On a recent Friday night (not to mention that it was the first Friday night of February Vacation), Bridge School parents and teachers gathered for an evening of community and Appreciative Inquiry to launch our strategic planning process. Led by John Barstow and Ashley Cadwell we answered three central questions geared at highlighting Bridge School’s core strengths.
“Appreciative Inquiry is a way of being and seeing. It is both a worldview and a process for facilitating positive change in human systems, e.g., organizations, groups, and communities. Its assumption is simple: Every human system has something that works right–things that give it life when it is vital, effective, and successful. AI begins by identifying this positive core and connecting to it in ways the heighten energy, sharpen vision, and inspire action for change. As AI consultant Bernard J. Mohr says, “Problems get replaced with innovation as conversations increasingly shift toward uncovering the organization’s (or group’s, or community’s) positive core.” Source
This evening was not just your average pizza party, community gathering. The significance of our community coming together on a cold Friday night to put our heads together and plan for Bridge’s positive growth felt like an iconic symbol of what makes Bridge School unique. Our community is made up of people who, to quote Dr. Seuss, “care a whole awful lot.”
The results of this collective brainstorm will go into our strategic plan. We are thrilled to launch Bridge School into its next phase of innovative excellence in elementary education.
