Congratulations to Barrie Schank for Daring to Dream with The Purpose Project!! The Foundation for Winona Area Public Schools started the Dare to Dream project as a way to encourage and support the creative spirit within the District. The goal is to provide an opportunity to apply for a grant for up to $5000 to completely fund a new innovative program that will support ideas to enhance learning or provide new opportunities for students of the Winona Area Public Schools.
Barrie Schank, a language arts instructor at the Winona Senior High School, wrote a Dare to Dream application to begin The Purpose Project. In Ms. Schank’s application, she discussed creating a small unit in her Practical 12 English class which will work in conjunction with the WSHS counseling offices’ Minnesota Career Information System to help students pinpoint areas of personal interest. The Purpose Project will require students to pen yearly, monthly, weekly, and use daily action steps to achieve specific goals. Students will be required to read books; annotate articles; take notes during video clips; organize information; journal daily; and chart results.
Students are in need of Dare to Dream moments and Schank found multiple resources to enhance the Purpose Project and relate it to what students are experiencing during the COVID-19 pandemic. She sees students who are unsure of the future and, therefore, are not daring to plan for it. Dare to Dream funds will be used to purchase classroom book sets, planning pages, binders and digital notepads. This unit will help fill the gap to help students prepare for their future when they are unsure how to begin.
As stated in the Harvard Business Review article from May, 2011, “Success is a progression of small tasks done consistently.” This unit will help students create a system of consistent, small tasks which could lead to reaching many goals and accomplishing great results. It is based on reading, writing, and communication habits which are proven to help people’s lives overall and includes resources from: Jack Dorsey, Benjamin Franklin, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey, Steve Harvey, Warren Buffet, Jim Carrey, Richard Branson, Fergie, Jack Canfield, Tony Robbins, John Spencer, Emma Stone, Drake, Terri Savelle Foy, Zig Ziglar, and Mark Walberg to name a few. Schank hopes to help students see the value in pinpointing and accomplishing personal goals. The Dare to Dream grant money will help provide resources for students to do just that and to give them hope for the future when they need it most.
Congratulations to Barrie Schank and The Purpose Project for Daring to Dream.