Eight Minutes of Inspiration

Posted By: John Chakan

I love my job.  Every summer, I get to work with fantastic, dedicated adults to make an impact on the lives of kids.  We teach the kids a lot about community and interdependent living, the natural world and our place in it, resilience and lots of other wonderful things.  Selfishly, I also get so much back from the kids too.  I soak up their energy and enthusiasm.  I am inspired by their creativity and wisdom.  I am challenged by them and I learn and grow each summer because of all of the campers that come to Plantation.

What have you learned from children?  Or as a young person, what would you like to teach adults?  I just watched an amazing TED video (TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading) from a 12-year-old girl named Adora Svitak.  She spoke in February of 2010 at the TED Conference, and the subject of her talk is "What adults can learn from kids".  Adora is an accomplished speaker and her message inspired me, reinforcing what I do and why I do it.  Children are incredibly competent, creative, wise and often unheard.  As adults, we have the incredible ability to impact children's lives.  We should also open our ears and hearts and allow ourselves to be impacted by them.

Watch the video here:  http://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak.html, and leave your comments below.

"You must lend an ear today, because we are the leaders of tomorrow."