I was curious and excited at the prospect of
attending a Mind in the Making workshop.
However, I must admit that I also felt a
wave of trepidation when I assessed the time
commitment involved. Even with a generous
roster of dates and blocks of time to choose
from, I still found myself stepping back to take
a long contemplative pause. To be frank,
having to decide just when this would be a
viable option for me was a bit disconcerting.
Sixteen hours of required instruction over
2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months or any practical
combination that fell within the 16-hour
requirement still seemed like a big chunk of
time to commit to without a lot of preplanning.
and simply followed the voice in my head
saying, "JUST GET IT DONE!"
I am so excited for and proud of myself for
showing up and allowing something this cool
and awesome to color my world. I am even
more excited for and proud of our facilitators
and my teammates whom after very long days
at work with our children, showed up every
single week, shining brightly with their hearts
open and their wisdom intact, ready to give,
receive, learn, and offer even more.
I am so excited and proud of the Suncoast
Campaign for Grade-Level Reading for
ensuring that this vitally important information
is made available to anyone in our community
who is open and willing to receive it, and to
the immense generosity of The Patterson
Foundation for funding every penny in order
to help create this new path for generations
of children to come.
I also want to say that, I miss my Mind in the
Making workshop. Seriously, I really miss it.
I miss my MITM facilitators - full-time teachers
themselves, Leigh and Holly. I miss their
bright smiles, dedication to the subject
matter, unwavering kindness, and personal
generosity every minute we were together,
week after week.
I miss my MITM teammates, made up
of approximately 20 teachers, school
counselors, parents and grandparents,
volunteers, homeschooling parents, and
special needs instructors, who again, all came
from the classroom to join us for an additional
4 hours each week.
I miss the Mind in the Making curriculum. The
videos. The projects. The discussions. All of it.
I miss wondering what we are having for
dinner, especially as I realized that I could
I miss the discussions that were uncomfortable.
I miss disagreeing with someone's point of
view and then taking a new look at it through
an entirely new lens.
I miss the smiles, eye contact, and
and forth across the room as we all began to
really see and experience each other from a
place of trust and honesty.
I miss the connections we made and
the obvious personal healing that took
place around our own childhood learning
as we learned about the learning challenges
children face today.
I miss the group projects and the interactive
sharing.
I miss our facilitators coming around to see
how we were doing and the hearty laughs
we would share as it became apparent that
one or more of us completely misunderstood
the directions.
I miss the pure moment when I shifted from
just being tolerant to truly supportive and
patient when I wasn't initially that interested
in what someone else was saying... and how
it felt to experience that same genuine support
Honestly, I miss all of the layers of this journey
I had with these complete strangers and how
we really did create a VILLAGE. I miss MIND
IN THE MAKING. This was not a course,
this was an experience. This was a lesson
in building community from the ground up.
This was recognizing our individual strengths
and watching what happens when we weave
them together with the Village at our center.
What a difference a month makes.
Feeling so grateful.
Each Mind in the Making workshop provides
their own experiences and practices, learn
what researchers have discovered about how
how to apply the knowledge. This program is
an excellent way to improve communication,
become a better role model, and demonstrate
essential life skills, so children can be ready
to learn.
Child care and food is provided.
•
workshops at your place of employment,
church, or community organization,
or are interested in participating in the
WORDS: LeeAnne Moody,
Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
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