Willowstone Academy, where I serve as Chief Learning Officer, is unveiling our educational manifesto!  The birth story of the manifesto is a highlight of my professional career and it was an honour for me to lead the collaborative creation of this opus for our school.

The process of authoring the manifesto was deeply gratifying because it:

• was collaborative,
• was authentic to our school,
• built community, 
• invited conversation, and
• illustrated the heart of our work as educators.

Our Manifesto serves to describe the lived experience and ideal at Willowstone Academy in a way that draws attention to our uniqueness, while simultaneously offering insights into what we believe are essential ingredients for the transformation of education in the 21st Century.

Our hope is that these words serve as more than a lovely inspirational message, but words that shape our very existence as an educational community.  We also believe these words will prove to be a disruptor that incites conversation, emotion, and reflection.  

The purpose of the design is to create an aesthetic that draws the reader in, introduces our community, and supports the deep meaning of the #LearnForward passage.  

Gratitude goes out to our team who breathed life into this process: Roselyn Minnes our designer and Miranda Webb, professional business consultant and strategist, who supported our process as both an experienced consultant and a passionate parent who volunteered her time.

And, as always, my deepest gratitude goes out to the teachers and educational team, our heroes, who make this manifesto come alive for students and give us all a reason to be hopeful for the future!

Our heart is to explore how we are all engaged to #LearnForward.

As I introduce the LearnForward manifesto to the broader educational community, I’m curious about how it impacts you. I’d love to hear your heartful thoughts!