John Merrow puts us on the map!

It's so interesting how networking works. Early on in the life of this project I contacted some of the educators whose writings I respected and asked if they would look at a 45 minute compilation meant to span all the areas we could possibly develop in the film. Alfie Kohn and Deb Meier were among those who responded, giving important initial feedback. Deb also sent information about us to a number of her colleagues. As a result Brenda Engel was among those who helped us define our direction. A year later, with a much more developed work, I asked another of Deb's and Alfie's contacts, Monty Neill to help us screen the first rough cut. He suggested that Brenda Engel might invite Jay and Helen Featherstone.

The group of a dozen or so people who watched the film in Louis Kruger's Northeastern classroom all sparked our energy with wonderful comments, and the Featherstones began corresponding with us. When Jay asked what he could do to help us, I asked if he knew anyone in media--for example John Merrow, long time education reporter on PBS.

It turns out Jay was one of John's thesis advisors at Harvard! He wrote a wonderful letter suggesting John view the film. To our great pleasure John also found value in our work. This led to a phone interview, which led to John's blog about us at http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/

That review has multiplied our network by many factors!! Requests to screen the film, ranging from a teacher's union in Des Moines to Stanford's Governor's Corner Office of Residential Education, arrive each time I open my email. My "outreach learning curve" is being challenged, and I'm paddling hard to be up to speed with their requests, but we couldn't be more delighted with the opportunities that are arising. When 60 Minutes called, I nearly fell off my chair! Fingers crossed that when they see the film they will find it calls to them as strongly as it did to the thread that led them to us: Deb and Alfie to Monty and Brenda to Jay and Helen to John.

It seems to me that no matter what 60 Minutes decides, the pendulum is starting to swing in the other direction. As parents join the mix, it won't be long before the voices for meaningful education are louder than the voices of the test pushers.