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Discovery Center
The Discovery Center develops cooperation, creativity, conflict transformation and valuing diversity using the expressive arts. The work is unique in two ways. The emphasis is on personal responsibility and personal discovery. Secondly, the context for this work refers to ourselves as part of the Earth. Programs include keynote speeches at conferences, weekend workshops, school residencies, concerts, community programs including Family Peace Gatherings, the Courage Choir, and a summer day-camp called Journey Camp. There once was a classroom teacher who invented activities to help her students learn to talk out their conflicts and build a strong friendly voice inside themselves. She found out that when they sang together, the group became closer. Whenever she couldn't find a song to express what she wanted to convey, she wrote a new one. The children loved songs with movement and she began creating lively danceable tunes to go with meaningful words. "Discovery" was the name the class gave to their favorite time of day. As they met to work on positive social skills through singing and creative movement, they uncovered the richness of their own imaginations. Other teachers wanted to find out what this teacher and her students had discovered. That was thirty years ago. Since that time, Sarah has crisscrossed the country leading workshops, offering school residencies for students of all ages, giving radio and television interviews, recording over a hundred songs, and performing hundreds of concerts. Central to these experiences have been the heart to heart conversations where she continually learns from other people. What We Discover Together: Peacemaking Skills Gandhi predicted that "Undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence." Sarah believes that all of us make important discoveries as we guide our lives. We may not be fully conscious of what we do and so it is especially powerful to share with each other how we use our hearts in challenging situations. Our Unity We are born with an innate desire to cooperate, resolve conflicts, and include all people. To bring these seeds to fruition, we need help bringing forward the affirming voice inside us and learning how to contradict bias and mistreatment. The expressive arts help us experience our unity. Our Interconnection As we embrace the reality that we are part of the earth, we rediscover our uniqueness as individuals and our ways of belonging as members of interlacing communities. When we sing and dance together we experience our connection. Our Voices We have untapped personal power. We need each other's caring voices in the world. We recommend the full range of Sarah's work: "We have been fans of Sarah for years. When our children were small we took them to her concerts and her songs of caring, cooperation, play and peace became our family's musical sound track. Over the years we've become friends and colleagues with Sarah and we've had the privilege of collaborating with her on events about Grief and Healing, such as a program called "Healing Hearts" sponsored by Baystate Medical Center which was a day-long program of workshops and respite for bereaved families. Sarah's talent as workshop leader is extraordinary. She takes children seriously and children as well as adults love her. She's truly a community builder. I've seen Sarah empower groups of children and teens to quickly discover their common purpose as they create expressive and meaningful songs. Bereavement work, cooperation and peace education are deeply important to Sarah, particularly since her own sister was murdered several years ago. As a cancer survivor herself, Sarah is well-prepared to work with families facing cancer and other illness-related losses. Her advanced skills as a presenter, group facilitator, performer and teacher would truly enrich any program." — Rob and Andrea Zucker, Northampton, MA |
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