic exclusions in higher education.  We will explore what is happening at the University of Minnesota specifically and connections to the daily life of students across the state of Minnesota. We are organizing buses of high school students to come to the University - where we’ll provide lunch, have an event (“teach in”), host a press conference and then break up into workshops.  The day is an opportunity for young people to think more about policy, debate current social issues, engage in collaborative learning, and think critically about the value of higher education.

Check out the Facebook page for Whose University for more info on the event here. RSVP here.

V. PEJAM's Spring Forum - Stand Up for Public Education: Testimonials from the Struggle to Save Our Schools

Featuring Chicago Teachers' Union President Karen Lewis

Saturday, April 9 · 2:00pm - 4:00pm

Minneapolis Regional Labor Federation Building

312 Central Avenue N.E., Minneapolis

The keynote speaker will be Karen Lewis, recently elected President of the Chicago Teachers Union and a member of CORE- Caucus of Rank & File Educators. In her election acceptance speech last June, Ms Lewis declared, “Today marks the beginning of the end of scapegoating educators for all the social ills that our children, families and schools struggle against every day. Today marks the beginning of a fight for true transparency in our educational policy — how to accurately measure learning and teaching, how to truly improve our schools, and how to evaluate the wisdom behind our spending priorities.”

Organized by Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota

PEJAM is a grassroots community organization of teachers, parents, students, and community members dedicated to defending and supporting a fully funded, just, equitable, and democratic system of public education. Join PEJAM on Facebook.

VI. TEACH 4 AMERIKA: A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

The Bruce High Quality Foundation + Creative Time present:

TEACH 4 AMERIKA

A RALLY FOR ANARCHY IN ARTS EDUCATION

Saturday April 9, 4-5:30pm

@ Regis Center for Art, In-Flux Auditorium

Free + open to the public

Hosted in Minneapolis by the Walker Art Center, University of Minnesota, Soap Factory, 1419, and the Experimental College of the Twin Cities

Teach 4 Amerika combines the spectacle and energy of a political rally with the substantive dialog of a conversation series, featuring a multimedia presentation by the group, balloons, t-shirts, and music from local pep bands...

A 5-week, 11-city, coast-to-coast road trip that crosses state lines and institutional boundaries to inspire and enable local art students to define the future of their own educational experience.

Traveling the byways of America in a limousine painted as a school bus, BHQF brings together concerned educators, artists, arts administrators, and—most importantly—students to BRAINSTORM THE FUTURE OF ART SCHOOLS.

***What are they for?

***How should they be organized?

***If not for careers, what is the essence of art itself?

These fundamental questions have long haunted artists, and the BHQF are interested in putting the questions back in the hands of students across America through a combination of dynamic public rallies and intimate conversations.

“Teach 4 Amerika aims to empower artists to create the education they need and not beholden them to a system that professionalizes them out of their own specificity,” said the BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION.

“The Teach 4 Amerika tour will highlight the contradictions and crisis operating at the center of art education in the United States today,” said NATO THOMPOSON, Chief Curator, CREATIVE TIME.

VII. UMN Solidarity’s Occupation of Social Sciences Tower on U of M’s West Bank

The U of M’s Social Sciences Tower on the West Bank was recently occupied by a coalition of students for four days demanding the right to peacefully occupy space at our public, land-grant university, that the public has reasonable access to university resources, that the university respect the rights of all workers to organize and to earn at least a living wage, tuition and fee reductions, that regents be democratically elected by the university community, and that the university treat student groups fairly and equitable with respect to funding and space and that student groups on the 2^nd floor of Coffman Union be able to keep their spaces.

Check out umnsolidarity.wordpress.com and this “UK Exclusive Interview: UMN Solidarity Occupation” from The New Current.  It was conducted in the midst of the occupation, just before the occupiers were evicted on Thursday night.

Post-eviction, students are continuing to develop the movement, building on the many relationships formed during the occupation.  To learn more, show your support, or get involved, stop by the Social Sciences building, 1st floor, from 1pm-5pm Mon-Fri, to chat.

           *******************************************************************************************************

In Solidarity,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

www.excotc.org

excotc@gmail.com

(651) 998-9268

HELLO EXCO participants far and wide!

We are proud to announce OVER 70 CLASSES in Spring 2011!!!

Want to take one?  REGISTER NOW ONLINE @ www.excotc.org!!!!

Tell your friends! Invite them on facebook!  Follow us on twitter!

<3

exco

P.S.  A VERY BIG THANK YOU... to all of you, facilitators, participants, bystanders, and more, for all that you have given and continue to give to making this project a success for our communities!  

If you've thought about it before, now is the perfect time to help out!  Volunteer, Organize, Donate!  You can make EXCO bigger and better!

EXCO January Newsletter II

Contents:

I. Minneapolis Childcare Collective is seeking volunteers / Upcoming trainings

II. Reminder: We are now accepting facilitator applications for Spring 2011
III. EXCO Open House & Reflection Dinner Event on Friday, January 28th 6:30pm to 8:30pm, at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.) – open house-style with food, a raffle, and spoken word - see new fliers below

...

I.   Minneapolis Childcare Collective is seeking volunteers to provide
childcare for Academia Comunitaria classes. We ask for a weekly
commitment, but occasionally need people for one time events. Most
classes are an hour. We provide training and toys.There will usually
be another volunteer with you. We are currently seeking volunteers to
start in March. For more information, email childcare@riseup.net.
Our mission statement:
We are dedicated to providing high quality child care in order to
support parents’ involvement in organizations of resistance and
community building.  We provide childcare as an act of solidarity with
women, people of color, and poor people, especially poor mothers of
color, who are responsible for a disproportional amount of childcare,
often excluding them from participating in projects of social change
and resistance.

UPCOMING TRAININGS FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS
1. Sunday January 23, 2pm at the Hosmer Library (357 E 36th St.) meeting room
2. Tuesday February 8, 6pm at the Hosmer Library (357 E 36th St.) meeting room

If you can't make either of these trainings but are interested in
providing childcare, let us know at childcare@riseup.net

Minneapolis Childcare Collective esta buscando volunarios a proveer
guardaria por clases de Academia Comunitaria. Pedimos un compromiso
semanal. La mayoridad de los clases son una hora. Tenemos una
formacion y algunos juegos. Usualmente habria dos voluntarios. Por mas
informacion, childcare at riseup.net. La mision:
Colectivo Guardería de Minneapolis Estamos dedicamos a proveer
guardería de alta calidad para apoyar que los padres pueden participar
en las organizaciones de resistencia y fortalecimiento comunitario.
Hacemos guardería como un acto de solidaridad con mujeres, gente
Latina, gente de ingreso bajo, y especialmente mujeres de bajos
ingresos, quienes tienen la mayoría de la responsabilidad por el
cuidado de los niños, y por eso es muy común que están excluidas de la
participación en los proyectos de cambio y resistencia social.

II. Reminder: We are now accepting facilitator applications for Spring 2011

Share your knowledge, skills, and passions by facilitating an EXCO class!  Fill out a facilitator application online at www.excotc.org/create_class

Past classes have focused on a variety of skills and topics such as sewing, languages, cooking, queer politics, labor organizing, auto mechanics, radical feminisms, bike maintenance, culture jamming and much, much more. Whether you are new to or a veteran of facilitating, EXCO is ramping up its support system, including providing one-on-one contact people, more and better orientation and education opportunities on facilitation and pedagogical issues and skills. Please contact us as excotc@gmail.com or call (651) 998-9268 if you have any questions about creating a class or the application process.

Applications are due January 28th if you would like your budget to be considered.

III. EXCO Reflection Event on Friday, January 28th 6:30pm to 8:30pm at Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St.) – open House-style with food, a raffle, and spoken word

EXCO is hosting an open house-style reflection event. Join us for dinner, hot cocoa, spoken word, and an evening with good people. We will also be raffling off fun prizes throughout the night!

Participants will have the opportunity to visit themed stations to reflect on the previous session, offer up ideas for improvement, and vision for the future. Newcomers to EXCO are also welcome! Stations will be themed on various aspects of EXCO, including the facilitator process, events, publicity, our future mural, and more.

We need you to come and share your ideas! Hope to see you there!

6:30 to 8:30pm, Friday, January 28th @ Project for Pride in Living (1035 E. Franklin St. Mpls)

RSVP at the Facebook event here

So sorry for the extra email, but here is an event that was supposed to make it into the newsletter:

Grease Rag's 2nd Annual Winter Maintenance Skill-Share

Sunday, November 21, 2010
12 PM- 3 PM

Sunrise Cyclery
901 W Lake St
Bryant Ave. & Lake St., Minneapolis
612) 824-6144

Like all Grease Rag events this is FREE and open to all WTF (women/ trans/ femme) cyclists

We will be providing:

Yummy vegan treats and hot beverages

Knowledgeable WTFs sharing their skills about cleaning and maintaining your bike during the winter, how to dress, handling and safety, and tires and gear (schedule TBA)

Winter merchandise for purchase from Sunrise Cyclery (Discount for Grease Rag WTFs that come to the skill-share)

The Minneapolis Presents 14-month calendar will also be for sale- Support Grease Rag and support Sunrise Cyclery and purchase a calendar or five!

Bring your winter bike, your experience and/or willingness to learn, and let's get winter-ready together.

RSVP on Facebook, and invite all of your friends!

Can't wait to see you,

Grease Rag Ride & Wrench
greaseragmpls@gmail.com

............

Cheers,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team
excotc@gmail.com
www.excotc.org
651-696-8010

I. EXCO Fall Party - October 9th!

II.  October 7th - EXCO's Disorientation Guide to the U of M's History

III. October 7th - National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education!

_________________________________

I. EXCO Fall Party - October 9th!

Come check out EXCO's fall party this Saturday October 9 at the Powderhorn Park gymnasium, 1 to 4pm!

• Live music featuring El Loco y Jo-l, The Muskies, Abre Ojos and more!
• Skill share workshops
• Screenprinting demo and free patches
• Free delicious food
• Childcare and kids activities

II.  October 7th - EXCO's Disorientation Guide to the U of M's History

This event will take place October 7th, Coffman Memorial Union Room 324 on the U of M's East Bank campus, 2 to 4pm

Speakers will discuss the following:

• 1969 occupation of Morrill Hall that lead to the creation of Black Studies
• 2005 sit-in at Morrill Hall to protest the closing of the General College
• The 2007 AFSCME university clerical workers strike
• Jimmy Johns Union and being a working student

Other highlights include free food, discussion of potential activism at the U, and much more!

III. October 7th - National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education!

Read the following Indymedia article below to find out about all the cool events going on in the Twin Cities for the Oct. 7 National Day of Actions

Here is a link to the article - http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/oct/minnesotans-mobilizing-defend-public-education-october-7th

This Thursday, advocates of public education in Minnesota are putting on events including a free concert in Loring Park, rallies, marches, teach-ins at the U of M and MCTC, and a student strike and dance party at MSU Mankato.  These are part of the October 7^th National Day of Actions in Defense of Public Education.  This day was called as a continuation of the struggles in California -- including rallies, strikes, and occupations on campuses -- that spread nationwide on March 4^th of this year.

A group coordinating the October 7th activities in Minnesota, Education Action Coalition MN, gives some explanation for their motivations on their website: “public education is facing a dire crisis.  Budget cuts and privatization schemes together represent an unprecedented assault on public education.  Here in Minnesota, the achievement gap between white K-12 students and minority students is among the worst in the nation. At the University of Minnesota, over-paid administrators are forcing the burden of budget cuts -- $47 million proposed by Governor Pawlenty this year -- onto the backs of students and workers.  The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system leadership received bonuses when they laid off faculty and increased class sizes.”

Actions on October 7^th in or near the Twin Cities include:

- noon to 1:30pm  - a Rally and March at the University of Minnesota, (East Bank campus, at the Northrop Plaza) – speakers on many issues facing U of M students, workers, and faculty, with the demands: “no tuition and fee hikes, no layoffs to instructional and support staff, shared power in governance.”  Organized by the Chop from the Top Coalition.

- 2:00-4:00pm - a Disorientation Guide to the U of M’s History, (in Coffman Union, room 324) – speakers on the 1969 occupation of Morrill Hall that led to the creation of the Black Studies department, struggles for equal access including the fight to save General College, the AFSCME union's struggles for a more democratic and equitable U, and more – with free food, followed by discussion about how to create a better U of M.

- 5:00-6:00pm - Rally and March at MCTC plaza – speakers on issues facing students and teachers at MCTC and the MSCU system.

- 6:00-9:00pm - Free Concert to Defend Public Education -- in Loring Park -- featuring: Guante, Usual Suspects, Fresh Squeeze, Junkyard Empire, Poetic Assassins, surprise guests, speakers, free food, info tables, and more.  Organized by the Public Education Justice Alliance MN (PEJAM).

- all day – Student Strike (and Dance Party) to Defend Public Education at Minnesota State University, Mankato (at Wigley Administration Building between Morris and the Student Union)

These actions are also connected with Ethnic Studies Week, October 1-7, which is described by its organizers as “a nationally coordinated week of actions to defend ethnic studies and academic freedom.  It was inspired by opposition to the May 11 passage of HB 2281 in Arizona banning ethnic studies in the AZ public schools and the May 21 passage of new social studies standards by the influential Texas State Board of Education.”  In order to defend the right to teach and learn ethnic studies and “the diverse stories that make up the U.S. experience,” the organizers, including many in the Twin Cities, will be facilitating events in which, “in hundreds of individual classrooms, K-12 and college, students will be listening to speakers, watching films and pausing to reflect on the importance of ethnic studies.”

Sincerely,

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

excotc.org

excotc@gmail.com

EXCO August Newsletter/EXCO Boletín de agosto

1. Class Applications Due THIS Friday
2. EXCO Fall Classes Begin September 27th
3. Can You Do Volunteer Childcare for Classes?
4. IWW Labor Day Rally, 3pm Featuring I Self Divine and Guante
5. Send Us Your EXCO News!

1. *Facilitate an EXCO Class this Fall!*

Class applications due THIS Friday, August 20th. Apply online here: http://excotc.org/create_class or contact us with questions at: excotc@gmail.com, 651-696-8010.

2. Fall Classes Begin Sepetmeber 27th

3. La Acadamia Comunitaria is looking for childcare volunteers for classes. La Academia Comunitaria is a Latino-led exco chapter that offers childcare to all of the bilingual classes. If you have childcare experience and would like to volunteer a few hours a week to have fun with kids while their parents are in class, please contact Kelly at kellyemccarthy@gmail.com for information about training and with any questions.

4. IWW Labor Day Celebration and Rally
Monday Septepmber 6th
3pm, Music 3:30PM, Rally at 4:30pm. University and Pleasent Ave SE.

Speak out, celebration, rally, and action in support of food, retail, and service workers featuring: I Self Divine and Guante
Join the fun, support the organizing, and step up to help organize! Contact twincities@iww.org,  612-378-8845

Or facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118666154849113

6. Want to get something out? Get it in the EXCO Monthly Newsletter. Send items to excotc@gmail.com.

EXCO Boletín de agosto

1. Clase Debido Este viernes Aplicaciones
2. Las clases de otoño empiezan el 27 de septiembre
3. Cuidado de niños
4. IWW Día del Trabajo Rally, 15:00 Con lo Divino Ser y Guante
5. Envíenos Noticias EXCO!

1. *Da una clase en EXCO este Otono!*

Fecha limite para ofrecer clases Viernes 20 de Agosto

Hazlo online aqui: http://excotc.org/create_class o contactanos conpreguntas en excotc@gmail.com, 651-696-8010.

2. Las clases de otoño empiezan Sepetmeber 27a

3. La Acadamia Comunitaria está buscando voluntarios para el cuidado de los niños clases. La Academia Comunitaria es un capítulo ExCo de la comunidad latina que  ofrece cuidado de niños a todas las clases bilingües. Si usted tiene  experiencia con niños y le gustaría ser voluntario algunas horas a la semana para  divertirse con los niños mientras sus padres están en clase, por favor póngase en contacto con  kellyemccarthy@gmail.com for information about training and">Kelly en kellyemccarthy@gmail.com para obtener información sobre formación y  con cualquier pregunta.

4. IWW Celebración del Día del Trabajo y Rally

Lunes 6 de Septepmber 3:00pm, Música 3:30 PM, Rally a las 4:30 pm.

Universidad y Pleasent Ave SE. Levanta la voz, la celebración, rally, y la acción  en apoyo de alimentos, minoristas y trabajadores de los servicios que ofrece: I Self Divino y Guante

Únete a la diversión, el apoyo a la organización, e intensificar para ayudar a organizar!twincities@iww.org, 612-378-8845"> twincities@iww.org Contacto, 612-378-8845

Evento de Facebooktwincities@iww.org, 612-378-8845">: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118666154849113
twincities@iww.org, 612-378-8845">
5. ¿Quieres conseguir algo? Consíguelo en el EXCO boletín mensual. Enviar  producto para excotc@gmail.com.

I. Sign up for summer classes!
II. EXCO Documentary
III. EXCO Summer Kick-off Party and Fundraiser

I. Sign up for summer classes!
Over 50 classes are being offered this summer! Sign up now at http://www.excotc.org

II. EXCO Documemtary
Please send dated, captioned pictures of ExCo activities to becca@wrongway.org -- it would help with an upcoming ExCo documentary.

III. EXCO Summer Kick-off Party and Fundraiser
Date:  Jun 19 2010 - 9:00pm - Jun 20 2010 - 1:00am
Location:  Cult Status Gallery 2913 Harriet Ave. S. Minneapolis, MN 55408 United States

Join the EXCO community for an Intellectual Underground of Music, Dancing, Art, Palm-reading and more!

Donations (sliding scale) benefit the Experimental College 

Musical Performance and experimentation by: Miss Chief, Virgo, A.B.A.L.L. Muse, Genome, Tshisuaka, Culture Human 

Showing Artworks by: Erin Sayer, J.M. Culver, Gina Loise, Louisa Greenstock 

Palm-reading & Handwriting Analysis by: Phillip D. Johnson

EXCO volunteers will be there to assist interested persons in registering for EXCO's exciting summer classes.

Apply to teach with EXCO this summer! 

Everyone is a teacher and a learner with EXCO. What have you learned? What are you passionate about? What are your skills? Share them by teaching (or as we say, "facilitating") a class or a workshop this summer. Classes or workshops can be on any subject and can take many forms. Classes are longer-duration while workshops are more autonomous and do not receive funding. Class facilitators are volunteers but we may be able to provide some money for those who could not teach without it. We may also be able to provide money for supplies. 

If you are interested in facilitating a class or a workshop, submit your online application before May 14 for highest funding priority, or before May 22nd at the absolute latest. If you do not require funding you can submit your class or workshop at anytime, although the greatest publicity will be given to those who submit their class before May 26th.

Learn more and apply online at http://www.excotc.org/content/facilitate-a-class

Hope to see you soon! 
Erin and the EXCO organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

You can still register for an EXCO class or workshop!
www.excotc.org/classes

Below is a taste of  classes and workshops that begin in March or April. Check 'em out!

Collective Home Buying Workshop
Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
Imagining Revolution
Introduction to Political Ideologies
Oneness Experiential

Clases de Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
Poetic Meditation

See the website for more details and to register.

EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside
When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!

Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.

The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka
It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people. But any new participant of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amateur whose education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.

To find out more about the EXCO please visit www.excotc.org

Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

Hope to see you soon!

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

You can still register for an EXCO class or workshops!
www.excotc.org/classes

Below is a taste of  classes and workshops that begin in March or April. Check 'em out!

Collective Home Buying Workshop

Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
Oneness Experiential
Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
Imagining Revolution
Introduction to Political Ideologies
Clases de Yoga
Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
Poetic Meditation

See the website for more details and to register.

EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside
When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!

Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.

The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka
It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people. But any new participant of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amateur whose education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.

To find out more about the EXCO please visit www.excotc.org

Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

Hope to see you soon!

Erin and the EXCO organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

You can still register for an EXCO class!
www.excotc.org/classes
Classes that begin in March or April:
-Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
-Oneness Experiential
-Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act  
-Imagining Revolution
-Introduction to Political Ideologies
-Clases de Yoga
-Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
-Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
-Collective Home Buying Workshop
-From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
-What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
-Poetic Meditation

EXCO Presents:
A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)

As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside.  

In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.

Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this project.

Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this initiative. All are welcome!

End of Season Celebration
Saturday April 24, 2010
If you'd like to excersize your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481
Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!

Haiti Benefit Concert
March 12, 2010 at the Fallout Urban Art Center, 2609 S. Stevens Ave.
The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play, and more bands and DJ's will be anounced soon.

Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka

It's a place where knowledge and skills are aquired.  This is about where the similatities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.

For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.

Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people, but the typical new student of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.

A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are reguarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amatuer who's education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!

Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.

To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org

You can still register for an EXCO class!

www.excotc.org/classes



Classes that begin in March or April:

• Improve your health and well being with Breathwork
• Oneness Experiential
• Getting the Goods Workshop: Digging in with Twin Cities Indymedia, FOIA & MN Data Practices Act 
• Imagining Revolution
• Introduction to Political Ideologies
• Clases de Yoga
• Basic Bike Maintenance at Sibley Bike Depot
• Complete Overhaul Bicycle Repair at the Sibley Bike Depot
• Collective Home Buying Workshop
• From Abbie Hoffman to Reverend Billy: History, Practice and Pedagogy of Culture Jamming
• What's Your Story? Citizen Journalism 101
• Poetic Meditation

EXCO Presents:

A Conversation about Privilege, Access, and Education--Creating Community-Owned Infrastructure for Free Education in Cedar Riverside

When: Monday, March 8th, 7pm to 8pm
Where: Coffman Memorial Union Room 326
(light refreshments will be provided)



As you may know, the Experimental College (EXCO) chapter at the U of M has been meeting and developing

relationships with community members in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in an effort to lay the groundwork for the

co-creation of a community-owned infrastructure for free education in Cedar Riverside. 



In an effort to keep the process moving forward, open ourselves up for criticism, and get advice in the visioning

and shaping of this project, EXCO is organizing a meeting among fellow students, student organizations, and others

at the U of M or Augsburg that might have (or would like to have) a stake in this process.



Please join us to contribute your thoughts to this discussion and learn more about EXCO, the details, structure and

time line of the Cedar Riverside initiative and how you or your organization can help develop and shape this

project.



Please forward this information widely! We encourage you to invite others who you think might be interested in this

initiative. All are welcome!



End of Season Celebration

Saturday April 24, 2010



If you'd like to exercise your planning muscles by helping out with this sure-to-be fantastic event, please contact Erin at erin.l.dyke@gmail.com or 815.302.2481

Save the date and stay tuned for more exciting details...




Do you like to par-tay?

You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!



There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!



Haiti Benefit Concert

March 12, 2010, 7:00pm at the Fallout Urban Art Center
2609 S. Stevens Ave.


Come out and support aid efforts for Haiti. Art will be available for purchase. The Mumble Bugs and Citizen Mpls. are scheduled to play. More bands and DJ's will be announced.



Thoughts on EXCO - by Tshisuaka



It's a place where knowledge and skills are acquired.  This is about where the similarities end between the Experimental College of the Twin Cities  and formal centers of education.



For centuries knowledge has been at best a privilege and at worst a weapon jealously guarded by those in positions to share or hoard what is, in my opinion, every person's right.



Many struggles and difficult questions are trademarks of any new idea when it's put into practice, and EXCO is no different. Being structured in an anti-hierarchical format is very new and sometimes even strange to lots of people, but the typical new student of EXCO soon will find themselves feeling right at home.



A wide, wide variety of classes are offered through EXCO by a wide variety of individuals.  From professionals who are regarded as experts in their respective fields to the savvy self taught amatuer who's education has never been affected by financial influence - there's surely something for any and everyone at EXCO.  Anyone can take or teach a class, and all classes are free!



Because of the hard work of organizers, facilitators, and participants , EXCO helps to provide the conditions for free, community-led education.  Why?  Because wanting to help move society forward can be more than just a nice sounding idea.



To find out more about the EXCO please visit http://www.excotc.org

Please send April newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by April 1.

Hope to see you soon!
Erin and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Register for an EXCO class today!
www.excotc.org/classes

Check the website and see the attached brochure for the list of over 50 classes and workshops running this winter and spring.  Help us spread the word!  Tell your friends, family, and coworkers about the variety of classes available and please share the attached poster and brochure.

To register for a class, contact the facilitators by phone or email or register online. To register online you need to sign-in or create a username on the website. Then, go to www.excotc.org/classes and click "Join" to register.

1st Seasonal EXCO Phone-a-thon!
Saturday, February 6th, 5-9pm
2620 30th Ave S. Minneapolis

Want to do your part to help make EXCO classes a success? Come to the 1st ever EXCO Phone-a-thon this Saturday to remind people that classes are starting up. EXCO is no bigger than its community so if you like EXCO and can make it, make it!  We are having food so do let us know: Erin erin.l.dyke@gmail.com, 815-302-2481. See you this Saturday at 2620 30th Ave S, Minneapolis!
 

Exco Winter Carnival
Saturday, February 13, 1-4pm
Aldine Park 1717 Iglehart Ave. St. Paul

The Experimental College of the Twin Cities will be kicking off its Spring 2010 session in winter-y style, Saturday February 13th from 1-4pm at Aldine Park in St. Paul (Poor weather location: Hamline Midway Library 1558 Minnehaha Avenue W. St Paul).  The "Winter Carnival" will feature "fancy" hot drinks, urban winter survival skills, hockey lessons and games, food, arts and crafts, a medallion hunt, and the chance to learn about EXCO's spring classes!  Bring old winter clothing to participate in the clothes swap.  Near 21, 84, 16, 94 bus lines.  All are welcome!

Do you like to par-tay?
You might be just the one to help organize EXCO’s June benefit.  We need to find a great space where bands can play and artists can set up and display their work.  We will work together to plan and execute a fundraising event for EXCO that makes for one heck of a party.  Raise money, raise awareness and raise the roof (literally and figuratively)!

There is a lot to discuss about the nature of this party and what kinds of activities we would like to see happen there and for whom.  Those of us who put this end of Spring/beginning of Summer benefit together will be the lucky ones because the process of developing this magnificent event will be a party all in itself. If you’re ready to get down, contact Angie at anjee.mai@gmail.com !!
 

State of Emergency in South Dakota—Please support your Dakota Neighbors 
Severe and bitter winter storms knocked out an already shaky resource infrastructure. The bulk of those most affected by the storm—with loss of heat, drinking water, propane and other resources—are located on reservations in Pine Ridge, Standing Rock, Eagle Butte and others. Electricity has been out for five days (since Friday). Crews are working feverishly, but it may be out for up to 30 days in some areas. With no electricity, no heat, no running water, and a wind chill below zero the situation is growing more difficult."

Donations of clothing, staples, and money are all greatly needed and appreciated. Go here to donate or for more information: http://www.pathwaystospirit.org/start.html

Please send March newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by March 1.

Hope to see you soon!
Callie and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Spring class applications due January 18
Share your feedback
Website update
Winter Carnival skillshare opportunity
Help Save MCTC’s EXCO!
Beneath the University, the Commons
Thoughts on Education: Education for Transformation
Upcoming events

Spring class applications due January 18
Every Exco session brings something new!  Share your expertise or explore new ideas by creating your own Exco class this spring.  Apply online at http://www.excotc.org/create_class.  Exco has also started the creation of community workshops. Workshops are akin to classes, but are usually one-time events that people can RSVP to. Workshops must be free, open, and educational in nature -- and anyone can create them. Check it out! http://www.excotc.org/workshops

Share your feedback
Please take a few moments to give us feedback and share your Exco experience.  Let us know what you liked and didn't like, what we could do better next time, and what you'd love to see happen in the future! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR28V75

Website update
The Exco website is on it's way to becoming a great tool for community building, brainstorming and organizing.  If you have suggestions about things you would like to see on the website to make it more user-friendly, please share that feedback!  If you are a developer who is interested in helping us bring our website to the next level, we need you!  Contact excotc@gmail.com

Winter Carnival skillshare opportunity
On the afternoon of February 13 the Exco community (that means you!) will be celebrating the newest round of classes with our very own Winter Carnival.  We are still in need of more activities for the day.  This is a perfect opportunity for you to lead a short skill share or discussion. Skill shares could be anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour long on any subject, just keep in mind that the event will be held outdoors.  Do you have something you could share? Contact excotc@gmail.com.

Help Save MCTC’s EXCO!
This last Fall saw a new organizing group start at MCTC (Minneapolis Community and Technical College), a student organization was continued, and people were excited to build a strong center for free education at the most diverse school in Minnesota. Unfortunately, the project failed to find sufficient traction and has since collapsed. Do you go to MCTC? Do you know people who go to MCTC? Do you live in the neighborhood? Are you willing to step up and help make an EXCO Organizing Group happen there? If so, we can expect it to work, if not we are grateful for the experiences we have had but goodbye MCTC EXCO, at least for now. Please contact David at dboehnke@gmail.com or call 651-315-4222 if you are willing to step up and make EXCO happen at MCTC.

Beneath the University, the Commons
A conference at the University of Minnesota, April 8-11, 2010. 

“Beneath the University, the Commons” builds on the work accomplished by activists, organizers, artists, and academics at the “Re-thinking” and “Re-working” the University Conferences of 2008 and 2009 (www.reworkingtheu.org), while expanding the scope of our discussions and bringing together more international scholars in order to address an increasingly volatile global situation.  Our goal is to aggregate and accelerate our knowledge of university conditions and our collective acts of resistance to them, including alternative forms of engaging with each other and with the world.  To this end, the 2010 conference will draw together a diverse set of people committed to exploring how we can understand, create, and experiment with the commons beneath the university.  Our questions include but are not limited to:

• How do we create and sustain occupations of the university, not only in the spectacular times of mass demonstrations, but everyday and across all of its spaces?
• How can we maintain subversive positions as actors within the university without becoming parts of the university’s corporate institution?
• How can unionization projects and student movements learn from and collaborate with one another?
• How do we deal with the tensions between the stability of our projects and their transformative effectiveness?
• How do we open up sustainable and livable spaces for radical research, education, and scholarship without feeling overwhelmed by the pressures to speed up in our precarious working positions??
• How can we collaboratively map and share research, information, tactics, and cultures?
• In recognition that our conditions are a part of a larger set of global occupations and injustices, how do we link with social movements outside of and across the university?
• How can we link struggles against the corporatization and institutional racism of the University of Minnesota, with struggles against segregation, racism, and xenophobia in the surrounding metropolitan area?

This four-day event will consist of two days of conference sessions bracketed by two days of workshops, writing collaborations, skill
shares, and plenty of time for sustained conversations among participants.  We are accepting proposals both for formal papers and for non-conventional forms of participation.  Deadline for proposals is February 1. For more info, see http://beneaththeu.org.

Thoughts on Education: Education for Transformation 
Paolo Freire, a philosopher and practitioner of education, melded transformative theories of education with powerful actions of liberation in Brazil and greatly influenced change within many other communities of the Global South. He helped to form a foundation on which radical education movements have developed, and encouraged us to keep these larger questions in mind: What is the purpose of education? Who does education benefit? How does education take place? Freire understands the responsibility of education as the development of conscientizaçāo (critical consciousness) or “learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality”.¹

EXCO brings together a community of people that see education, not solely as the credential-building, status quo-keeping, tool for the maintenance of the hierarchical labor economy, but as a Frierian process of critical dialogue, community-building, and critical consciousness-raising. Education’s inherent role in the world is to catalyze change, in its many manifestations. Regardless of the topic of the course, our EXCO community challenges the notion that education is the uncritical banking of concepts or facts, but understands it to be a process that builds relationships and community, builds our identities, and, at its root, humanizes us. 
1.  Freire, Paolo. 1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, p. 35

Upcoming events
January 18: Application deadline
January 30: Facilitator forum
February 4: Alternate facilitator forum
February 13: Winter Carnival
February 22: Winter/spring session begins!

Send February newsletter submissions to excotc@gmail.com by February 1.

Sincerely,
Callie and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Teach a class this Spring
We want your 2 cents
Help Exco grow in Cedar-Riverside
Exco Winter Carnival
Class brainstorm on Exco forums
Upcoming events

Teach a class this Spring
The application deadline for spring classes is January 18.  What are your skills?  What have you learned?  What are you passionate about?  Share it!  Explore a topic with others, invite a friend to teach, or organize a group of people to teach together.  Whatever the format, whatever the subject, Exco is for everyone and everything!  Fill out the application on our website: http://excotc.org/content/facilitate-a-class

We want your 2 cents
Please take a few moments to fill out our Fall 2009 Exco evaluation.  Let us know what you liked and didn't like, what we could do better next time, and what you'd love to see happen in the future!  Help us make EXCO better! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MR28V75

Help Exco grow in Cedar-Riverside
There is an exciting new initiative to build Exco's presence in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood.  We are bringing a number of organizations and partners to the table to make this happen and we need your help!  Contact excotc@gmail.com to get involved.

Exco Winter Carnival
Save the date: February 13!  We're planning a day of winter skill shares and activities to celebrate the winter and the start of the new session of Exco classes.  Do you have something you could share?  Think along the lines of a winter clothing swap, medallion hunt, ice hockey, winter survival skill share, winter biking skill share, etc.  Are you a snow sculptor, expert snowball thrower, love to make snow angels?  Come and share your winter talents, whatever they may be!  Contact excotc@gmail.com to propose your ideas.

Class brainstorm on Exco forums
Could you teach or do you know someone who could teach a class on the history of community gardening/farming or auto maintenance?  These classes have been proposed on the Exco forums, but need someone to teach them!  Login to www.excotc.org and post on the forums to join the discussion and propose the classes that you'd like to see this spring.  

Upcoming events:

• December 18, 4:30-6:30pm: Join us to put up flyers in St. Paul.  Meet at Macalester College Campus Center (1600 Grand Ave. St. Paul, 55105) at 4:30pm
• January 18: Application deadline
• January 30: Facilitator forum
• February 4: Alternate facilitator forum
• February 13: Winter Carnival
• February 22: Winter/spring session begins!

Thanks for reading.  Happy holidays!
Callie and the Exco organizing team

Experimental College of the Twin Cities
Where everyone can teach and take classes, and all are free!
excotc@gmail.com | www.excotc.org | (651) 998-9268

Reminder!

EXCO is launching a Wellness Core, THIS FRIDAY a place for people passionate about
mental, physical, and spiritual wellness practice to come together to request, design, and/or
generally support the creation of amazing Wellness Curriculum through EXCO.

Interested in being involved? Come to the EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff, Friday November 13th,
6-8pm at MCTC in room H-1200 (in the Helland Center). There will be food so please RSVP!

This is a great opportunity to meet other folks interested in wellness, and to support EXCO's
offering amazing wellness classes for various Twin Cities communities.

*EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff*

When: Friday November 13th
Where: MCTC room H-1200 (1501 Hennepin Ave in Minneapolis)
Bring: Ideas, business cards, and friends interested in wellness!

Help EXCO, meet other people interested in Wellness, etc. RSVP or send questions to
Tess Galati at tessgalati@gmail.com or to David at 651-315-4222. You can also RSVP
on our website: www.excotc.org/content/exco-wellness-core-kick-off 

Also, in case you are forwarding this on, EXCO is a free experimental college
dedicated to transforming education on the principal that everyone can teach or
take classes and all classes are free. We offer 40+ free and open classes each
season and are an all volunteer run nonprofit organization in the Twin Cities.

Learn more or get involved at www.EXCOtc.org

EXCO (the Experimental College of the Twin Cities) is launching a Wellness Core,
a place for people passionate about mental, physical, and spiritual wellness practice
to come together to request, design, and/or generally support the creation of amazing
Wellness Curriculum through EXCO.

Interested in being involved? Come to the EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff, Friday November 13th,
6-8pm at MCTC in room H-1200 (in the Helland Center). There will be food so please RSVP!

This is a great opportunity to meet other folks interested in wellness, and to support EXCO's
offering amazing wellness classes for various Twin Cities communities.

*EXCO Wellness Core Kickoff*

When: Friday November 13th
Where: MCTC room H-1200 (1501 Hennepin Ave in Minneapolis)
Bring: Ideas, business cards, and friends interested in wellness!

Help EXCO, meet other people interested in Wellness, etc. RSVP or send questions to
Tess Galati at tessgalati@gmail.com or to David at 651-315-4222. You can also RSVP
on our website: www.excotc.org/content/exco-wellness-core-kick-off 

Also, in case you are forwarding this on, EXCO is a free experimental college
dedicated to transforming education on the principal that everyone can teach or
take classes and all classes are free. We offer 40+ free and open classes each
season and are an all volunteer run nonprofit organization in the Twin Cities.

Learn more or get involved at www.EXCOtc.org

• EXCO Reflection Brunch
• Green Tomato Cook-off
• One last chance to sign up for EXCO classes this fall
• Education as it is/should be discussion
• MCTC Chapter Class Creation Event
• EXCO Wellness Core Kick-Off Event
• Interview with EXCO facilitator Ray Tricomo
• EXCO featured on MPR NewsQ!

EXCO Reflection Brunch
October 24, Noon – 2pm
Brian Coyle Community Center
420 15th Avenue S. Minneapolis, MN  55454  

Come eat brunch with other EXCO people!  Bring
your thoughts on EXCO: what you like, what you would improve, and ideas
about how to make EXCO the best it can be!  EXCO is an all volunteer run
organization so it can't happen without the participation of folks like
you.

Planning on attending? Let us know by 10-21 so we can get the right amount of food! Questions? Contact Callie crecknagel@gmail.com or David 651-315-4222.

Green Tomato Cook-off
October 15, 6-8pm

St. Paul’s Lutheran Church

2742 15th Ave South, Minneapolis

Free Event with Gardening Matters and EXCO! Bring a dish for the contest or just show up and eat – ALL ARE WELCOME.
EXCO Skillshare: Learn how to fry green tomatoes with Dan Reddan at 5:30pm.  Contest food entries must be received by 6:15PM. Compete for 3 category
prizes: Savory, Sweets and Sauces/Condiments.

To volunteer and for more info, contact Claudia at cpslovac@msn.com or 612-871-0910. Sponsored by Philips Neighborhood Community Gardens

One last chance to sign up for EXCO classes this fall:
Check out these classes on the website today!
Designing for a Changing Future: Economic Stability Through Local Interdependence
Movies: Cultural Enrichment or Co-Dependence?
Indegenous Imperative
The Richest Man in Babylon: A Study in Personal Finance
The Communist Manifesto, by Karl Marx&Frederick Engels
Liderazgo Transformativo
Klezmer Music Ensemble
Yoga para Mujeres
Interpretative Dance

Education as it is/should be discussion
Tuesday, October 20th, 5-7pm
MCTC, H0150
All are welcome!

MCTC Chapter Class Creation Event
Tuesday, November 10th,
5-7pm
MCTC, H0150
All are welcome, come generate class ideas for the spring session!

EXCO Wellness Core Kick-Off Event
Friday, November
13th 6-9pm
MCTC, place TBA

The first ever such gathering and will include a brief
workshop by a Sufi Healer. Interested in wellness of all
kinds?--alternative health, healing, spiritual practices, exercise,
etc!--this is the place for you. We are creating a class creation unit
to bring people together around these common interests and share skills
with our communities. Contact tess.galati@gmail.com with questions or
to get involved.

Want to create your own class creation event by movement, community or
common interest? Contact dboehnke@gmail.com or call David at
651-315-4222

EXCO featured on MPR NewsQ!
The story can be found at the link below:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/16/exco-experimental-college/

Thanks for reading!  We hope to see you soon.

Callie and the EXCO Organizing Team

www.excotc.org | excotc@gmail.com | 651-696-8010