What is Your Legacy: Helping Kids Craft a Beautiful Life

   This year, our ECMS Student Council will take on a Legacy Project.  Sponsors Annie Holub and Pam VandeWater are assisting these wonderful students in designing a project that will allow them to contribute a gift to the school in the form of a permanent feature on our campus.  Selecting a gift for our campus that represents the student body requires making connections and defining how the Class of  2017 wants to be remembered as middle schoolers.

   There are several ways to view the concept of legacy.  One sort of legacy is a gift of money or property.   Legacy can also involve assembling a sort of “collage” of one’s actions, contributions and achievements.  During Rodeo Break, I had the opportunity to listen to some fireside wisdom about establishing and preserving one’s legacy.  And the good news is, building a legacy is for the living and the time to start is now.

     Thinking about one’s legacy helps us to discover ways to use time, talent, and resources in order to leave a lasting impression on those we love and on society at large.  It can also be a way of defining one’s core values and beliefs.  Constructing one’s legacy can be a dynamic,  self-edifying process where high expectations coupled with action and ongoing reflection can lead to a beautiful and meaningful life.

    In my personal teaching practice, I began having students think about legacy and goal-setting as seniors in high school.  This was part of my unit on teaching students to write high-quality college essays.  It was challenging for them because of the hyper-focus on self.  Several years ago, I presented some of these strategies at a workshop on college and career readiness.  Two teachers approached me afterwards and told me that they had been doing this kind of work with elementary students and seeing results in the form of motivation and an increased understanding of the importance of education in general.   I have included more formal studies at the end of this entry about the value of goal-setting with students.

   Mary’s List of Tools and Resources for Building a Legacy

     (By the way, this list is intended for kids and adults-- the process is ongoing).

#1.  Make a Lifetime Achievement List. (This is a kind of Bucket List of things you want to do/achieve in your lifetime). It’s okay to think big!

#2.  Create a Values List (What things are important to you? )

#3.  Write a letter of recommendation for yourself.  If you have trouble doing this, get help from someone who knows you and can recommend you.  Mention your best qualities (give evidence) and areas that you are actively trying to improve.  This can be more challenging that it seems as the letter must be "written by you and about you."

#4.  You have a million dollars to give away to any cause that is dear to your heart.

What cause would you choose and why? Who will benefit and how will they benefit?   

#5.  Someone has given you the opportunity to create your own museum.  What will go into your museum?  What do you/will you collect?  (Example:  Mr. Kwok On began the Kwok On Museum in Paris, France by collecting types of puppets from around the world.  It was his passion. The museum has about 12, 000 pieces in a very small space but is the best of its kind in the world…all because of Mr. On’s passion and love of the art of puppetry). 

#6.  Revisit your lists on a regular basis. Remember that they are not written in stone and as you change, so will your lists. 

#7.  Share your list with a friend or family member.  Do this periodically as a matter of habit. 

Research studies that support writing down goals and sharing them:

Study 1
According to Dave Kohl, professor emeritus at Virginia Tech:

1.     People who regularly write down their goals earn nine times as much over their lifetimes as people who don't.

2.     80% of Americans say they don't have goals.

3.     16% do have goals but don't write them down.

4.     Less than 4% write down their goals and fewer than 1% review them on an ongoing basis.

Study 2
Psychology professor, Dr. Gail Matthews, of the Dominican University of California conducted a study on goals that included 267 participants from a wide variety of businesses, organizations, and networking groups throughout the United States. 

    The results of her study were "Share your goals with a friend."     

    People who wrote down their goals, shared this information with a friend, and sent weekly updates to that friend were on average 33% more successful in accomplishing their stated goals than those who merely formulated goals.