News Release: Something Unusual Happening in D.C. December 16
New Non-Profit Launches Creative Form of Public Education in the Streets of Washington D.C.
Contact:
Paul Lachelier, Founder, Learning Life. Cell: 617-905-5353. Email: paul@learninglife.info.
What:
On one day, Learning Life, a new and unusual educational non-profit, will be carrying out a creative series of events in the streets of Washington D.C. Learning Life will be performing street theater and distributing 10,000 corresponding interactive napkins (see adjoining image of the napkin) in restaurants at several high-traffic pedestrian locations in D.C. in order to promote public education about American political history, and particularly the presidency of John F. Kennedy in light of the 50th anniversary of his assassination this year.
This unusual project is a partnership between Learning Life and The Newseum. It is the first such initiative Learning Life is carrying out in the D.C. metro area, representing a new approach to public education, with more to come in 2014.
When & Where:
Monday, December 16, 11am-8pm in Dupont Circle, Union Station, Chinatown and Georgetown. See below for more precise schedule and locations.
Napkin Distribution Schedule:
Note: Times may change somewhat depending on traffic and other factors. Call Learning Life founder, Paul Lachelier, on his cell (number noted above) for more precise times on Monday December 16.
Napkin Distribution Schedule
11am: Chinatown-Penn Quarter
12pm: Adams Morgan
12:45: Dupont Circle
1:30: Georgetown
Street Theater Schedule
4:00-4:30pm: Dupont Circle Metro major exit on Connecticut Ave
5:00-5:30: Union Station main entrance/exit area
6:00-6:45: Chinatown Metro, performing at two exits on 7th St NW, one after the other
7:15-7:45: Georgetown, intersection of M St & Wisconsin Ave
Intern Spotlight: Anjali Jacob
One of our pleasures at Learning Life is discovering the talents of the people who volunteer and intern with us. This past summer, we happily discovered the artistic talents of one of our interns, Anjali Jacob.
Anjali is currently in her sophomore year as a psychology major at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. An honor roll student and National Honor Society member as a student at Chantilly High School in Chantilly, Virginia, Anjali was awarded a Presidential Scholarship to attend Marymount.
Given a keen interest in the arts and letters, Anjali writes both poetry and prose, blogs on current events and social issues, does photography, sings, and plays guitar and piano (the latter for 12 years now). In 2011-12, in her high school senior year, Anjali became art editor and manager for her high school’s literary magazine in the 2011-12 academic year. That same year, the magazine won a Columbia Scholastic Press Association award and first place in the magazine division for the Virginia High School League’s annual publication awards.
Anjali started her internship with Learning Life by gathering university contacts, and researching and writing up facts for website and social media distribution. But we soon discovered Anjali’s artistic talents when she used Photoshop to begin producing art work to accompany some of the facts we distribute – the combination of which our interns called “instafacts.” By the end of her internship in August, Anjali had produced 24 instafacts, one of which we display here with her profile. We used her material to launch a page on Pinterest, which you can access here to view all of Anjali’s art work.
Anjali also produced remarkably professional draft t-shirt and napkin designs for funding projects Learning Life is pursuing. As we told Anjali, she has a promising future in design if she wants it.
However, Anjali is keen on going to graduate school after college in order to become a licensed therapist. She aspires to help children suffering from mental and emotional disorders, and has accordingly worked in summer and after-school programs to help children in need.
Asked why she chose to intern with Learning Life, Anjali replies, “I was looking for something that had a platform I could believe in, one that I felt was worth putting time and energy into. After some research, I found that Learning Life seeks to empower people through incidental learning, which is something I believed I could definitely contribute to through visuals and graphics. I’ve always felt that ignorance is much too great a problem amongst both youth and elders today; taking this internship meant that I could actually attempt to do something about it.”
We at Learning Life greatly appreciate Anjali’s distinctive contributions to our organization and wish her the very best in her future. Thanks, Anjali!
To learn more about interning or volunteering with Learning Life and other ways you can help, contact us at email@learninglife.info.
Sponsoring Learning Life
Learning Life’s mission is to inform and empower more people by spreading knowledge on the surfaces of everyday life.
That mission doesn’t happen on its own. It takes sponsors.
Our sponsors are individuals, businesses, governments and non-profits that want to help themselves as well as their communities.
Learning Life approaches sponsorship differently. It’s not a mention in an event program or presentation, or inclusion in a list of sponsors online. We put our sponsors on one side of thousands of paper beverage napkins we print and distribute in restaurants, bars, cafes, ice cream parlors, and other eateries in the Washington D.C. metro area.
Learning Life uses the other side of each napkin to inform and engage metro D.C. residents about the volunteer opportunities and low-cost or free services that local nonprofits provide.
Thus, our sponsors get to promote themselves in an innovative, eye-catching way – on napkins in eateries, where people sit or stand and gaze – while they simultaneously help promote local nonprofits and community learning. And, the sponsorship is fully tax-deductible.
To learn more about sponsoring Learning Life, email me directly at paul@learninglife.info.
News & Photos of Learning Life’s November 7 Launch Party
Learning Life held its launch party on Thursday, November 7, 5:30-8pm, at the Lyceum at 201 S. Washington Street in Alexandria, VA, where Learning Life is based.
In line with our November-December “Buy Local, Learn Local” project promoting learning about Alexandria’s rich history, the event featured:
**An Alexandria history quiz show hosted by the Office of Historic Alexandria’s Director, Lance Mallamo, with prizes
** Learning Life fortune cookies offering not fortunes but Alexandria history questions, with answers at this website
**A scrolling overhead presentation of Alexandria history highlights while live music played during the reception
Caboose Café & Bakery generously served delicious smoked gouda salad, injera bread with spicy lentils, Caesar salad and turkey wraps, a variety of cakes and cookies, and more.
Thanks to all those who came, including Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille, newly elected Commonwealth’s Attorney Bryan Porter, State House Delegate Rob Krupicka, Alexandria Historical Society President Bill Dickinson, representatives from BB&T Bank, TD Bank, School Readiness Consulting, and many others.
Special thanks to our launch party star sponsors, BB&T Bank, TD Bank, School Readiness Consulting, and the Tell Me Town Foundation, as well as our party sponsors Alphagraphics, and SixHalfDozen.
After Learning Life founder, Paul Lachelier, thanked those assembled for coming, Alexandria Historical Society President Bill Dickinson aptly asked, “what’s next for Learning Life?”
In answer, through December 31 of this year, Learning Life is busy implementing its first projects with our partners — the “Buy Local, Learn Local” project with the Office of Historic Alexandria, and our project with D.C.’s Newseum to promote learning about JFK’s presidency.
We will also be offering our holiday smart cookies in vanilla, chocolate and strawberry flavors in a number of Alexandria stores. The cookies will feature Alexandria history facts and questions, leading to more learning at this website. Stay tuned for more about our JFK project, plus our smart cookies and locations offering them!
In 2014, Learning Life aims to work on new projects to improve health, civic engagement, financial literacy, and more. Stay tuned for more about these projects as they develop. If you’d like to learn more or get involved in these projects, please contact us at inquiries@letlearninglive.org.
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