The Future Paths Event

It was a perfect day for it.  Breezy with the winds heading off shore between 14 and 20 knots. 

The field trip was fully booked as it was every year, and the parents had all arrived ahead of time, as planned.  As the buses pulled into the parking lot you could hear the excitement of the kids as they chattered and laughed.  Tables were set up at the edge of the parking lot, and everyone started to gather in that area.

The kids lined up at the My Dreams table and waited their turn to get the kite they had each made.  Each student had worked very hard to build a collage of photos that expressed their individual life dreams.  They had searched the Internet, magazines, and home computers to find the right combination of images.  They organized and placed the images with deliberate care.  Some images had been enlarged, and others shrunken to make their importance more relational to the whole message. 

They had learned about wind, and physics (just a bit about physics, after all they were only third graders).  They had researched different kite designs, made drawings and plans, and then constructed them themselves, using the collage for the surface paper.  Each kite had passed a pre-test in the schoolyard to prove it would fly.  And now was the big day... the annual Future Paths event. 

At the My Dreams table, each student was given their kite and a single spool of string.  They had practiced knot tying in class and began attaching the string to the kite’s leash.  They refused any help, knowing this was their task, knowing they knew how, and wanting the satisfaction of doing it themselves.

After tying the string to the leash they donned their cardboard hats.  Like the kites, these hats were made by the students and were very "creative" in a messy sort of way, but they were all of the same shape.  Kind of like a cold-weather cap with visor and ear flaps, but they also had blinders that came along the cheeks and were kept in place with a rubber band chin strap hooked onto a notch at each front, bottom corner of the blinder flaps.

With their “kite helmets” on they spread out along the beach and approached the water’s edge.  The offshore wind was holding at around twelve knots with gentle gusts up to eighteen or twenty.  Holding the spool gently in one hand and the kite leash in the other, the children ran away from the water, letting the breeze take the kite and pull some string off the spool.  Gripping and releasing the spool to gain height and distance, the children let their kites fly higher and higher.

Parent attendance was mandatory.  Everyone was informed a year in advance, and each month hence so there would be no excuses.  They had also been prepared for this; going to secret practices that the students didn’t know about; learning how to do their part when the time came.  As instructed, they waited in a large group chatting amongst themselves until each child had gotten their kite in the air and finally played the string out to its full length of fifty feet. 

While some teachers coached the kids to keep their eyes and thoughts on their dreams – and how high they wanted them to go – other teachers told the parents to line up; each parent choosing between two different lines.  Since it was a life-changing decision they were about to make, moms and dads had been given a year to carefully consider and be sure.  Also, their choice had to be independent of each other because every parent makes a unique impact on their child’s life.  Just because parents choose to be paired doesn't mean they will influence their child's dreams the same way.  In fact, it is guaranteed to be different.  And we all know from experience that the unique way each parent influences a child lasts a lifetime.  This was a big deal for everyone involved.

As hard as some choices might be, it was vitally important for each parent to make an honest choice.  It was unfair to the student to have it any other way.  To deceive the child would be much worse than either choice.  So, the secret parent practices had also included discussions, questionnaires, and intention exercises to help today's choice reflect each parent's truest intention - the way they would actually affect their child's pursuit of dreams. 

Almost thirty years ago, someone had thought up this event after studying the suggestion of a highly creative artist.  The event always caused some upheaval in relationships, but the children always came away knowing what to expect of their parents going forward; something which also helped them choose who they would listen to in life.

No matter what choice any parent was to make, there was something grand and inspiring about watching the kites all flying out over the water with the kids earnestly watching their "dreams" fly.  If you've never been, I suggest you go just to watch the kids' faces.  They beam with such hope and desire.

As the parents lined up, one line was longer than the other.  It was always this way. However, this year it was much longer than it had been historically and this was likely due to the fact that many of the parents were former students who had gone through the Future Path event a couple of decades ago.  This was the string line where parents could ask for a spool of string of various sizes ranging from 100 to 1,000 feet in length.

With their spool in hand these parents walked out and stood behind their child, waiting. When the teachers gave them the signal, they were to reach around their child and hand them the new spool; enabling the child to send their dreams higher and farther.

The other line – the shorter one – moved more quickly because there was only one choice. Each parent in this line was handed a double-barrel shotgun and two 12-gauge shells of buckshot.  They then walked out and stood behind their child, waiting for the teachers' signal so they could blast their child's kite to shreds.

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(Special thanks to Nick Offerman for sharing the wisdom of Yoko Ono in his book "Gumption".  If we do not declare our intentions to lift or hinder our children's dreams, we are in effect liars and deceivers.  They will hope for and believe great spools of string are to come to them as gifts from us, and we will probably fail them that expectation, but if we can declare our true intentions and strive to fulfill it, we may get away without disappointing, discouraging, or even destroying their dream chasing oomph.  At least with declarations of alliance we have a chance of living according to the ways we choose instead of some accidental carelessness.)