Aspire Dream BLDRS™ with Haynes Middle School
Aspire has partnered with Haynes Middle School to bring our award-winning college and career readiness Dream BLDRS program to you!
We are thrilled to announce the launch of the second year of DREAM BLDRS, our College and Career Readiness Program at Haynes Middle School! Led by renowned speaker, Best-selling author, and educator Patrick Walker-Reese. Dream BLDRS is designed to empower our students with the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to explore their future academic and career pathways through vision-based learning.
College & Career Readiness
Unique Incentives
Guest Speakers
A glimpse of Aspire Dream BLDRS in action!
Dream BLDRS
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Dream BLDRS at Haynes Middle School
Aspire’s Dream BLDRS program, now in its second year of collaboration with Haynes Middle School, continues to provide an unparalleled classroom experience designed to inspire and empower students.
This program offers students a series of workshops that contains three modules, each designed to empower them with the skills and mindset needed to shape and achieve their desired future: a vision statement activity that helps them articulate their aspirations, outlining what they aim to achieve in the future and how they plan to positively impact others along the way, exploring their personal strengths and learning how to develop effective personal branding strategies to support their goals, and identifying their passions by examining some of the world’s biggest challenges; fostering a sense of purpose and direction in their journey toward achieving their dreams.
DREAM BLDRS OBJECTIVES
- Encourage Future Aspirations: Help students articulate clear, actionable vision statements that align with their goals and highlight the importance of having a vision for their future.
- Foster Personal Growth: Develop students’ soft skills, social-emotional awareness, and self-confidence through engaging activities and self-reflection exercises.
- Equip Students for Success: Provide tools and strategies for identifying strengths, setting goals, and connecting personal ambitions with solutions to global issues.
- Enhance Engagement and Collaboration: Use interactive assessments, such as the animal characteristics activity, to build self-awareness, teamwork, and appreciation of diverse strengths and values.
The Power of DREAM BLDRS
Why Dream BLDRS?
The Dream BLDRS™ workshops integrated interactive sessions focusing on Vision creation, character assessment, personal branding, and ideal employee/company traits.
As students transition to high school and beyond, it’s crucial for them to start considering their future goals and the steps needed to achieve them. This program aims to inspire and equip them with the tools necessary for making informed decisions about their education and career paths.
The second year of Aspire’s Dream BLDRS program at Haynes Middle School focuses on equipping students with the tools and skills needed to shape their futures. This initiative aims to enhance students’ soft skills and foster their social-emotional well-being, providing a strong foundation for personal and professional growth. By helping students build confidence, resilience, and self-awareness, the program empowers them to work toward their aspirations and realize their full potential.
DREAM BLDRS EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS
- Unique Incentive 1: Dream BLDRS Vision Statement Competition for Cash Prizes
- Unique Incentive 2: Patfacts 2: More Than A Dream book giveaway
- Unique Incentive 3: Pizza sponsored by Slim & Husky’s Pizzeria
- Enhanced Engagement: Dream BLDRS Closeout at NMAAM
Impact of Dream BLDRS
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Impact of Dream BLDRS
The impact of the Dream BLDRS program at Haynes Middle School began with understanding students’ social-emotional baseline through a school-wide pretest. Prior to the workshops, only 25.3% of students reported feeling extremely comfortable expressing their ideas openly, and just 48.5% rated themselves highly confident (a 6 on a 0-6 scale) in their ability to be successful. The program was designed with a clear objective: to significantly improve these metrics by focusing on self-confidence, communication skills, and a belief in their ability to achieve their goals. Through targeted activities and support, Dream BLDRS aimed to transform these numbers and inspire lasting student growth.
A glimpse of Aspire Dream BLDRS in action!
Outcomes & Insights
Measure participation. Understand impact. Improve future experiences.
Student feedback, strengths assessments, and program data that help Aspire and GEAR UP Nashville measure impact, understand student needs, and shape future college and career readiness experiences.
Executive Summary
Over the 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 school years, Aspire partnered with Haynes Middle School to implement the DreamBLDRS Leadership Series, providing students with leadership development experiences centered on Vision, Goal Setting, Strengths-Based Leadership, Passion, and College & Career Readiness.
Across two years of implementation, the data consistently reveal a student population that is optimistic about the future, motivated to succeed academically, and eager to make a positive impact. Students demonstrated strong leadership potential, high confidence in their ability to succeed, and a growing understanding of how education connects to future careers. At the same time, the assessments identify clear opportunities to strengthen communication, career exploration, executive leadership skills, and postsecondary planning.
Idea
Haynes Students Dream Big and Aspire to Meaningful Futures
Across multiple Vision assessments, students consistently demonstrated ambitious aspirations and a desire to pursue careers that create both personal success and community impact. While Sports & Entertainment remained the leading career interest, students also expressed growing interest in Business, Healthcare, Education, Criminal Justice, and other professional pathways.
Selected Sports & Entertainment as their primary career interest.
Selected Business
Selected Healthcare
Believe Vision should be Big
Believe Vision should Help Others
Key Finding
Across multiple Vision assessments, students consistently demonstrated ambitious aspirations and a desire to pursue careers that create both personal success and community impact. While Sports & Entertainment remained the leading career interest, students also expressed growing interest in Business, Healthcare, Education, Criminal Justice, and other professional pathways.
Strategic Recommendation
Continue expanding career exploration through industry speakers, college visits, career academies, and mentorship opportunities that expose students to a wider range of high-demand careers while reinforcing the connection between education and future success.
Student Reflections
Biggest Takeaways from Dream BLDRS
Student Voices
Learning is most meaningful when students can describe how it has changed their thinking. Following the session, participants reflected on their biggest takeaways, sharing how Dream BLDRS strengthened their confidence, encouraged bigger thinking, reinforced the importance of vision, and inspired them to pursue their goals with greater purpose.
Insight
Students Connect Education, Leadership, and Financial Success
Across two years, students consistently identified academic success and financial stability as their highest priorities. Students also prioritized healthy habits, time management, and physical wellness as daily success behaviors.
Selected Make Better Grades as a yearly goal.
Selected Make More Money as a yearly goal.
Selected Graduate and Continue Their Education as a yearly goal.
Key Finding
Students recognize that future success requires intentional planning. Their goals reflect an understanding that academic performance, financial literacy, and personal habits work together to influence long-term outcomes.
Strategic Recommendation
Integrate goal-setting, financial literacy, executive functioning, and college-and-career planning throughout the school year so students can consistently connect daily behaviors with long-term aspirations.
Leadership Insight
Students Demonstrate Strong Leadership Potential
The DreamBLDRS Strengths Assessment revealed that Haynes students naturally identify with strengths centered around relationships, communication, and vision.
Executive Highlights
Identified Supportive as a Leadership Strength
Identified Communication as a Leadership Strength
Identified Visionary as a Leadership Strength
Identified Integrity as a Leadership Strength
Identified Optimism as a Leadership Strength
Leadership Profile & Style Distribution
DreamBLDRS Strengths Assessment | Haynes Middle School
52% of Students chose Gorilla
38% of Students choose Fox
34% of Students choose Bear
28% of Students choose Bear
25% of Students choose Owl
Strategic Recommendation
Continue providing students with leadership experiences that intentionally strengthen communication, teamwork, conflict resolution, and collaborative decision-making, helping students leverage their natural leadership style while developing the complementary skills needed to lead effectively in school, college, and future careers.
Executive Finding
The leadership assessment reveals a well-balanced student leadership profile. A majority of students naturally identify as Gorilla leaders (52%), demonstrating confidence and initiative, while more than one-third also identify as Fox (38%) and Bear (34%) leaders, highlighting strong problem-solving and relationship-building abilities. The presence of Rabbit (28%) and Owl (25%) leaders further reflects a student population that values thoughtful decision-making and collaboration.
Key Finding
Students exhibit a healthy balance of leadership styles, with many naturally demonstrating confidence, initiative, and relationship-building skills. The high percentages for Supportive, Communication, and Visionary indicate that students already possess many of the interpersonal competencies associated with effective leadership.
Strategic Recommendation
Build upon these strengths by providing more opportunities for public speaking, collaborative problem-solving, student leadership teams, peer mentoring, and conflict-resolution experiences that help students translate natural strengths into real-world leadership skills.
School Readiness
Higher Education Interests from Dream BLDRS
School Readiness
Students Believe They Can Be Successful
Across both school years, students consistently expressed confidence in their future while identifying communication as an area for continued development.
Executive Highlights
Average confidence in future success remained above 4.5 out of 6 across both school years.
Average comfort expressing ideas increased from 3.62 to 3.88, demonstrating measurable improvement.
Key Finding
Students already believe they can succeed. The greatest opportunity is helping them confidently communicate their ideas, advocate for themselves, and lead others.
Strategic Recommendation
Continue embedding communication-rich learning experiences throughout DreamBLDRS, including student presentations, mock interviews, classroom discussions, debate, elevator pitches, and leadership showcases that increase confidence through repeated practice.
Impact
Two Years of Data Establish a Roadmap for Continued Growth
The DreamBLDRS Leadership Series has provided Haynes Middle School with valuable longitudinal data that can inform future programming and student support.
Strategic Priorities
Key Finding
The longitudinal data reveal that students consistently demonstrate strong aspirations, optimism, and leadership potential across multiple cohorts. Rather than needing increased motivation, students would benefit most from continued exposure, structured leadership opportunities, and practical experiences that help transform vision into action.
Strategic Recommendation
The next phase of DreamBLDRS should shift from awareness to application by increasing experiential learning opportunities, strengthening partnerships with business and higher education, expanding student leadership roles, and implementing recurring progress monitoring to measure growth in leadership, communication, and college-and-career readiness over time.
Executive Conclusion
The 2024–2025 and 2025–2026 DreamBLDRS Leadership Series established a strong foundation for leadership development and college-and-career readiness at Haynes Middle School. Across two years of implementation, students consistently demonstrated optimism, resilience, and a desire to make a meaningful impact on their communities. They identified communication, supportiveness, vision, and integrity as core leadership strengths while expressing ambitious goals centered on academic achievement, financial success, and postsecondary education.
The longitudinal data also provide a clear strategic direction for future programming. Continued investment in career exploration, communication, executive leadership development, and experiential learning will help students move beyond simply envisioning successful futures to actively preparing for them. The consistency of the findings across multiple cohorts demonstrates that DreamBLDRS is not only reinforcing leadership mindsets but also equipping students with the confidence, purpose, and practical skills needed to thrive in high school, college, careers, and life.
Dream BLDRS: Vision
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Dream BLDRS: Vision
Students categorized their vision statements across eight fields, with sports and entertainment leading at 38.9%, business at 16.1%, and healthcare at 13.7%. Only 1.2% of students were undecided, demonstrating strong engagement with their future aspirations. Additionally, 53.7% of students rated having a vision as “extremely important” on a 7-point scale, and 70.1% gave the vision module a perfect 5-star rating.
A glimpse of Aspire Dream BLDRS in action!
Dream BLDRS: Passion & Goal Setting
When it came to personal goals, the most common aspirations included improving grades (85.8%), earning money (75.7%), and graduating (71.7%). These goals aligned with students’ interest in solving major global issues, with violence (25.5%), homelessness (21.5%), and education (19.4%) ranking as their top concerns. In terms of daily priorities, 73.2% of students indicated they spent most of their time with family, and volunteering was the least selected activity at 24.6%.
A glimpse of Aspire Dream BLDRS in action!
Dream BLDRS: Strengths
In the strengths module, students reflected on their abilities and completed an animal characteristics assessment, which identified their strongest traits. Communication and visionary skills were the most common strengths, each at 76.3%, followed by supportiveness at 75% and integrity at 71.4%. Decisiveness was the least common strength at 46.1%. The assessment also revealed that students most often identified with the gorilla (50%), representing competitiveness, followed by the fox (47.4%) for compromise, the bear (30.3%) for accommodation, the rabbit (27.6%) for avoidance, and the owl (23.7%) for collaboration. This activity was highly rated, with 78.4% of students giving it a 5-star experience rating, underscoring the program’s ability to engage and inspire students in their journey toward personal and academic success. Overall, the dream BLDRS program continues to inspire students to dream big and equips them with the skills and confidence to turn those dreams into reality.
A glimpse of Aspire Dream BLDRS in action!
