The Village Project Inc.

About the Organization

The Village Project Inc. is a US based non-profit, non-governmental organization that designs curriculum, works with primary school aged children in after-school and summer camp programs and teaches teachers to work with students on projects that involve the participants in democratic self-government and in building communities. Our work is inspired by the Village experiments of Cornelia Iselin

Our Mission
The Village Project believes that in the modern world, all children need to learn how to build societies. In traditional societies, community and the role of the individual within it are defined, but in a culture of constant change, both human and technological, these definitions no longer work. In a world of change, children need to learn not any one answer but ways of finding new answers and redefining society. Every child needs to learn how to create communities and how to find his or her place within it. The Village Project aims to empower primary school children as individuals, to give them a better understanding of community, and to help them learn how to build a world they wish to live in.

Our Activities
In the United States, The Village Project Inc. is primarily involved in directly providing programs for youth. We use the Village curriculum both as an enrichment activity during the school day and as an educational extended-day activity.

The Village Project Inc. organizes seminars for teachers. Over the course of our 10 day seminars, which are conducted in English, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian and/or in Polish, a group of 12 to 16 teachers takes part in the building of a town in much the same way as students do. The participants complete the workshop with the "lived experience" of the curriculum and fully prepared for the challenging but rewarding job of offering this experience to students in their schools.

Recent Projects


2005-2006	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Serbia, Slovakia and Poland

2004-2005	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Serbia, Slovakia and Poland ("Chickenogrod")

2003-2004	After-school Village programs Madison, Wisconsin ("Upside Over" and "New Azerbaijan")
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Serbia, Slovakia and Poland

2002-2003	After-school Village programs in Serbia (8 peep towns) and Madison, Wisconsin ("Pobri")
	OngoingVillage programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland and Slovakia
	July 2002 - SerbianTeachersVillage Workshop in Vrnjacka Banja, Yugoslavia

2001-2001	Curriculum development and adaptation in Belgrade, Serbia
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland and Slovakia
	August 2001 - Slovak Village Summer Camp ("Tabor Village III") in Presov, Slovakia
	August 2001 - Slovak Teacher Workshop in Presov, Slovakia

2000-2001	After-school Village program ("Vistula") in Madison, Wisconsin
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland and Slovakia
	July 2000 - Polish-Slovak Village Teacher Workshop in Demjata, Slovakia
	February 2000 - French-Polish-Czech Teacher Workshop in Wojtowice, Poland in cooperation with "Zdanie"

1999-2000	After-school Village program in Madison, Wisconsin
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland and Slovakia
	July-August 1999 - International Village Educators Conference ("Konferencja 99") in Rytro, Poland
	July-August 1999 - Polish-Slovak Village Summer Camp ("Tabor Village II") in Rytro, Poland
	July 1999 - Polish-Czech-Slovak Teacher Workshop in Wojtowice, Poland in cooperation with "Zdanie"

1998-1999	After-school and in-school Village programs (8 peep towns) in New York City and Madison, Wisconsin.
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland
	August 1998 - Village Summer Camp in Pozega, Yugoslavia, organized by D.R. - O.K.
	July-August 1998 - Polish-Slovak Village Summer Camp ("TaborVillage") in Lesnica, Slovakia, organized in cooperation with MTO.
	July 1998 - International teacher workshop in Nowy Sacz, Poland in cooperation with MTO.

1997-1998	After-school and in-school Village programs (6 peep towns) in New York City
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland
	August 1997 - Teacher workshop in Bobowa, Poland in cooperation with MTO.

1996-1997	After-school Village programs (2 peep towns) New York City
	Ongoing Village programs directed by Village-trained teachers in Poland
	August 1996 - Teacher workshop in Nowy Sacz, Poland in cooperation with Malopolska Towarzystwo Oswiaty (MTO).

1994-1995	Curriculum development and adaptation in Krakow, Poland

For more information please contact

Noah W. Sobe, President or Amy B. Shuffelton, Vice-President.

The Village Project Inc.
1227 West Lunt Ave. #1A
Chicago, IL 60626
USA

Telephone +1 773-262-4551
Email informationvillageproject.org

What is Village? What Are Peeps? - A Short Introduction
Additional Information about the Curriculum | Information on Village in Central Europe
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