The message here is one that resonates with me deeply. Seems like I've been fighting for curriculum and educational experiences to go "above and beyond" for more than 20 years. I hope the public as well as key school personnel get this message, but just as the film portrays...how many folks will see it and say, "We should have kids build stuff!" or "Let's get rid of all teachers that aren't pushing this kind of creativity." or "Let's have a school contest." Those folks would be missing the mark also, not with malice but off the mark the same.
A smart guy I know, Charlie Fitzpatrick, said, "It is always far more impressive watching people do powerful things with simple tools than doing simple things with powerful tools." The kids in this allegory certainly do that and more. Their use of simple tools produced powerful things, impressive results. I submit that the real tools are those that are highlighted less often. What if the "tools" we used implicitly were things like creativity, spatial awareness, diversity, compassion, teamwork and persistence? We might come up with a recipe for success that includes the perfect ingredients AND the best tools for the job! Perhaps we might all go "above and beyond"!
