Think Creatively!

I recently enjoyed an exclusive tour and luncheon at the home of James and Anne Hubbell. To call the Hubbell’s home unique is an understatement. The property and its structures are a reverence to heaven and nature’s seamless connection. James says, “It is the intertwining of the natural, physical, and spiritual that gives our human story meaning.” Thinking of the creativity, innovation and inspiration (not to mention perspiration) that went into creating this unique property is mind-blowing – truly a feat of courage and perseverance. The couple even dug one of the main buildings’ foundations by hand…not with shovels!

During my visit, I especially loved hearing Anne and James explain how they found the courage to create their beautiful home. Anne said that as a young girl she was inspired by a woman who built her own log cabin. James explained that he had already failed at so many things, he wasn’t afraid to fail at his art and architecture. He said he was never any “good” in school but eventually decided it was the teachers’ problem. What a revelation for a young man to have!

No one would argue that the contributions James Hubbell makes to art, poetry and architecture are anything less than extraordinary, so James’s comment made me wonder why such an obviously gifted and innovative architect and artist “failed” in school (or perceived that he did). I often hear or read that people (like Albert Einstein, Steven Spielberg, Thomas Edison, Lucille Ball, Isaac newton, Michael Jordan and Auguste Rodin) who are recognized for innovative accomplishments did not do “well” in school. And I wonder why. How can educators recognize creative thinking as achievement and success? How can learning environments be designed to “reward” all types of genius?

James Hubbell has “bridged together materials, countries, people and nature, the way water moves.”(1) How can we bridge together art, math, critical thinking and cultural inclusion to allow children to achieve personal and academic success?

Thank you Anne and James for sharing your home and your hearts!

(1) James Hubbell, A View From Above: Thoughts about San Diego and the Baja Region. March 2011.

What’s behind door 38?                                                             Hundreds of materials for use in your creative projects!

Recently the Santee School District offered reInterpret a space (Room 38 at the Annex on Magnolia and El Nopal in Santee) to sort, store and display our materials and projects. This wonderful gift has allowed us to provide materials to teachers free of charge! So please contact us when you need interesting and useful materials for your classroom activities. We will be happy to set an appointment for you to collect materials and ideas.

What can children do with all of these rich materials?          
Simply providing an area in the classroom with an organization of open-ended materials like ours provides a valuable opportunity to explore, create, invent, discover and…learn! As students plan, design, layout and build, they experience first hand the properties of the materials and how properties function (or misfunction) as part of the project. Planning and evaluations of the project will exercise language and critical thinking skills. Creating and building will reinforce math and science concepts. Working in groups will enhance social skills. Many points of a conventional curriculum can be reached with reInterpret materials.

Welcome to our new blogsite! Here you will find reflections on  current reInterpret projects. We hope that our documentation will help you discover new ways to use repurposed materials in your classroom. Please feel free to share your challenges and success stories here so we can build a supportive community of creative thinkers!