The Bellows Institute Organization

The formation of The Bellows Institute combines: (i) research focused on the evolved thinking processes of our next generation; (ii) development of curricula and instructor training based on its research findings; (iii) implementation of such development in the creation of a network of research-guided, integrative, practicum-based Bellows Learning Centers in the American West; and (iv) evaluation to insure that our high school and college-age students are being prepared for creative, productive and responsible participation in, and shaping of, our emerging global society. The Learning Centers, which are in an early stage of development, will provide real-world learning environments in semester, summer and winter intersession terms that will connect with the curricula of high schools, colleges and universities to help round out the academic education student receive in their classroom learning environments.

The Patagonia Learning Center: a borderland learning environment that reflects the stresses of the global economy

Patagonia, Arizona (population 900), at an elevation of 4,050 feet, lies in a narrow valley between the Santa Rita Mountains, which peak at 9,453 feet and the Patagonia Mountains, which peak at 7,221 feet, at the intersection of Harshaw Creek and Sonoita Creek. Patagonia is 18 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border and a fifty-five minute drive south of the Tucson International Airport. Cattle ranching, mining and the railroads have come and gone, leaving Patagonia as a hybrid borderland culture with a population that is over half of Hispanic origin, consisting of shopkeepers, artists, craftspersons, former cowboys, vaqueros, miners and retirees.

The existing facilities of the Patagonia Learning Center include: (i) seminar space and accommodations at the Bellows Institute office and the surrounding Stage Stop Inn in the center of Patagonia; (ii) access to accommodations and seminar space at a fifty-five acre ranch, three miles south of Patagonia; (iii) a ten-acre site with a 1,500 sq.ft. building for student practicums adjacent to the Nogales International Airport; (iv) a 14-passenger van for transportation, and (vii) a Airstream equipment trailer to provide support during field practicums.

Practicum learning opportunities in Patagonia and in the surrounding area include:

The borderland culture of Patagonia; the Elgin, Arizona cattle ranching community; homestays with families on both sides of the border; border construction operations; crossing the border to stay in Altar, Mexico, a major concentration point for undocumented entry to the U.S.; the border factories (maquiladoras) in Mexico; indigenous cultures on both sides of the border; Biosphere 2, the facility that replicates four different geologic regions of the world, managed by University of Arizona; UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, involved in current NASA missions; UA’s Aerodynamics Laboratory, involving Micro-Adaptive Flow Control, an aerodynamic innovation to improve efficiencies of aircraft, ships, and internal flow systems; Intel, Honeywell, and Raytheon for science, math and engineering practicums; UA’s McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship, which has received top awards in 2007 for for-profit and social entrepreneurship programs; The Canelo Project, sustainable housing construction using straw bale materials and techniques, headed by Athena and Bill Steen; Appleton-Whittell Audubon Research Ranch, a nationally known center for environmental education and research, consisting of a 7,000-acre ecological field station dedicated to the preservation and study of southwestern grasslands ecosystems; the nearby San Rafael Valley, a rolling savanna of grass, oak and mesquite—-an ecosystem of great diversity; The Nature Conservancy’s Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve a world-famous riparian habitat and home to 300 bird species; the Smithsonian-sponsored Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory at Mt. Hopkins in the Santa Rita Mountains which is available for astronomy practicums; and use of the Bellows Development Simulator in Patagonia involving student role-plays and debriefings with seasoned instructors in real-world scenarios involving for-profit, non-profit and public organizational dynamics.

Additional practicum learning opportunities are available at organizations to which The Bellows Foundation has provided financial and in-kind support:

San Miguel High School

The Bellows Foundation provided a $10,000 grant to San Miguel High School in south Tucson to support their experiential education initiative. San Miguel is part of the Christo Rey Network aimed at providing a college-bound education for children of families who have earnings at or below 60% of the median income of the surrounding region. The experiential education initiative entails each student devoting one full day a week to working in business enterprises that are partners with San Miguel. The students donate their earnings to help cover the operating costs of San Miguel. The experience gained by the students include taking personal responsibility for their actions, learning about leadership and teamwork, gaining a familiarity with the modern workplace, and bonding with co-workers and their peers.

STEP: Student Expedition Program

The Bellows Foundation is assisting STEP: Student Expedition Program, a Tucson, Arizona-based 501(c)3, which brings STEP’s Alaska Leadership Expedition, involving kayaking treks, to talented, low-income high school students to prepare them for pursuing a college education all the way through to graduation. STEP was $10,400 short in their goal to cover their airfare budget for upcoming treks. Bellows provided $5,000 of matching funds to help close the gap and offered time-tested Bellows-designed marketing materials, as well as carrying out a mailing to promote the fund-raising campaign. The Bellows offices are within STEP’s fund-raising campaign area, and, accordingly, a free biplane ride was offered to any donor who provided $1,000 or more. The biplane is owned by the founder of The Bellows Foundation.

Asociacion de Promotoras de Nogales (APN)

The Bellows Foundation provided a $5,000 grant to Asociacion de Promotoras de Nogales (APN), a Nogales, Arizona-based, bi-national, 501(c)3 non-profit, whose mission is to support and promote the well-being of families and individuals in the Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora communities. Through a variety of educational and preventive programs, this organization is addressing economic, health and social issues faced by residents of this bi-national community.

Constructing Circles of Peace (CCP)

The Bellows Foundation provide furniture, computer equipment, and other material to CCP, a Nogales, Arizona-based non-profit, whose mission is to provide services in domestic abuse situations. Their approach is to use the principles of restorative justice—an emphasis on bringing the family and community together—to heal dysfunctionalities that lead to violent behavior. CCP is at the center of an important research project sponsored by New York University.

KPUP: Patagonia Community Radio

The Bellows Foundation provided $5,000 of matching funds, as well as designing and carrying out a mailing campaign to raise money for KPUP: Patagonia Community Radio, to help close a time-sensitive gap in their fund-raising efforts. Because Bellows was within KPUP’s fund-raising campaign area, a free biplane ride was offered to any donor who provided $2,500 or more. Subsequently the KPUP achieved its funding objective, which included one donation of $2,500.

Comparable practicum learning opportunities are planned for the other prospective Bellows Learning Centers as follows:
The Prospective Boulder Learning Center: a learning environment providing a profound look back at origins; our own and our Earth

Boulder, Utah (population 225) is situated at the 6,700 foot level in the Colorado Plateau/Four Corners region of the American Southwest among some of the most awesome features of the natural world, including the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Capital Reef, Canyonlands, Arches, Canyon de Chelly, and Chaco Canyon. Boulder, a ranching and farm community, rests in a long flat valley surrounded by barren canyon ridgelines. White sandstone ridges mark its edges. Within the town of Boulder is a key practicum site, the Anasazi Indian State Park and Museum, which contains remnants of the largest Anasazi village west of the Colorado River. A small portion of the village has been excavated and is available for study. New excavations are planned. Boulder provides an ideal base for student immersions in indigenous cultures, including the Hopi.

Practicum sites surrounding Boulder: Practicum sites used for student immersions and the source for integrative learning case histories include the Anasazi settlement in Boulder; the surrounding Colorado Plateau/Four Corners national parks; trips to Hopi Mesas and Hopi elder visits to teach about ancestral migrations of the northern clans affiliated with the area; horse treks and wilderness survival experiences; day trips and overnight backpack trips in the Escalante Canyons of the Grand Staircase Escalante Canyons National Monument and the adjoining Dixie National Forest to study Colorado Plateau geology, night practicums in astronomy, archaeoastronomy, and other science practicums, as well as full moon night hikes; trips to prehistoric rock art sites in the Escalante Canyons, Horseshoe Canyon, Capital Reef National Park; day trips to other archaeological sites such as the Lampstand Ruin in the Circle Cliffs; living, working and studying on the Cox Ranch to include farm chores such as moving irrigation pipe, using hand tools, fixing fences, general ranch work; gardening, home canning, and passive solar constructions; sustainable housing construction using straw bale materials and techniques; creative writing.

The Prospective Petersburg Learning Center: a learning environment of Nature’s elements and indigenous cultures

With a permanent population of 3,100 and located in the Inner Passage of Alaska, 120 miles south of Juneau, Petersburg has the dynamics and surroundings to be a unique Learning Center. Large cruise ships cannot negotiate the neighboring channels, which help to preserve Petersburg’s original character. It is the base of a large commercial fishing industry of Norwegian origins and a labor force employed in the canneries. There is the potential for student immersion in the surrounding Tlingit Native American culture. Moreover, kayak treks to observe the humpback whales migrations in Fredericks Sound and the nearby LeConte Glacier offer natural science practicums. The Inner Passage of Alaska contains a temperate rainforest, resulting in lush and exotic vegetation. Wildlife is in abundance: in addition to whales there are black bear, wolves, moose, deer, goats, bald eagles, trumpeter swans, Canadian geese, seals and sea lions. The biodiversity of the Inner Passage is extraordinary.

The Prospective Idyllwild, California Learning Center: a learning environment supporting creative expression

This location, with a population of 3,500, is being considered as a potential Learning Center. It is located in the San Jacinto Mountains, which contain San Jacinto Peak (10,804 ft.), Southern California’s second highest mountain. At an elevation of about 5,300 feet, Idyllwild lies mostly within a high mountain valley bisected by a small year-round stream, Strawberry Creek. The community has been minimally developed over the years and remains a center for hiking, mountain and rock climbing, and horseback riding. The community has been the home for over thirty years of Idyllwild Arts Foundation, formerly known as ISOMATA—Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts—and now known simply as the Idyllwild Arts Academy (IAA). ISOMATA was, at one time, a part of the University of Southern California. This private high school offers young people from across the United States and around the world a myriad of artistic educational experiences in a sleep-away camp-like setting. Students major in music, theatre, dance, visual art, creative writing, moving pictures or interdisciplinary arts. Within the community, there are many art galleries and weekly art events, most featuring local practicing artists. A strong music and local theatre element exists, with various small venues featuring everything from classical music to current popular music and jazz. Normal travel distances and times to the area are approximately 120 miles (two hours) from Los Angeles and San Diego, California.

The Prospective Mimbres, New Mexico Learning Center: a learning environment for considering global sustainability.

A Learning Center to be located in Mimbres, New Mexico, seventy miles from Arizona and seventy miles from Mexico, is our choice to provide an excellent learning environment for practicums in global sustainability. The Mimbres Valley is historically significant because of the Mimbres people who lived there for almost 1,000 years ago and are an enigma to archeologists because one can only speculate about the ultimate fate of the Mimbres culture. This culture was relatively isolated in southwestern New Mexico with areas of influence that extended to eastern Arizona, northwestern Texas and slightly into present day Mexico. Regular contact existed between the Mimbres culture and other contemporaneous Southwestern cultures including the Anasazi, Mogollan Tularosa, Hohokam and the Chichimec. The Mimbres culture reached its zenith about 1050 C.E. in the Mimbres and Gila river valleys located approximately twenty-five east and west of Silver City, New Mexico. Some believe that the collapse of their culture in approximately 1140 C.E. was the result of resource stress and environmental damage caused by overpopulation, together with drought and possible encroachment from the Chichimec Casas Grande power base, 100 miles to the south. Mimbres, New Mexico, with a population of approximately 1,200, lies at an elevation of between five and six thousand feet above sea level. Cook’s Peak is at the 8,400 foot level with surrounding mountains that peak at over 10,000 feet that provide the runoff to the nearby Mimbres River. The area is called high desert. Nights are cool, even in the summer, days are usually warm, even in the winter. Rainfall averages about fifteen inches per year, and most days are at least partly sunny.

The Prospective Rwanda Learning Center (in the early planning stage)