When Hank and I were first discussing the ideas behind Marion's Ledge, he told me that one of the sources of inspiration was an early childhood school classroom, especially a Montessori classroom, because of how the space is specifically designed for the enrichment of the students.

Well, this got me curious, so I went the Half-Priced Books and bought myself a book on Montessori education, specifically in the elementary level. The book was Montessori Today by Paula Polk Lillard, and in it she discusses fascets of the Montessori style of teaching of children ages 6-12. Hank was right about Marion's Ledge applying many of the same concepts geared towards adults. I can also see from this book why he believes this is important. I'll explain why in this blog entry.

On Montessori Education

One of the most important aspects of the elementary Montessori education is the classroom which is filled with what is called "Materials". Each Material that is placed in the classroom has a unique purpose and a unique place and is specifically made to give the children a hands on way to learn a concept. Another thing that these Materials are used for is to spark interest in the students to learn more. The kids in the Montessori classroom pursue studies based on their own questions. The teacher is there as a resource and a guide in the ways to find the information that they desire. The teacher is also there to make sure that the child doesn't miss something.

Unlike normal elementary classes, the teacher in Montessori classes don't lecture to the whole class, and they don't make the kids stay quite for large portions of the day. Instead, they will have discussions with small groups of students at a time and they teach the students to respect others by keeping their voices at a reasonable level and picking up after themselves. Conversation between students and collaborative work are encouraged.

Another very unique aspect of the Montessori education is the concept of "going out." This is where students get to leave the classroom and school in order to pursue a certain line of research. For example, if a group of students are studying ancient life, they can organize a trip to the local natural history museum. The materials in the classroom are limited on purpose to encourage the students to go out into society to find the answers that they are looking for. The students must organize these trips on their own, and, unlike a regular school field trip, the whole class doesn't go and the students who do go have a specific goal in mind. The teacher, as part of the materials of the classroom, keeps an up to date reference of the resources that the town offers so that the students can learn about different opportunities to learn.

What an awesome way to learn!! If/when I have kids, they are so totally going to a Montessori school!!!

On Marion's Ledge...

Ok, back on topic. So, how does all this relate to Marion's Ledge? Well, many of the features you see in the Montessori way translates very well into a place like Marion's Ledge even though Marion's Ledge is designed for adults. One of the ways is how methodically the classroom is designed. It is not made to be pretty, it is made so that everything serves a purpose, everything has a goal. Likewise, we are designing Marion's Ledge not for the aesthetics, but for the social interactions and engagement that can happen in such a designed space. For example, instead of small tables that only seat a couple people, we will probably have larger tables. That way people that don't know each other can sit at the same table without feeling like their space is invaded, but by sitting at the same table, there is more possibility for interaction. Now granted, we are not going as far as having "Materials" like in the Montessori classroom where every item is suppose to have a specific goal, but we are designing Marion's Ledge in ways that increase the opportunity for interaction and engagement with others and the place.

Also, Like such a Montessori classroom, Marion's Ledge not only wants to engage people that come in, but also to act as a resource that sends people out. We want to keep people up to date on things happening around Houston that they may not have heard about. We also want to have a resource book about Houston available to our guests. Along with the resource book, we want to have a bulletin board where posts can be made about things happening around Houston, thereby giving people the resources to engage in our city.

We will be keeping the ideas that form the Montessori classroom and educational experience in mind as we continue to design Marion's Ledge. We believe that this is a good place of inspiration for what we are planning to create, helping us add to the spirit and mission of Marion's Ledge.

I didn’t mean for it to go so long since our last entry here, but blame it on the holidays;)
One piece of good news is that I was introduced to a good guy named Dennis and we met to discuss working together some on a logo for Marion’s Ledge. He seemed to be interested in the concept and to understand my thinking in what I am looking for. I’m looking forward to meeting with him again soon.

I spent a good part of yesterday revising the look of the website and I hope it’s a lot better! The first version was the first bit of playing with doing a website that I’d ever done, and though I’m still verrry much a novice, I’d since come to be embarrassed to see it. While I think this version is a big improvement, and in some ways I really like it, there are certainly parts of it that are stopgap for now and it’ll no doubt get worked over a lot more in the not-too-distant future.
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The main thing I wanted to talk about this time though was to address a question that Hailey has been asked. That is...
Why is Marion’s Ledge a nonprofit?
The answer is that I envision Marion’s Ledge being a non-profit by virtue of the fact that it is a guest-driven, or experience-driven design, not a product or sales driven design. It’s primary mission is to foster community and engagement, not to sell coffee and pastries... although I do like coffee and pastries:).
Though we need to make a profit to be viable and to exist, we do not exist to make a profit.

I’m told that as a non-profit we will be asked to justify ourselves by answering “what impact are we making?”
There are two areas that I foresee Marion’s Ledge having an impact. One is in bringing Houston in to engage our guests, and the other is in helping our guests venture out to engage Houston.

1. I don’t know if you necessarily have community by virtue of being small, but being a big spread-out city certainly makes it a challenge. I remember being especially stimulated by various communities I’ve been a member of that were engaged in a project or activity. It is this kind of stimulating active community that we hope to create in Marion’s Ledge by inviting active Houstonians to have a home there. I hope to enhance this further with the addition of stimulating perspectives by inviting travelers through. I’d hope that the impact of this brew on Houston’s culture and energy may be profound.
2. Houston has a great deal to offer with lots of music, theater, dance, art, lectures, and various other activities. Marion’s Ledge doesn’t aim to trap it’s guests there but rather to also be a gateway to the rest of the city. Like a hostel (and I would want us to do this even if we hadn’t included a hostel), I want it to be a resource, to make a visit to Marion’s Ledge a catalyst to discover what’s outside our doors. In some respects, we should all be travelers, explorers, even though we’re in our home city. In addition to offering it’s guests things of interest in Marion’s Ledge itself, we want to actively help our guests find things of interest out and around town. The impact can be great when Houstonians are more interested and engaged in their city in that it helps them be better ambassadors of Houston, and helps Houston express a more vibrant culture.