Co-founder Andrea Patterson addresses our THENCE Team as well as all the learning communities that we serve. This is a message of gratitude and one of joy for the year’s work, now, almost completed. We acknowledge the incredible dedication educators have on a daily basis and we continue our promise of support and the amplification of their work as key role models in the lives of children.
script
As we end the year and continue to build on our foundation here at THENCE. I wanted to take a moment to share how excited I am to be a part of this community. As co-founder, I can attest to every brick that’s been laid and will continue with your communities in mind. I say this with full confidence knowing, that though each of our learning communities have their own unique differences, we all share the same challenge of not only rebuilding and restoring but also reviving our schools. Just three years post-pandemic, we are making up for so much more than learning loss. So, where do we start? or rather, where do we continue? There’s a quote hanging in my family’s kitchen that my youngest daughter who’s 8 years old read out loud this morning, and as she counted the sections of her orange. She read, “If you get tired, learn to rest not to quit”. No, I don’t know the original author. I was so grateful that today it came from her. A little girl who struggled with the mandated online instruction at the tender age of five. I listened to her, so happy that those days are behind us. As we inch closer to the end of another semester and calendar year, a time where we get to pause from the day-to-day teaching, facilitating, devising and developing. I hope that we can do just that – REST. At THENCE, we think a lot about teachers and how these Frontline Alchemist need so much support specifically we think about what kind of support, and how to keep it going, and one of the things that we’ve come up with is to simply share our ideas, deciding firmly that by sharing our efforts we become a rich and evolving resource. Recently, our founder Dr. Katherine Schlatter had the opportunity to interview another THENCE partner Ashley Causey-Golden
Scholar, thought leader, and founder of Afrocentric Montessori in Atlanta, Georgia. As usual, Katherine sent the interview out to the team for review. And as I watched, I was compelled to share my thoughts. During the interview, one of the most exciting things that I experienced was joy. As a teaching artist serving in the schools, I find myself in the teachers lounge every day listening to teacher’s struggle and make their way through constant challenges. Watching the interview with Katherine and Ashley, I thought ooh not only is this incredible content full of information
and perspective, but also HOPE. It has become increasingly true that educators need more resources and more infrastructure but to give that surge of HOPE was rare. May you find rest when quitting feels easier. Please take a few moments to enjoy this encouraging conversation. And lastly, I just want to say a special thank you to all of our THENCE Partners who wove so much hope into making the content that we made this year. It felt like the missing piece. I can’t say enough how important that is, how vital it is to all of our learning communities – HOPE
Thank you, and have a wonderful, restful and safe holiday everyone.
This year we launched subscriptions as a service to schools. These allow schools to make a minimal investment in custom infrastructure, so the institutions gain a training platform that may be loaded up with tools, mentorship programs, micro lessons for daily training, and classroom templates that support educators as they scaffold Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), Culturally Responsive Classrooms, a sense of inclusivity and School Belonging as well as a Growth Mindset for learning new processes and knowledge. Our programming and tools support teachers in their journey, to pace themselves through changing times and expectations. Today we also offer this free Holiday Wellness webzine to imbue a sense of hope and ease everyday challenges common in the run-up to school break. Andrea Patterson speaks specifically to the fatigue that teachers oftentimes feel around this time of year, and offers these words of hope.
Next watch the interview between Dr. Katherine Schlatter, and THENCE Partner Ashley Causey-Golden, founder of Gather Forest School and Afrocentric Montessori for an engaging take on organizing Classroom Calendars, that are both culturally responsive and inclusive.