Students Share Own Dreams in King Memorial

LEWISBORO, N.Y. – Inspired by Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, students at Lewisboro Elementary School revealed this week that they have some dreams of their own.

Every class throughout the school had a lesson in the famous civil rights pioneer and his legendary speech and then students were charged with coming up their own dream, either for themselves, their family or the world. The dreams were written on paper leaf cutouts and mounted on a tree mural in the school hallway. The tree was dubbed the “Tree of Dreams.”

“We put up the tree in September and we add leaves to it throughout the year based on different themes,” said Marie Calo, the teacher on special assignment who oversaw the Tree of Dreams project. “We had one based on respect, and of course we have ones for the different holidays.” For January, the theme was MLK and his dream.

In conjunction with the Tree of Dreams project, the school held an assembly on dignity which tied in with the Martin Luther King theme.

“We talked about civil rights, freedom, respect and standing up for what you believe in,” Calo said.

For the assembly, the students created a video where they asked adults what dignity meant to them and interviewed students about when they feel like somebody and when they feel like nobody.

“The video was about value, self-esteem, feeling noticed and feeling recognized,” Calo said.

The dreams that students wrote on their leaves ranged from the humorous to the heartbreaking. One student wrote, “I have a dream that my family will get better.” Another said her dream was to become the first female president of the United States. A few of the dreams were more egocentric: “I have a dream I will be on Broadway or be a professional singer,” and “I have a dream there will be no more homework.”

But one student probably summed it up for everyone when she wrote, “I dream of world peace.”

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