Last Thursday, Indi-ED was selected to compete in our local Social Venture Partnership’s Fast Pitch Event.
It was a time for 10 social enterprises (a fancier way to say a self-sustaining non-profit) competed for the chance to win additional funds to propel their projects.
As you’ll see from prior posts, pitching and public speaking isn’t my forte. However, when you tell me there’s a potential to impact our kids and potentially others in our community, I’ll do whatever it takes.
Spoiler alert, we took third place and crowd favorite! So to say that I was proud of myself was an understatement.
But it wasn’t just because we walked away with $10,000. It was because I had to do everything we try to teach our kids and did it well.
I had to put in the work for the three months prior to go through the classes they provided… after work hours. I had to get creative in my writing and presentation skills. I had to collaborate and looked to our students, teachers, and families for help and support. I had to push myself. I had to do all of the things that we ask of our kids but seldom step up to do as adults. Maybe because the opportunities don’t present but maybe because we don’t go looking for them anymore?
Either way, keeping the kids at the forefront was the most important thing.
Being able to share with them the amount of work that was going in, how many drafts I wrote, how many personal activities I stepped away from so that I could prepare myself, my strategies, my struggles, my successes as my attitude changed from apprehension to “Let’s Do This!” I hope all gives them the reassurance that the work that we’re asking them to do with each of their showcase presentations and inquiry projects are something that they find value in and will excel at.
Communicating your ideas clearly and creatively and taking action on things that you’re passionate about are two values you won’t find on a traditional report card, but you better believe they’re two that we are proponents of at Indi-ED.
Reflecting and constantly improving are also two habits that we strive to get our students involved in. So you better believe that I journaled myself that next morning on what I did well, what I could’ve improved on, and all of the little moments that I didn’t want to forget.
Because as much as walking away with that big check was powerful, watching the kids enthusiasm, hearing their uplifting comments, and feeling the love and support from them is what will keep Indi-ED going.
Looking forward to the next challenge and next success.
