They Had a Dream

Once upon a time there were 4 moms. The 4 moms had developed a friendship over the years based on their mutual love of parent involvement, education and learning. As these moms lived in different parts of BC it was not always possible to meet in person so Facebook and Skype became their communication tools of choice. They loved to get together and chat about their children and education as well as their own educational experiences both as a student of public education and as an involved parent in their own kids’ education. They talked about the happy times where sunny meadows filled with many coloured flowers, vibrant butterflies flitting around, and pretty blue birds singing existed.  But they also spoke of the bad times filled with deep, dark forests full of huge creepy trees, scary shadows and a very narrow path winding through it all. But all felt that their children would all live happily ever.

One day one of the moms looked into the technology’s crystal ball – You Tube. Could the vision she saw, become the future for her children? She quickly contacted the other moms to share what she saw: a video titled “Did You Know”. Was this to be the future their children would live in? What could they, as parents, do to make sure their children would be prepared for this new future? Would their kids live happily ever after?  Over the next few months the technology lines were buzzing with conversations between the 4 moms as they pondered a future as seen through the You Tube Crystal Ball. As in every good fairytale, there is dream for the future. The moms began to dream of what they wanted for their kids’ education so they would be prepared for the world ahead. In their dream each child who entered the doors of school was valued and respected for their individuality. Children were nurtured and encouraged to grow and flourish. All the adults involved, parents and educators, were working together to ensure a happy experience for all children in schools. All children would discover the joy of learning. But while they knew that there were great things happening in many classrooms and schools across the kingdom there were others where this was not the case. But the moms continued to dream because they still believed in happily ever after.

One day, just before Christmas one of the moms watched the documentary “We are the People We’ve Been Waiting For”. The message was that the status quo of educating and preparing children for adulthood could not continue if society wanted to see the happily-ever-afters for each and every child. The other moms soon watched it as well. The message in the documentary gave the moms hope...Could the message be the hero the fairytale was looking for? The moms needed a hero because everyone knows the hero will make the dreams come true. But the 4 moms could not do it alone. They knew that there were like minded people throughout the land who could help make change. The moms needed to get their dream out to all parts of the kingdom so that it could come true.  They started a blog called 4 Moms-1 Dream so they could share their dream for change:  A place where others could join the conversation and share their ideas. Everyone coming together with one goal – to change how education is delivered and learning is supported so all children succeed.

In the documentary “We are the People We’ve Been Waiting for” there is a young lady who speaks at the end and she shares with the audience:  “I always tell people it is like a greenhouse, because you have all these different plants in this greenhouse and then when you plant them outside they still grow, but they have to be nurtured a certain way, with other plants, and then when they send you out into the cold cruel world you still grow and you still flourish and you might even change the world.” The 4 moms want all those greenhouse flowers to move out into the meadow full of light, butterflies and birds where they can live happily ever after....THE END.

We hope you enjoyed our story. However, in all seriousness we believe that it will take everyone – parents, family, educators, and community working together to ensure that all children grow and reach their fullest potential. No individual or one group will be able to accomplish this alone – our children need all of us. Our dream for education is that each and every child in every school is seen as a beautiful, special and unique plant that needs all of us to grow to his/her fullest potential. Just imagine how the world will change.

We continue to wonder and dream about what student learning will look like in 2016 or even 2021. How will educators, family and the community be involved? What does an elementary or secondary school look like when each student has a support team of adults (educators and community) to guide them on their learning journey through their formal years of education? Do you have a dream about education? What does it look like?