Visions...

I like to think I am bold, but when it comes to dreams, mine are measly, or utterly unrealistic. They are more comforting fantasies than things I dare to really go after. On Saturday night we went to a meeting at Theo's new school for founding parents. Minutes before the meeting we all received an email. Every single founding parent had contributed to the pledge drive. By the second Saturday of school this group of parents--including my amazing husband -- had raised $175,000. Our charter was only approved in July. I tell you this story because four months earlier, at a fundraising meeting in June, a group of us got together. Mostly I just ate pizza and tried not to roll my eyes. Marya and Jay, the force behind this school, said we needed to raise $200,000 by September. I inwardly scoffed. The number was ridiculous! We didn't have a principal, a charter, or even students, and they wanted to raise $200,000. Larchmont Charter had only raised $175,000 in their previous year's pledge drive and they had about three times as many students. It was Absurd!!! But they were strong, and we all kept our misgivings to ourselves--if any of us had any besides me.
And now, it has come true.
We will reach that goal by the end of September. We have a charter, five teachers, 60 students, a school. People are dying to get in. It is unbelievable. But what is most unbelievable to me is that Marya and Jay set this goal that seemed crazy--and we are literally going to hit it. It is such a lesson in how setting a goal, no matter how outrageoous, over the top or crazy, just the setting of it, makes it VERY likely that it will happen--even if it takes a little longer than you thought, even if you falter along the way, even if there are some days you do not believe in it. It is just amazing.
And everyone at this school has that attitude. You cannot help but be inspired. The principal took the job before the charter was approved. She found our amazing teachers on Craigs List. They interviewed in a Starbucks for a school that had no charter and no students and they left jobs with security and health benefits for a school that did not yet exist.
All of these people took the leap.
There is something overwhelming, and beautiful, about standing in a group of people who made something extraordinary happen. Literally, none of us could have done it alone. And yet, it is a miracle that we did it even all together!

..And last year, at Canyon School, our lead fundraiser, Adeline, stood up at the beginning of the year and said she wanted to raise $45-$50,000. For our little school, that was a LOT of money. We only needed to raise about half that. We had a disagreement halfway through the year. Things didn't go as she wished. And yet...as the year drew to a close, through a bunch of unexpected events: a gift of $5,000 from one dad, a new legacy wall established by another mama that raised $36,000, and some fundraisers, we MORE than accomplished her goal. She set our sights high, and we did it! Without even thinking about it anymore. In fact, she was so angry at one point she wanted to stand before the group and say she was being prevented from reaching her goal, and she wanted to remove her name from fundraising. It all worked out fine. But the point is: her biggest gift was laying out that vision!

I need to set some goals...some crazy, absurd, ridiculous ones!!! I need to let them marinate, take root, and grow--because who knows what will happen. I need to dream BIG!