ABCD....We are the community.

In July I had the honor of presenting my ideas as a finalist for the School Ambassador Fellowship with the United States Department of Education. It was an incredible honor to be one of 13 finalists from a pool of over 400 applicants. 
Hearing from brilliant educators was a wonderful opportunity but my favorite part of the process was thinking of a problem of practice and developing an innovative solution.
Through my research I discovered Asset Based Community Development (ABCD). Initially, I believed that we should think of the school as a community of students, but the deeper I dug into the principals of ABCD, I realized we can't replace the word COMMUNITY with students. We must see the students and community as part of a whole!
I paraphrased some of the 12 guiding principles of ABCD from Mike Green of the ABCD Institute:

ABCD starts with focusing on strengths and then facilitating a dialogue within a community. Ask questions, develop solutions. Every child deserves to know their strengths and to participate in a dialogue about growth, questions, challenges and opportunities. This is being learner-centered but it's also about building a learning community first. 
Reading Secretary Cardona's proposed priorities for the U.S. Department of Education further fueled my belief that ABCD is one way to build the future of education.