Margie Stern

Who am I? For purposes of this David L. Cooperrider Center Advisory Board and pertinent to the work we will initially be doing, I am someone who has been interested for a very long time in the question, “What does a person need to have a great – or – indeed – a spectacular life?” - and “How can this be addressed in our schools?” Via my husband’s and my journey of raising our two daughters, with the help of great resources along the way, I became acutely aware of parents who did not have even the most essential resources - such as enough nutritious/delicious food for their children. Over the years, I have served on the boards of many non-profits organizations, all seeking best ways to improve families’ lives, and I do see the validity of such programs as “Zero to Three”, but now believe that in order for a child to have a chance at a really great life, the needs of children have to be addressed before “Zero” – they have to be addressed in the early years of their parents. I see a curriculum that includes a “How We Develop Over the Years” type of offering, presented in such a way that it can be started with very young children – as young as possible - and in an experiential way – at least in the beginning, and continuing through the years, finishing with graduation from high school. I believe if these children learn how they become adults, how this happens over the years, that they will acquire insight into who they might become and in turn be respectful of themselves and others, as they grow. Valuing what they see coming ahead will perhaps entice them to have more confidence in themselves and their goals for life. As many of these children will take this knowledge home to their families, the families would benefit. The final outcome of this curriculum would be that these children will in turn, know better how to raise their own children. In this way "Zero to Three" becomes more like "From Successful Parent to Three and Further." I see the heart of this curriculum coming from the philosophies and tenets of Appreciative Inquiry. I was lucky enough to happen into Dr. Lindsey Godwin’s first introductory workshop on “AI” at Champlain College in January of 2015 and then felt I had to enroll in the first cohort of the Appreciative Inquiry Certification course at the college in April of that year. I am very grateful to Dr. Godwin, Dr. Cooperrider, Pru Sullivan, and their assistant Alyssa Doyle for this life changing exposure to the essence of AI and very much look forward to working with this Advisory Board on what will in part answer the question of “What does a child need for a spectacular life?”