Compassion: An Idea Worth Spreading

Yesterday I had the good fortune to attend my very first TEDx event in West Vancouver. TED and independently run TEDx events carry with them a worthy purpose: to harness the power of great ideas to inspire positive change globally through short “talks” on a broad range of thought-provoking topics. TedxWestVancouverED, in its third edition, shone the light on innovative ideas shaping education in the West Vancouver School District and well beyond its borders. Yesterday the beautiful Kay Meek Centre was filled with passionate educators on a bright and sunny, early fall Saturday eager to cheer on local educators, students, business leaders, artists and thought leaders as they shared their stories with us. Many who attended called the day inspiring and I would be the first to agree!

The agenda was packed with 20 talks on a variety of education-related themes. I enjoyed hearing Canadian Women’s Basketball Coach, Allison McNeill speak about how collaboration builds teamwork while also inspiring a healthy spirit of competition. Students Macy Meldrum and Ying Jie both thrilled and humbled the audience with their bravely honest talks on the importance of resiliency in overcoming adversity. Senior Policy Analyst for the First Nations Education Steering Committee Starleigh Grass reminded us of the importance of increasing the education system’s capacity to improve outcomes for Aboriginal learners, including shining a much-needed spotlight on reconciliation (for those on Twitter, please check out the hashtag #myreconciliation). Vice Principals Walter Mustapich and Sarah Garr spoke passionately about the need to take time to learn every student’s story and celebrate the diversity of these stories. And of course, hearing always-compelling Will Richardson, author of best-selling TED book Why School, remind us that we are in the midst of a powerful learning revolution that calls for all of us to harness positive change was a great way to close our day.

However, it was educator Kristi Blakeway’s talk called Beyond Hello: Changing the Perception of Homelessness One Story at a Time that has stayed with me today and deserves a spotlight here. You can see Kristi in my photo above. Kristi, not unlike Walter Mustapich and Sarah Garr, believes everyone has a story worth hearing and it was this belief that led Kristi and her students from Charles Best Secondary School in Coquitlam to start Project Hello in 2009. Determined to find a positive way to make a difference in the lives of Vancouver’s downtown eastside homeless, Kristi and 50+ students provided many struggling with homelessness with the means to reach out and contact their loved ones and re-connect. Their powerful stories of connection and compassion have changed the lives of so many who are reminded, perhaps for the first time, that they are not alone. Please read more about Project Hello here and here. You may be like the rest of us in the audience yesterday, moved to tears. This is a shining example of how so many educators, one story at time, make a difference in the lives of students and their community daily through passion, and more importantly, compassion. This is an idea worth spreading!

To learn more about TEDxWestVancouverED please visit their website here. If you are on Twitter, please follow our hashtag from yesterday #TEDxWestVanED for a rich discussion on all of the powerful talks on an inspiring Saturday in West Vancouver.