Foxfire Fund Inc

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    The fall of 1966 found a young teacher arriving at RabunGap-Nacoochee School and entering his first classroom, onlyto find himself not really prepared for the challenge in front ofhim getting the students interestedin learning English. Eliot

    Wigginton tried several approaches, but just could not get thestudents attention. With inspiration from the writings of JohnDewey, Wigginton asked the studentswhat would interest them what could they do as a class to make the English curriculum

    interesting. Several ideas were discussed, and the students choseto produce a magazine. The students would practice their basicwriting skills while creating content for their magazine. Someof the students decided to write articles based on information

    and stories gathered from their families or neighbors storiesabout the pioneer era of Southern Appalachia. Foxfire, thename of a glowing fungus found on rotting wood in the area,was the name the students chose for their endeavor.

    At a time when the hillbilly stereotype was commonlyridiculed, those early articles about the lives of SouthernAppalachian folk cast a whole new light on the determination,faith, and joy of living that this vanishing mountain cultureshould be remembered for. Those early articles about localelders and their way of life struck a chord with the communityand the public at large, and the

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    Approach is a distillation ofhowFoxfire succeeded that can beapplied in any classroom, to any subject matter at any grade-level. The Approach helps teachers find ways to incorporateFoxfires basic foundations into their own individual classrooms.

    Today, students at Rabun County High School arestill producing The Foxfire Magazine going out into theircommunity and preserving their heritage by interviewing theirelders. Over 45 years of collected documentation about theculture of Southern Appalachia exists through the efforts ofthe Magazineprogram. The 12 volumes of the Foxfireserieshave sold nearly 9 million copies. Since 1976, over $850,000

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    The Foxfire Magazinehas been in continuous productionsince it was founded in 1966. Begun in an English class atRabun Gap-Nacoochee School, the magazine operated thereuntil 1977, when the program moved to Rabun County High

    School. It remained an English-credit class for many years, untilchanging staff and changing state curriculum guidelines forcedthe program to become a vocational elective. However, the goalsof the program remain unchanged: Student leadership directs

    the day-to-day operation of the class with help from facultyfacilitators, the students use Rabun County and neighboringcommunities as the resources for the information they gather,and each finished Magazineissue is distributed to an audience

    well outside the classroom across the entire United Statesand abroad. The students achieve their goal of preserving thevanishing culture of Southern Appalachia their culture whilemeeting state curriculum mandates and publishing deadlines.

    The Foxfire Magazineis no small achievement.Student editors are responsible for training new students

    on each step of the production ofThe Foxfire Magazine. Astudent begins by choosing a topic to research or a family

    member, neighbor, or other local elder to interview. He orshe arranges to meet theircontact and record the

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    from several interviews. Articles can focus on a specific personslife or stories, the lore of a specific town or community, detailsor how-to information on traditional crafts and skills, or anynumber of other things. The student editors assist the other

    students on each step of the process, then proofread and offeradvice on content, and ultimately choose which articles will beincluded in the next Magazineissue. If an interview or articleis not chosen for immediate publication, it will be archived for

    later use when a similar topic or theme comes up again.Producing two double-issues of The Foxfire Magazine

    each school year, all of the students in the program work to

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    If youre headed near the mountains of northeast Georgia,plan a visit to Mountain City and step back to a time when lifewas much slower and simpler, but just as fulfilling (if not more

    so) than the rushed existence most of us lead today.Here you will find the homes, tools, trades, crafts, andthe lifestyle of the all-but-vanished pioneer culture of theSouthern Appalachian mountains. Foxfire students began

    interviewing their families, friends, and neighbors in 1966.Many times, these folks wouldgive the students an old tool or afinished hand-crafted items they

    were discussing or documenting.Very quickly, Foxfire amassed avery extensive artifact collection.When The Foxfire Bookbecame

    a national phenomenon, Foxfiregained a source of capital (bookroyalties) to fund new growth.Students in the program choseto create a physical home for

    their program, and, in 1974, land on the side of Black RockMountain was purchased From the beginning the students

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    of simple tools and furnishings complete the picture. Theover-210-year-old Zuraw Wagon, the only wagon in existenceknown to have been used in the Trail of Tears, is also ondisplay. The Village Weaver, artist-in-residence Sharon Grist,

    is an accomplished spinner, dyer, knitter, and weaver. Sharonusually has woven goods in progress on her many looms, andis more than happy to share her art with visitors. Artist CaroleMorse also demonstrates at the Museum during the warmer

    months, showcasing the craft of traditional broom-making.Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the Museum,

    following a walking trail that climbs the property, windingthroughout the grounds before returning to the gift shop. Someportions of the Museum are vehicle and handicap-accessible.Guided tours are available by appointmentfor groups of six ormore and feature in-depth information and more collections

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    As Foxfire grew and gained national recognition, beleagueredteachers all across the country looked at The Foxfire Magazine,and saw an opportunity to change things. They started producing

    their own magazines in an attempt to do Foxfire. Most of theseteachers met with partial or little success because they had missedthe very heart of why Foxfire succeeded student choice.

    Kaye Carver Collins, an early magazine student and latera Foxfire staff member for 13 years, explained the problem likethis: It seemed that people couldnt understand the importanceof the difference between the magazine, which was the choice we

    made, and the fact that we made a decision.In-house research and later grant-funded exploration soughtto clarify the reasons for Foxfires success and give teachers thehelp they were looking for. The original classroom models three

    driving factors student decisions directing the process, usingthe local community as a resource for learning, and providingan audience beyond the classroom for the students work weregrown and refined over time by practicing educators and Foxfire

    staff, resulting in the eleven Core Practices that are the foundationof the Foxfire Approach to Teaching and Learning.

    The Approach is neither a method nor a recipe for success

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    determine its appropriateness for their classrooms or schools. TheFoxfire Course for Teachers is an in-depth examination of eachof the Core Practices and their applications. During the Course,

    teachers will identify their existing perceptions of the relationshipsbetween teachers, learners, and the curriculum. Those perceptionswill be challenged, and the teachers will begin to redefine theirown teaching philosophies to include the Core Practices and

    merge them back into their own teaching practices.Foxfire teacher courses are provided through a partnership

    with nearby Piedmont College in Demorest GA and can be

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    and showcase the simple faith, steadfast determination,the southern Appalachian Mountains, high school studentspersonalities, and lives of their elders for over four decades,

    Te Foxfre Book: Tis Is Te Way I Was Raised Up w Wood oolsw Log Cabins w Chimneys w White Oak Splits w An Old Chair MakerShows How w Rope, Straw, and Feathers Are o Sleep On w A QuiltIs Something Human w Soapmakingw Cooking On A Fireplace wPreserving Vegetables & FruitwChurning ButterwHogs: Slaughtering,Curing, Smoking, RecipeswWeather and Planting SignswTe Buzzard

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    Among the first recognized works to go against stereotypesand ingrained resourcefulness of the people who inhabitedof Rabun County, Georgia, have collected the stories,preserving this unique heritage for the generations to come.

    Foxfre 7: Religious Denominations w Baptists, Catholics, Church OChrist, Episcopalians, Jehovahs Witnesses, Methodists, Pentecostals,Presbyterians w Te Camp Meetingw Te radition O Shaped-NoteMusic w I Love o Sing . . . wGospel Shaped-Note Music w Baptism wFoot Washingw Te People Who ake Up Serpents

    F f 8 Bl k I A l hi w S h F lk P w M d

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    The Foxfire 45th AnniversaryBook: Singin, Praisin, Raisincelebrates 2011s 45th anniversary

    o Foxre students collecting andpreserving the heritage o SouthernAppalachia. Te books rst music-themed section, A Beautiful Life,eatures thoughtul and touchingstories rom new, colorul regionalpersonalities. Knoxville Girl andBarbara Allen relate intriguingtales and legends o relatively-rare

    notable crimes and various spookyhappenings. Echoes contains encouraging lie stories

    about gospel, bluegrass, and aith rom several traditionalmusicians. Daddy Was a Farmer relives the days o Rabun

    GapNacoochee Schools storied Farm Family Programthrough the memories o those who acquired both sustenanceand education while working the land around the school. l h b k h l

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    "Although Aunt Arie died in 1978, herindomitable spirit is captured oreverhere..." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)Arie Carpenter was one o the earlycontacts that Foxire students

    interviewed, and she welcomed themall into her home and shared herlie with them. Here is a lovingportrait o a ondly-remembered

    riend. his book is not justabout Arieit is Aunt Arie. Inher own words, she discusses

    everything rom planting, harvesting, and

    cooking to her thoughts about religion and her eelings aboutliving alone. estimonials rom many who knew hersupplement the interviews and the wealth o photographstaken and gathered by Foxre students.

    Tis enchanting book celebrates theholiday traditions o Appalachianamilies as passed down over manygenerations. Te memories shared hereare rom a simpler time, when gitswere ewer but vastly more precious,

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    A redesigned version o the

    Winter 1981 issue o TeFoxfre Magazinea specialedition celebrating thedays and ways o cooking

    on wood-burning stoves.Foxre students collectedover 100 recipes rom thelast generation who grew

    up cooking on wood stoves, like the Dickersons o WolorkValley in the issues eature article. In true Foxre tradition,the students later expanded this project into Te Foxfre Booko Appalachian Cookery (below).

    More than an average cookbook, thiscollection contains over 500 recipes,

    combining unpretentious, delectabledishes with the wit and wisdomo those who have prepared andeaten such oods or generations.

    A sampling o avorites includesrhubarb cobbler, sassaras tea,ried quail, Brunswick stew, angel

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    Foxre is appx. 1.5 miles off of US Highway 441 in

    Mountain City, just 1 mile north of Clayton, GAless

    than 2 hours from Atlanta, Asheville, or Greenville.

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    title price qty total...

    Singin, praiSin, raiSin $18.95 _______ ____________

    echoeS companion cD $14.95 _______ ____________

    Faith, Family, & the lanD $19.95 _______ ____________

    aunt arie $22.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire chriStmaS $19.95 _______ ____________

    app. toyS & gameS $19.95 _______ ____________

    WooD Stove cookery $11.95 _______ ____________

    appalachian cookery $24.95 _______ ____________

    Winemaking $14.95 _______ ____________

    the FoxFire Book $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 2 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 3 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 4 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 5 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 6 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 7 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 8 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 9 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 10 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 11 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire 12 $19.95 _______ ____________

    FoxFire SetBookS 112 $216.00 _______ ____________

    FoxFire magazine $12.95 u.S. _______ ____________

    From thinkingto Doing $19.95 _______ ____________

    conS. reFlection $11.95 _______ ____________

    conS. creativity $11.95 _______ ____________

    conS. aSSeSSment $11.95 _______ ____________

    teaching Setall 4 titleS $50.80 _______ ____________

    SuBtotal ____________

    ga aDD 7% SaleStax ____________

    Shipping & hanDling ____________

    total ____________

    order form

    All orders must be prepaid in U. S. Funds. Please make

    check or money order payable to Foxre, PO Box 541,

    Mountain City, GA, 30562-0541. Allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

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