The Zenas Foundation
From Thewiki
We need a better way of getting all students the opportunities of field-trips and trips to learn more about technology, environment and culture. Books and lessons are great but there is something about giving students the ability to experience these things... the problem is that not all school systems or communities can afford to fund these trips...
Zenas Block a professor at NYU, after hearing about the cancellation of field-trips at the local school, rented a group of buses and told the principal that he would take the kids on a field trip to the science museum. Of course there was a condition, Zenas had to go to.
Shannon Thomas and a few of her fellow Augusta Georgia teachers brought a group of 12 students to Costa Rica to participate in field research of reforestation and the culture of the country.
We should be able to setup some sort of "clearing" house for funding these types of programs... basically there are large amounts of funds but the organizations with these large amounts of funds do not have a way of getting this money to these individuals. The Zenas Foundation would assist these individuals get these types of projects done, be it financing, logistical support, etc etc etc
--- my Zenas Block story As part of the work study program at NYU, I was assigned at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies. My task at the center was to be a web-master(oh how I love that word), assistant to professors which included computer support guy. The center was founded over 10 years prior by a professor named Zenas Block with a mission of funding research of entrepreneurship. In some circles, Zenas is known for his research of corporate venturing. I had heard many things of this character named Zenas Block including his ventures, books, athleticism, kindness etc.. One afternoon, my boss met with me and asked if I would be interested in teaching Zenas Block how to use his computer. I called Zenas up, nervous to talk to him, to talk about when/where and what he was looking help with. Zenas had been given his first computer for his birthday by his son (another famous entrepreneur who had started the "alternative" packaging for CDs). Zenas asked if I would come up to his home and basically teach him how to use Word and Excel because as he had only typed all of his research using a type-writer. The next weekend I hopped on a train from Grand Central up through the country-side of Connecticut. I was met at the train station by Zenas. when I got in the car we started talking about what I wanted to do in life, what ventures I wanted to start and what I was studying in classes. As we spun through the curvy wood lined roads over to his house the lessons began. As it would be quite hard to teach a person how to use a computer while he was driving, Zenas took over the teaching about his life. We talked about his class for the executive MBAs, a few ventures he had started, basically Zenas has a million stories about what is going on his life at that time. We were travelling through his town, where he pointed out a hand-well where they had found some bacteria and had to close the well down. Zenas ran for and won a seat on the finance board for the town. The stories never ended they were simply paused when we arrived at his curvy driveway leading to his house. Zenas asked if I wanted some breakfast, gave me a tour of the house and then brought me to his office which housed his new computer. We began talking about short-cuts, using word and how he could pull up files that he had saved prior to be edited again. We opened up a file that included some research Zenas had done, well I guess Zenas was bored of my teaching or I was not effective in keeping his attention as this started us down a path of Zenas teaching me as much as I could handle about entrepreneurship for the rest of the day. We stopped for lunch and Zenas showed me his wife's artwork and how he was taking pottery classes. To Be Continued...
