Tom Brenneman Archives - EMU News

‘Restorative justice on two wheels’: young bike mechanics learn and grow through Gift & Thrift program

David Brennan — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 21:09:24 +0000

Witness this office meeting space turn into something different, a bit like Bruce Wayne’s Bat Cave: The wide boardroom table slides out of the way, the wall tapestries roll up to reveal pegboards filled with bicycle repair tools. Suddenly, a bike shop is born. But this isn’t just any bike shop. It’s a bike shop with a mission, as befits the people and their values who use the administrative space during the day.

You’ll find this magical re-tooled space in the administrative offices of , a Harrisonburg thrift store whose proceeds support the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC).

The (L)earn-a-Bike program was founded this past year by a contingent of ��ݮ�� alumni and campus community members as an alternative means for juvenile offenders to serve court-appointed community service hours.

Ben Bailey, a 2012 graduate who works at ��ݮ�� in the applied social sciences department, is a co-founder and instructor with the program.

’12, who co-founded the program with Gift & Thrift manager Deb King ‘77, describes its simple, but powerful premise: The teenagers—most are middle- and high-school-aged—are given a used, donated bicycle. They then strip all tparts from its frame and put them in a basket. In two-hour increments over the next eight weeks, under the guidance of an instructor, the kids service the parts and rebuild the bicycle, which they are allowed to keep once they have completed the course.

Yes, it might seem simple, but in the steps of rebuilding a bicycle arise opportunities for challenge, frustration and collaboration – the process nurtures personal growth.

“The kids that come through our program are often those who haven’t found success in the traditional classroom setting,” said Bailey.

He sees (L)earn-a-Bike as a safe space where participants can explore different kinds of learning, build self-confidence and experience the mentorship of positive role-modeling.

“This is a place where whoever comes can step into positivity,” said Bailey.

And then there is the work itself. Tom Brenneman ‘92 was working as an early intervention officer with the Rockingham County courts when he began the conversation about a bicycle-related community service program based on his experience with similar programs, such as the Zuni Avenue Bike Club in Tucson, Arizona. Brenneman thinks there is a tremendous amount of healing to be found in such tangible, hands-on work.

The program is young; the first participant began coursework in May 2015 and graduated in June. With 22 teenagers already having completed the program since then, and plans of having engaged 40 youth by June 2016, the community impacts could be significant.

“Wrenches, grease, gears and a spirit of welcome,” Brenneman said when describing the program. “It’s like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance for kids.” [For those who aren’t familiar with this influential work of philosophy, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, published in 1974 by Robert M. Pirsig, explores, through a father-son trip on a temperamental motorcycle, the themes of work, values and the analytic/creative ways of thinking.)

Riding together

Gift & Thrift may not seem like the obvious place for a program like (L)earn-a-Bike to set up shop, but King, who oversees all the charitable operations housed in the Park View shopping center close to the EMU campus, sees (L)earn-a-Bike slotting neatly into the non-profit’s mission. The thrift store has a long history of hosting young people and adults looking for a place to complete court-mandated volunteer hours.

“We had been having conversations among ourselves and with people in the community regarding how to better utilize what we have going here,” said King. “We know that we offer informal mentoring and training when volunteers come to work for us. But what would it look like if we were to formalize that experience, gear it toward a specific segment of the population, and focus on a tangible skill set, all the while offering a safe setting where healthy relationships are nurtured?”

With that vision, (L)earn-a-Bike has partnered with the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) through the Virginia Juvenile Community Crime Control Act (VJCCCA), a grant-funded program aimed at stemming the tide of youth falling into the juvenile detention system through a focus on community service- based sentencing. Celeste Williams, who oversees the VJCCCA in Harrisonburg, said the excitement about such programs is palpable.

Members of the board include many with ��ݮ�� connections. Back row: Peter Dula, professor of Bible and religion, Tom Brenneman ’92, and Deb King ’77, manager of Gift & Thrift, where the program is housed. Front row: Nathan Zook Barge and Ben Bailey ’12, who also works at EMU. Not present: Eric Saner.

“Kids who went through this program reported having learned more about themselves, and felt more proud of themselves than those who filled more traditional community service roles,” she said, adding that the potential for programs such as (L)earn-a-Bike is exponential. “We don’t need much money to start programs like this. We just need a few excited people.”

EMU has been a source of several of those people. Bailey, the office coordinator for the department, is an active cyclist and advisor to the EMU . Eric Saner, husband of professor , serves as an instructor (community member Matt Hassman also instructs). The program’s advisory team is comprised of Bailey, King, Brenneman, student Matt Swartzendruber, Nathan Zook Barge ‘84, MA (conflict transformation) ’99, and professor of Bible and religion ’92.

Contributions helpful

The group continues to explore funding options. While (L)earn-a-Bike receives funding from the DJJ for each participant who completes the course, the amount remains inadequate to provide quality programming, so charitable contributions currently bridge the budgetary gap. , the Voluntary Gas Tax, and local individuals have thus far made donations. [Information about how to contribute is at the end of this article.]

Other non-monetary contributions have been just as valuable to the program’s success. Local business has donated a wide range of quality bike parts they weren’t able to sell through their EBay site. The City of Harrisonburg provided a grant to purchase tools, and will soon be delivering a donated barn.

“Storing our inventory has been a problem,” said Bailey, “so we’re really looking forward to having space outside of our workshop.”

The goal, Bailey notes, is to create a program that sustains itself through services provided the community—like bicycle classes offered to the public. So eventually the best way to support (L)earn-a-Bike will be by enrolling in a class.

Pedaling forward

Bailey says the program is gaining traction in the community and local courts, with several teens who had stolen bicycles being appointed directly to (L)earn-a-Bike by the judge overseeing their cases. But he envisions the program as more than a place to fulfill community service requirements.

“I won’t be satisfied until we have a space that’s open to everyone,” he said, citing an increasing interest and demand for affordable bicycles throughout the area.

King agrees. “We see this program ultimately as a destination for getting people together to be a community together,” she said. “By leveraging the non-profit service model that Gift & Thrift provides, we hope to be able to meet tangible goods and service needs in a way that’s accessible to people on the margins.”

For the moment, though, Bailey and King are focused on building a creative and compelling alternative for court-appointed volunteers, one in which the hard work of self-reflection and tangible reward of a job well-done go hand in hand. As Brenneman noted, “That’s a good start to restorative justice on two wheels.”

To contribute

Contact Deb King at 540-746-8547, ext. 103, or mail checks made out to Gift & Thrift with “(L)earn a Bike program” in the memo line.

Contingent of EMU educators to present at annual Peace and Justice Studies Conference in Harrisonburg

Lauren Jefferson — Tue, 06 Oct 2015 12:25:27 +0000

As peace and justice studies educators from around the country converge on James Madison University for the Oct. 15-17 , a large contingent of faculty and alumni of ��ݮ�� (EMU) are in final preparations. Professor offers a keynote address and more than 20 ��ݮ�� other faculty and alumni are also slated to present or speak on panels.

The conference is hosted by the (PJSA), dedicated to bringing together academics, K-12 teachers, and grassroots activists to explore alternatives to violence and share visions and strategies for peacebuilding, social justice and social change.

“PJSA is an important bi-national alliance for peacebuilding research, scholarship, training and activism,” says , executive director of ��ѱ�’s . “It is a great honor that so many CJP and EMU faculty, staff and graduates will be featured in prominent conference roles this year, and allows a rare opportunity to highlight our distinctive contributions to the peacebuilding field.”

Those “distinctive contributions” include both conceptual and practical dimensions to the fields of , , , peace and justice studies pedagogy and the pedagogy of practice within the field, experiential education, reflective pedagogy and the arts and peacebuilding.

Catherine Barnes offers keynote address

Dr. Catherine Barnes, affiliate professor at CJP, will share from more than 30 years of experience working with deliberative dialogue processes in places as varied as the UN General Assembly Hall to village gathering places. Her address is titled “Engaging together: exploring deliberative dialogue as a path towards systemic transformation.”

“Deliberative dialogue” is a process that can empower participants to foster collaborative relationships and perceive the underlying mental models that maintain the status quo with the goal of fostering new approaches to complex challenges.

For the past seven years, Barnes has been working in support of transitional processes in Burma/Myanmar. She has worked and lived in more than 30 countries as a teacher, trainer, researcher, policy advocate and consultant with the focus of helping civil society activists, diplomats and politicians, and armed groups to build their capacities for preventing violence and using conflict as an opportunity for addressing the underlying causes giving rise to grievance. Barnes has worked with numerous peacebuilding and human rights organizations, including Conciliation Resources and Minority Rights Group International.

Focusing on education

Professor Gloria Rhodes interacts with graduate students at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding. (Photo by Michael Sheeler)

��ѱ�’s on peace and justice guides its educators, many of whom are sharing their pedagogical practices and discussing ways to educate future peacebuilders in the “educator’s strand,” designed for personal and professional development of K-12 teachers, undergraduate and community educators. Themes include pedagogy, curriculum development, building a culture of peace in your classroom or school, alternative education programs, and restorative practices.

On the undergraduate level, professor , who leads the in the department of applied social sciences, leads a roundtable discussion for faculty and administrators of peace and justice studies programs.

, the with CJP’s , joins professor and graduate students in a session on mentoring student peacebuilders and the importance of those mentors being experienced practitioners themselves.

Restorative practices are highlighted by professors and in a “relational justice” workshop on how mindful teachers can prepare and prime “their best selves” in preparation for inviting students into models of restorative justice. Mullet also joins , professor of education at Bridgewater College, for a workshop on relational literacy in multicultural K-12 classrooms.

Cheree Hammond, professor of counseling, leads educators in a workshop on contemplative pedagogies and the cultivation of a just and peaceful self.

Restorative justice, trauma healing, playback theater featured

Lieutenant Kurt Boshart, of the Harrisonburg Police Department, will participate in a panel about the community’s restorative justice movement. (Photo by Jon Styer)

The conference offers an opportunity to highlight ��ѱ�’s unique peacebuilding initiatives. The brings together practitioners from EMU and JMU, as well as local law enforcement. Collaborators in the initiative will speak: , co-director of the; education professor ; Harrisonburg Police Department lieutenant Kurt Boshart; , restorative justice coordinator at the ; and , director of JMU’s Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices.

Another definitive CJP program, (Strategies for Trauma Awareness and Resilience), will be introduced in a workshop by professor and program director .

troupe co-founders and lead a workshop on playback theater as qualitative research. Vogel is a professor of theater; Foster instructs in the applied social sciences department and with CJP. The applied theater method invites dialogue and healing through community-building, as audience members share stories and watch as they are “played back” on the stage. Among other settings, Inside Out has performed on campus with college students returning from cross-culturals, among international peacebuilders and in workshops for and research about trauma and sexual abuse survivors.

, professor of applied social sciences, speaks about social capital networks as forms of resistance among battered undocumented Latinas, sharing just one strand of a .

, assistant professor of restorative justice and peacebuilding, leads a discussion on the film “Vision is Our Power,” a film about black youth ending violence in all its forms. The documentary was created by four young filmmakers participating in a multi-year arts and leadership Vision to Peace Project led by Turner; the film debuted in 2008 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

And more…

, professor of English, presents on life narratives and identity issues in the Balkans with his wife Daria, a CJP graduate who teaches in the counseling department at JMU. The two lived and taught in the Balkans.

, professor of philosophy and theology, explores the recent work in philosophy and science on theory of emotion.

, a new faculty member coming to EMU next semester after concluding his PhD research at American University, participates several panels, with a diversity of topics including transnational solidarity and police brutality and racism in the contested areas of Palestine and Ferguson, Missouri. Seidel is a board member of PJSA.

Among the alumni presenting: Vesna Hart, Sue Praill and Tom Brenneman join a panel discussion on justice and the nature of human nature. Ted Swartz presents the satire with Tim Ruebke and JMU professor of theater Ingrid DeSanctis.

View the . Registration fees will be covered for attendees from the Shenandoah Valley who are affiliated with or sponsored by Bridgewater College, James Madison University, ��ݮ��, or Mary Baldwin College. For more information, click .

Cooperative by Design peacebuilders committed to helping congregations of all denominations through positive change

Walt Wiltschek — Mon, 05 Oct 2015 17:24:30 +0000

A Mennonite congregation is going through a restructuring process. Its members sense that the 20- and 30-somethings in its community desire a different model for congregational life, but they don’t have a clear plan or vision to make the change. What is the next step?

The answer: (CBD), which describes itself as “a consortium of peacebuilding practitioners, each committed to creating a more just and peaceful world by enabling healthier families, organizations, communities, and societies.” Initially growing out of a network of peacemakers in Arizona in the early 1990s organized by CBD member and ��ݮ�� graduate Tom Brenneman, the consortium today includes ten members, seven of them with EMU connections.

The congregation contacted CBD member , associate professor of organizational studies at ��ѱ�’s (CJP). Brubaker and a recent CJP alumnus facilitated a conversation that led to a vision statement and a plan to move the congregation from a board-commission structure to a more flexible, team-based model. It was unanimously adopted.

Grounded in faith

Church consultations like that one comprise the majority of CBD’s work, but the practitioners’ diverse skills are also applied in a variety of other settings. Their focus areas include change management, strategic planning, congregational revitalization, conflict transformation, mediation, facilitation, coaching and training.

Brubaker says the work is deeply grounded in faith and spirituality.

“To me it is a reflection of God’s desire for a more peaceful and just world,” Brubaker says. “If we can do it congregation by congregation and organization by organization, then we’re participating in God’s vision, even when we’re doing it imperfectly.”

Much of the work comes from referrals, about one a month on average, but CBD recently formalized one relationship when it entered an agreement to partner with the North Carolina-based (CHC) and assist CHC in its work with congregations in Virginia. Particular attention will be given to proactive initiatives that address conflict before it reaches the crisis stage.

“We encourage people to consider consultants at an early entry point of a conflict or strategic planning,” says CBD member , who also serves as university ombudsman for EMU. “We very much encourage people to be open, transparent and involved—including those who may have a contrary vision. Stepping into (conflict) can be a healthy, normal, practical thing.”

‘Holders of the process, not the solution’

Brubaker says he and Reid recently worked with a “Level 5” conflict in a congregation that had let a problem fester too long, as many congregations and other groups do. “One of the toughest I’ve ever done,” he says. “It’s good when congregations are more proactive. It’s so much more effective at the front end.”

The CBD members emphasize that they are not some sort of peacemaking superheroes who can speed in and solve a conflict. They simply provide an outside perspective, help all voices be heard, and give guidance for the way forward. “Reference teams” composed of key stakeholders in the situation at hand are formed to carry out the desired outcome.

“We are holders of the process, not the solution,” says CBD member Roxy Allen Kioko, a graduate of ��ѱ�’s program and instructor with the and in ��ѱ�’s . “A lot of consultants go in and make a recommendation and the congregation is supposed to implement it. But a lot of times it fails because there is no ownership of it. By collaborating with a diverse and well respected team within the congregation, they take ownership. They are involved from day one, from assessment to implementation and follow-up. It’s a unique thing about our model that can hopefully lead to better success.”

Sustainable Food Initiative partners with Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community farm to grow, harvest vegetables

David Brennan — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 13:48:34 +0000

When Tyler Eshleman took the helm of ��ݮ��’s sputtering student-led (SFI) last year, his goals were modest: to return the weed-choked campus gardens to their former glory. Now Eshleman, backed this summer by six work-study students, not only has the gardens brimming with produce, but has expanded SFI beyond campus borders, sharing the group’s mission with a variety of local schools and organizations, including Eastern Mennonite Elementary School and Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community’s Farm at Willow Run.

SFI, who seeks to expand local sustainability and social responsibility in food production, began in 2010 when a concerned group of students witnessed large amounts of unused cafeteria food being thrown away. This led to a food donation program, a campus composting program, the planting of campus vegetable gardens and even a student-run Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which sold produce grown on campus to local buyers. However, when this core group of students graduated, SFI was left a ship with no captain, and its programs quickly fell into disarray.

Eshleman’s vision for the group focuses on longevity. “We are a student club,” the rising senior pointed out, “but have started to work towards being more of a coalition of local organizations and persons, to encourage better practices within our food systems, as well as helping groups fully utilize their own spaces to achieve healthier and more sustainable systems.”

Partnering on and off campus

As many as six students work 6-12 hours a week at the farm, helped by community members.

One key to achieving this longevity is partnering with other campus organizations, such as , the and (ESW), to draw interest and forge common connections. Already this summer ESW helped the SFI crew install solar panels on the campus chicken shed to power the heat lamps that burn throughout the winter months.

“One of our visions for the next year is to share a meal made of locally grown food with as many campus groups as we can,” said Eshleman. “What better way to show people what we do, than through the food itself?”

The group also strives to promote ��ѱ�’s mission of sustainability outside and . “We want to live the way we talk,” said Malachi Bontrager, an major. “SFI is tangible and easy to access. We can fill a need and do so conscientiously.” Such an ethos demonstrates the group’s commitment to building sustainable local communities through dedicated service.

One of SFI’s key partnerships has been with the Farm at Willow Run. The farm, located on Willow Run Road just minutes from campus, is owned by the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC), and was once the property of former EMU president Myron Augsburger and his wife, Esther. Tom Brenneman, the market garden coordinator at VMRC, has been working with VMRC’s dining services director Tobie Bow on a farm-to-table renaissance with the help of SFI students.

Forging real connections

Produce is delivered to Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community for use in its dining services.

Brenneman, a 1992 graduate with a degree in social work, lives at Willow Run and manages the gardens, in addition to his work with court-involved youth in the 26th District court service unit in Harrisonburg. Despite the enormity of the Willow Run project, which is now delivering produce directly to VMRC kitchens from 1.5 acres of cultivated land, Brenneman laughed when thinking back to its humble beginnings.

“I just had all this extra produce,” he said, which he then passed along to his friend and “co-conspirator” Cal Redekop, who in turn shared the produce gratis with fellow residents in Park Village from a stand at the end of his driveway. The fresh produce has been a huge hit over the past four years. Soon a formal conversation began at the invitation of the executive team of VMRC about how local produce might be brought directly into dining services with sourcing from its own land and resources.

The Farm was quickly identified as a viable location, but who would do the work of growing it? Brenneman rallied volunteer support , some with the local network, which encourages community-building through creative skills-sharing. But the project gained steam when the partnership with SFI was formed. With five to six students working three to four days a week for two to three hours a day, Willow Run is now staffed with a consistent and dedicated workforce.

Mentors help with ag-business skills

“Without the labor from SFI, this really couldn’t have happened,” said Redekop, who often works side by side with the students. “The Farm at Willow Run really provides almost unlimited opportunity to bring different generations together around common concerns, like how we raise our food or how we might show better reverence toward the earth.”

“The farm-to-table initiative makes good sense for VMRC,” said Judith Trumbo, VMRC president and CEO. “As an advocate for aging well, VMRC continues to identify ways to help people live healthier lifestyles. We are pleased to have the support of EMU students to make the farm a success.”

Along the way, the members of SFI have learned valuable lessons, not only about large-scale gardening, but also about how to keep their vision afloat. The opportunity to learn from local farmers such as Radell Schrock, a 2001 graduate who operates in Harrisonburg, has given SFI members a clearer sense of the realities of what they are attempting to accomplish.

“Effectively we’re running a small business,” said SFI treasurer and nursing major Abe Thorn. It’s an experience the group will carry with them long after they have left EMU, and a legacy they hope to leave behind for future generations of students.