Song Flight Redux

Forgive me for being silent for so long. I needed to decompress and regroup after my six weeks working with the class in Toronto. It was a terrific experience on all levels and left me with a lot to think about.

Before I dive into all that,take a look at the new Song Flight logo (above). I created it to go with the new fundraising materials I’m developing. What do you think?

If you’ve spent any time on the Song Flight website, you know that I divided the project into three phases. Each phase is designed to grow the Song Flight audience and give more children access to the program. Since I would like Song Flight to be a global program, that will mean enlisting help from many people with expertise outside my wheelhouse. It’s very humbling to have a clear idea of where you’d like to do creatively (including proof that what you’ve created works) but realize that some of the practical tools you’ll need to grow that creative vision are lacking.

Phase I - My goal in this first phase was to simply get proof of concept. I already knew from my 14 years working on CritterKin that stories, songs, creative collaboration, and project based learning were excellent ways to help kids develop emotional intelligence (EQ) and core literacy skills (IQ) but I wanted to demonstrate their effectiveness with the Song Flight materials.

The answer, of course, is a resounding YES. If you missed any of the fun as we chronicle it here on the blog see:

Week I: Into the Murmuration
Week II: The Pigeon Puzzle
Week III: Touchstones
Week IV: Possibility

Phase II, however, is another matter entirely. The plan calls for running another four-week program with three to four classes of kids in at least two countries in at least two languages. In order to accomplish this we would have to have both funding and hands on support from interpreters, translators, mental health professionals who can do assessments, and admins who could help manage the influx of materials from the kids.

Full Stop.

That’s about all I have the time or energy to write today. I hope you’ll stop by tomorrow when I share my research and what I’ve discovered about generating interest in and raising money to change antiquated education systems. Those systems do not teach our children what they need to become kind, capable, and successful adults but certain people and institution have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo? Surprised? I didn’t think so ;-)

See you tomorrow!