Altheimer-Martin Elementary School students have portrayed their dreams in a book written by Brenette Wilder. Thirty-six students participated in writing and illustrating their dreams for the book, The School of Dreams.
Principal Brenda Barnes said the idea for the book came up when Wilder asked her about the children at the school. Barnes told Wilder how creative and intelligent the students were, so Wilder decided to use them for her new book.
Barnes said the younger children drew pictures while the older children wrote down their dreams. The dreams spanned from wanting to be a princess to being a pediatrician. Barnes said when the children were told they were going to be participating in making a book, they were beaming with excitement.
“I feel that the good thing about this book is that it shows children are children everywhere,” Barnes said.
Students from Lees Summit Elementary School in Missouri also put in illustrations and writings.
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The children worked on their book project for about a semester. They mainly worked on it during art and literacy classes. Some of the students even started using som ot their lunch break to work on their projects.
“I was very impressed, but not surprised,” Barnes said.
She said she knew the students would do an excellent job. Barnes is hoping Wilder will work with future students to help them express their dreams as well.
“This is actually something we can do within the school ourselves,” Barnes said.
The dreams that stood out the most to Barnes were the dreams of becoming a principal or police officer because she felt that the students see all the wrong going on in the world and they want to fix it. Although the students are young, they have bold dreams.
“They have dreams, they want to be loved and they want a better society for us all,” Barnes said.
The students were able to purchase the finished book for $19, which Barnes said a lot of parents did. She even bought two books herself, one to keep and one to put in the library for anyone who wants to check it out and read it.
She said that it really helped the children to keep an eye on their dreams. Barnes also has other methods to help the students remember their future goals and dreams. She has the students write down their long-term and short-term goals to keep track of when they reach them and to remind them of their dreams.
“I even had my children do the same thing and it turned out great,” Barnes said.
Barnes said her children wrote down their goals, and though they couldn’t accomplish them all, they accomplished the most important ones.
The author of the book, Wilder, was valedictorian from Altheimer High School in 1976 and is Barnes’ sister. She has also written the book, “Dream Number Four.”Along with being an author, she is also a mother and the founder of Kansas City Teen Summit, a non-profit organization designed to engage at-risk youth with educational, career and skill-building resources.