Darktober
I would like to start with a HUGE thank you to everyone who attended and donated to the Worldmind Gala and Auction. It was a joyous community night, and we raised close to $9,000 to help with our scholarship fund and the educational resources we are developing.
This event is a reflection of how community involvement is critical to our success at Worldmind, and how we are stronger and better-able to meet our goals when we work together. Plus, as we are now squarely within the season of “Darktober” - a term often used in education to describe the fatigue felt by both teachers and students in the month of October - we need one another right now.
Darktober magnifies that deeply felt and expressed emotions of our neurodiverse community, and requires commitment, grit, and determination. I often compare the school year to a marathon, and in our case, I liken Worldwind to the ultra marathon that takes place in Leadville, CO. This brutal 100-mile race contains all of the challenges of ultra-marathons, plus high altitude and rocky, mountain terrain. It is the truest test of mental, physical and emotional strength.
During this race, people have friends and family run a section of the race with them. These people are called pacers, however they are really there for emotional support. We ALL need to be pacers for one another as we push through Darktober and beyond; we need one another to succeed.
As a twice-exceptional person, I understand the daily struggles that often wear us down and get in the way of our being present for others. As the mother of a twice-exceptional child, I know the complexities of supporting and managing your child, and how these create additional levels of exhaustion. As the Head of a School for twice-exceptional children, I also recognize that our amazing faculty and staff need our adult community members to actively participate in the child-centered, individualized experiences we create for our learners at Worldmind. We REALLY need one another.
To facilitate this adult connection, we host Parent Education Sessions every other Wednesday from 3-4 pm. Please commit to attending these sessions, as a way to support the adults and the youth at Worldmind. Your participation will not only get us through Darktober, it will influence our success in extraordinarily meaningful ways throughout the entire school year.
If you missed our first Parent Education Session, “Connected Parenting for Neurodiverse Children” with therapist and mother Lynne Cole, click here for the video recording.
- Megan Patterson, Executive Director and Founder of Worldmind School