Back to School Hopes and Dreams

It’s back to school time for many colleagues and students. I have so many hopes and dreams for this school year. I’ll share them with you even though it feels risky to hope and dream amidst the ongoing pain, loss, and uncertainty of the pandemic. Yet, one of the lessons from the pandemic I’m carrying with me is I cannot allow fear and uncertainty to steal away my ability to hope and dream. I believe all beings thrive when we express our kindness, fierceness, and creativity. With that in mind, I am daring to dream…of a school year full of students and educators engaging in lessons and activities that help us grow, understand, and think creatively.

I hope each day we are able to find pockets of time and a connection to place that are rich with relationships–with ourselves and other beings–that nurture and affirm Tma’áakni (Respect).

I am hoping and dreaming of a school year full of meaning, purpose, and joy.

I am dreaming and hoping for systems with generosity and grace built into them so rest is encouraged and allowed when needed.

I am dreaming and hoping for curricula that challenge us to envision the fiercest, most beautiful futures we can imagine.

These are my dreams. I know they are possible because I’ve had the honor of witnessing and experiencing them at times, in ways here and there, like beautiful trees purposefully planted in an arboretum. And that’s wonderful. I love those pockets of arboretum time, space and place.

And I am seeing how the pandemic has taught me the field trip to the arboretum is not enough.

What I really want is for schooling to shift into the generous and generative education of the forest.

I’m wishing you a school year full of care, comfort, hope, and possibility–as nurturing as breathing in the fresh mountain air in a pristine forest.

As you journey into the school year I wish you a luxurious carpet of soft needles to cushion your every step in the wondrous forest.

And the trust, knowledge, and wisdom that everything you need is within you and around you, in this precious and sacred space of education forested with loving hopes and dreams.

Make this the best school year ever! Join these upcoming workshops in the Anahuy Mentoring Leadership Academy:

August 25, 2021 at 12-2pm Pacific time (3-5pm Eastern): What is at the center of your work?

August 31, 2021 at 9-11am Pacific time (12-2pm Eastern): Plan your writing projects!