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| “When the “I Have A Dream” program
came to our school it energized us as teachers. We were challenged to
prepare
our students to reach even higher expectations. The Dreamers were going
to have a program to help them finish high school and inspire them to seek
further education.” |
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These are the words spoken by Jan Gillespie, a retired math teacher who worked with Class 3 at Woodlawn Elementary School. Recently she had come to a “Learn to Dream” session to reacquaint herself with the program. We discovered that she knew more about the long range value of our program and how our expectations can have an impact on teachers that continues after the Dreamers move on. “As we were energized to raise our classroom demands and to utilize the extra help available for students and families, we found we were plagued by some questions. Why create change only for these students? Were we sharing with all students our belief that high school graduation and the choice of attending college was in each of their futures?” Under the leadership of Linda Harris as principal, the Woodlawn staff dedicated themselves to raising the learning expectations for all students. For the next four years each new fifth grade raised their average test scores above those of the original Dream Class. One of the best moments of her 30 year career was the evening she attended the Dreamer graduation celebration party along with about twenty Woodlawn staff members. She was so happy to see how supportive and proud the Dreamers were of one another and the special bonds they shared with their Project Coordinators, Sponsors, each other’s families, and yes, even their old elementary teachers from so long ago. Jan confessed that “to be able to congratulate so many former students on reaching this important benchmark and to hear about their post graduation plans was extremely gratifying and inspiring for all of us”. |
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