Profile - Maria Corse

This is the fourth in a series of Tuesday Profiles of people who are deeply involved and committed to the mission of Deep Root Center.  

The DRC kids interviewed me yesterday during their community meeting. I typed my answers as the interview went on. They have all approved of the content.

Name: Maria Corse

How long have you been affiliated with DRC?
I decided in January 2013 to leave my job and open a center where kids are in charge of their education. I discovered the North Star model that spring and decided to become part of the Liberated Learners network. DRC is the happy result of those decisions.

What do you do for living? (Leillah)
I do everything that is required to run a not-for-profit. I also spend my days with awesome kids!

What is your hobby? (Rebecca)
I love to read and I love to cook. I have created amazing wheat-free muffin and cookie recipes. I also love to play with whole foods – I made a fabulous grown-up mac and cheese this past weekend with rice pasta, turmeric, shiitakes, onions, hot peppers, and garlic.

Do you like going outside? (Jake)
I like being in nature at my house. I walk 1 mile every Saturday and Sunday with my dog. We often meander along the road discovering new sights that show up throughout the week.

What is your favorite animal? (Rebecca)
I love chickens, for their amusement value and their beautiful eggs! Unfortunately after 14 years of chicken ownership, I no longer have any. Insert sad face here.

If you can go anywhere to visit family where would you go? (Jake)
Much of my family lives here in St Lawrence County. My sister lives in Massachusetts and that is where I usually go on vacation. I love to visit Boston; I lived there for 6 years and miss the smell of the ocean (Boston Harbor) and being able to get everywhere I want to go via public transportation.

What is your favorite food? (Cleo)
My favorite food is watermelon, for the juicy lusciousness of it. Yummm!

Name the last three movies you have watched: (Christian)
I rarely watch movies, because I don't like sitting that long; I don't like suspense and I get antsy. I watched the Cinema 10 movie Food Waste in September, because I was on the GardenShare committee that chose it.  The last movie I watched was The Muppets - A Frog Prince here at the Center with the kids. To be completely honest, I wandered in and out while the film was running, which is fairly typical of my movie watching habits.  

If you could spend one day with someone living or dead, who would it be? (Rebecca)
This is a hard one … I admire so many people from history ---- I would have to, however, choose my Grandma. She was such an important part of my growing up years. She was an artist, a carver, a cook, someone who loved nature and found the sacred in every living thing. I spent almost every weekend with her as a child. I learned how to cook while standing on a stool at her elbow. Even though she lived until I was in my mid 40's, the one thing she promised to teach me, but never got the chance was the fine art of making donuts. If I had more more day with her, I would spend it in the kitchen at her elbow making those delicious donuts.

If you had a windfall of a lot of money (millions) what would you do with it? (Leillah)
Well, first I would fund DRC --- duh! And then, I would take my whole family on a vacation – somewhere that we could immerse ourselves in local culture. Perhaps – Scotland, or Greenland, or maybe Italy. Or, if it is millions how about a grand European tour?

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