Seeing the Village Through One Another’s Eyes in Acme, Michigan
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of partnering with the Michigan Head Start Association in Acme, Michigan, for their Fall Assembly.
What made our time together so impactful for me was the opportunity to engage with families and program leaders in the same room.
Most often, at conferences, I engage with teachers, family service staff, and other professionals who work directly with children and families.
We talk about their everyday interactions and how they can create conditions for children to thrive.
In Michigan, our conversations included the leaders who help create the conditions for those professionals to do their work well, alongside the families raising the children at the center of that work.
Together, we could explore how each person’s role contributes to the village.
For leaders, that meant thinking about how they tend the soil.
How do we ensure that team members have the care, information, resources, and support they need to build strong partnerships with families?
The conditions we create for adults are part of how we care for children.
And having families in the room allowed us to connect those conversations to their experiences, their questions, and what they wanted to learn to best show up for their little ones.
I spent quite a bit of time talking with families of newly diagnosed children. As they shared their stories and asked about Ricky II, I had the opportunity to engage with them as both an educator and a mother who remembers being at the beginning.
I wanted them to remember that when they look at Ricky II today, they are seeing years of growth.
They are at the beginning of a journey I now have the benefit of looking back on.
When you are in it, every moment can feel like forever.
Sometimes, we reach a milestone and go straight to the next thing without pausing to celebrate what just happened.
Moving from one thing to the next can make it feel like we are constantly in it.
But when I look back, I see tiny wins cobbled together to make this beautiful journey.
That was the perspective I wanted to offer those families—and any family reading this who recognizes that feeling.
This too shall pass. Give yourself a moment to see the growth and celebrate the milestones along the way.
Those conversations also reminded me how much we bring to a shared space through our experiences.
During the Top-Notch Villages™ workshop, one table group found a beautiful way to make those different perspectives visible.
In this workshop, we design a child’s ecosystem using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems model.
The activity helps us consider the people, relationships, and environments surrounding a child and how they connect.
At one table, families and leaders decided to divide their poster board.
The families designed the ecosystem from their perspective, and the leaders designed it from theirs.
Then they compared the two.
That was brilliant!!!!
They took the information we were exploring and added another opportunity for learning: seeing the village through one another’s eyes.
Having families and leaders at the same table made that possible.
Their willingness to share their perspectives gave everyone in the room more to consider.
For me, that moment captured so much of what village making requires.
We each know something about the child, the family, or the environment from where we stand.
Making time to understand what another person sees can help us work together with greater care and intention.
And that is something we can carry beyond a conference room into our next conversation with a family, a teacher, or a team member.
To the families and leaders who spent the day with me, thank you for sharing your stories, asking questions, and making the learning your own.
I came away grateful for what we had explored together and for the opportunity to witness your care for children, families, and the people who serve them.
I thank God that I get to wake up and experience the magic of village making as my career.
Thank you, Michigan Head Start Association, for a truly magical experience.
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