Vision Coalition schools were invited to the Delta County School Board meeting last weekend to share information about the many varieties of choice in education in our communities.  The three branches of the Home and Community Program (North Fork, Surface Creek and Delta)  along with the rest of the Vision Coaltion(the North Fork Community Montessori School, the Delta Academy of Applied Learning and the Lamborn Vision School) all had representatives on the panel to respond to questions from the Board.  Stewards Jim Link and Terri Watts gave inspiring introductions to the program, its history, goals and successes.   "Doing something as cutting edge as Vision raises a lot of questions," concluded Terrie.  "Questions are good as long as we are willing to delve deeply into them."
Questions from School Board members were plentiful.  They were interested in understanding the roles and terminology in the Home and Community Program (such as RC versus educator),  how money is spent,  what consequences are in place for learners who don't meet their agreements, how we present ourselves to the community, what learners do after they graduate and more . 
One board member asked for clarity about the difference between an RC and an educator and wondered which one is more of a mentor.  Vision Steward Dick Nunamacker gave examples of how he works in both of his roles as an RC and an educator, explaining the he likes to "prepare students for their next steps in life, which might

have to do with the subject area, and might be to build self confidence."  He cited examples of students who have developed beekeeping businesses, gone on to college, and more.  A learner in the audience gave a description of her experiences and how Vision has helped her thrive. 
Vision is best defined through the stories, and all of the stories that came out were impressive, but the Board wanted more answers to questions about how the program functions.  "I don't want you to feel like you have to sell the program," said Board Member Gary Vickry.  "All of us need to make some concerted effort at coming up with common language."
Board members expressed their desire to fulfill their mandated responsibilities as elected volunteers by seeking clarification of the Vision program and how it operates. In general the Board was supportive and interested in knowing how they could help Vision provide clarity for the general public. 
One thing that was  clear after this meeting is that the Vision community could  educate the general public much more about how the program works. This is not an easy task, since individualized education to a certain extent belies standard definitions.   However, there is an opportunity here for creating more of an interface between the stories and  the more commonly understood language of education.