Vision Boards: Student Dreams Visualized
This summer, Effective Leadership Academy facilitators have been fully committed to creating unforgettable educational experiences for students across Northeast Ohio. The students we serve are extremely diverse, coming from a wide range of backgrounds and each holding onto unique goals and dreams. When implementing vision boards into our camp curriculum, we did not anticipate the deep, meaningful impact some cut-up magazines and stickers could have on students.
ELA is all about incorporating hands-on activities into our curriculum, which usually consists of games and fun challenges. This year, we decided to slow things down in the final week of our camps by dedicating sometime each day to allow students to work on vision boards. Vision boards are visual displays of a person’s values, goals, and hopes for the future. They area useful tool to inspire and refocus us when we need to realign our attention and remind ourselves of what is most important to us. Students used magazine clippings, stickers, newspapers, pieces of scrap paper, and various recycled materials to create boards displaying their aspirations for their older selves. Each board was created by virtue of each student’s unique style. Some students got extra creative and incorporated three-dimensional flowers and mirrors into their board designs.
This project is extremely individualized and allows students to begin thinking about what they want their lives to look like and how they plan to achieve their goals. Some students shared with us that prior to the vision board assignment, they had never thought about where they want to live or what career they want to embrace as an adult. Students illustrated a variety of hopes for the future, expressing whether they want to be parents, what pets they want to have, what they want to do for a living, what hobbies they want to participate in, what they want their house to look like, and any other long-term dream. At the end of ELA’s Amazing Chase camp at Shaw High School, middle school students displayed their vision boards for staff and other students to view. This moment was meaningful for both campers and ELA staff, who were so proud of each child for creating a realistic, achievable set of goals for their futures. It was fulfilling to see the kids become excited to talk about their dreams.
One parent graciously sent our team a message saying “Thank you so much for your time, care, and all the wonderful work you do. My child truly enjoyed every single day and came home happy and excited. We are so grateful for everything you did to make this such a special experience. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!” Her child, Tykhon, created a vision board that was completely unique to his own personal journey. While most students created traditional vision boards on a standard flat poster board, Tykhon used duct tape attachments to convert his vision board into a parachute because he plans on going sky diving when he is older. Our facilitator team encouraged campers to be as creative as possible with their projects and the students certainly did not disappoint.
ELA plans to continue incorporating vision boards into ourcamp curriculum based on the positive feedback we have received from students, schoolstaff, and parents. This simple, yet thought-provoking exercise encourages ourstudents to think outside the box, see and value their full potential, and brainstorma plan to achieve the most fulfilling future possible.
