Envision Brewster:
A Community Dialogue
About Our Schools
On Friday, October 14, over 60 individuals representing many different stakeholder groups in Brewster gathered in the Stony Brook Elementary School Cafeteria to share a meal and participate in a community dialogue about our schools, while many of their children learned how to break dance in a Kids Night Out next door in the gymnasium. The dialogue, facilitated by Nauset graduate and professional facilitator Sky Freyss-Cole, was run as a World Café, which is designed with the goal of encouraging learning from everyone.
Participants moved from table to table, interacting with different people every time, discussing the following questions and jotting down their answers on post-it notes:
· What are the greatest things about the Brewster Schools?
· In your eyes, what is the ideal future of these schools in 10 years from now? What is it like for the students? The teachers? The parents? The community? Who is doing what?
· Looking at where we are now, what challenges and opportunities exist in regard to this future vision?
During the break, Sky posted all the post-it notes on a template according to themes. After discussing emerging themes, participants went back to tables and discussed the final two questions:
· What are the 3 most important doable action steps?
· And what are you willing to do?
Participants were inspired by the opportunity to share their insights, concerns, and dreams and create a community vision for elementary education in Brewster. You can read the strengths, challenges, opportunities, visions, and next steps - click the links on the right.
The Brewster School Committee and Brewster PTO thank all who were involved in planning, supporting, and participating in this event. As the Brewster schools plan for their students’ future educational needs, it is important that that vision represents and includes all voices from the community.
Special thanks to local restaurants for donating food for Envision Brewster and the Kids’ Night Out:
Lost Dog Pub
Starvin’ Marlin
El Guapo’s
Local Flavor
