Jones Elementary Leadership Retreat
Dream BLDRS
Kick Off
Vision
Passion
Strengths
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What Is DREAM BLDRS at Jones Elementary?
DREAM BLDRS™ at Jones Elementary is an interactive, facilitator-led college and career development experience for elementary students. The program translates college and career readiness and social-emotional learning concepts into activities students can understand, apply and carry forward.
Students are not asked to have their entire future figured out. They are given a framework for recognizing their aspirations, understanding what matters to them and identifying the abilities they can begin developing now.
Partner
Jones Elementary School, Metro Nashville Public Schools
Engagement Format
In-person, multi-week student experience
Facilitated by
Aspire Focus Areas
Through guided reflection, culturally relevant stories, individual activities and group learning, students connect who they are today with who they can become.
The experience focuses on three foundational DREAM BLDRS modules: Vision, Passion and Strengths.
College and Career Readiness Starts Before the Application
From school-based learning to real-world exposure
Preparing students for college and careers begins long before they choose a major, complete an application or enter the workforce. It begins when they can name what they want, recognize what they bring and understand why their future matters.
DREAM BLDRS™ makes that foundation relevant to students now. The experience connects personal development, social-emotional learning, communication and future readiness so Dreamers can begin seeing a clearer relationship between the classroom and the life they want to build.
Program Leadership
Led and Facilitated by Patrick Walker-Reese
Patrick Walker-Reese, MPA, is the Founder and Chief Dream BLDR of Aspire. An educator, author, speaker, and leadership facilitator, Patrick helps students and professionals connect vision, personal strengths, and disciplined action to meaningful goals.
His approach combines research-based development principles with storytelling, reflection, and interactive learning. Through Aspire, Dream BLDRS, and Dream BLDRS+, Patrick has worked with schools, colleges, companies, and community organizations seeking to strengthen leadership and help people build better versions of themselves.
Bring Patrick and other Aspire speakers to your next keynote, student program, professional-development session, conference, retreat, or corporate event.
Karimah Taylor
Dream BLDRS Engagement & Program Coordinator
Daniel Westbrooks
Lead Facilitator and Youth Engagement, Mental Health, Reentry & Recidivism Specialist
Built for Today’s Students
DREAM BLDRS™ combines education, storytelling and active participation to create a learning experience that feels current, culturally relevant and connected to real life.
Every session is designed to move students from listening to doing through:
- Facilitator-led discussion and guided reflection
- Individual activities and collaborative challenges
- Stories from culture, business and everyday life
- Opportunities to write, speak, share and build confidence
- Practical takeaways students can continue using beyond the session
The goal is not only to expose students to new possibilities. It is to help them recognize themselves as active participants in creating what comes next.
Student Learning Outcomes
Clearer Vision
Articulate their aspirations and begin imagining a future they can build.
Future Readiness
Connect classroom learning with future college, career and life opportunities.
Passion and Purpose
Connect their interests and curiosity to problems they care about solving.
Problem-Solving
Apply their Passion and Strengths to real-world challenges and possibilities.
Team Collaboration
Improve communication and strengthen how educators work together.
Strengths Awareness
Identify the qualities and abilities they can use to move their dreams forward.
Practical Application
Translate retreat insights into clear, actionable next steps.
Confidence and Communication
Express their ideas, experiences and aspirations with greater confidence.
Building Vision, Passion and Strengths
The Jones Elementary engagement gives students time to explore each idea, connect it to their own lives and build from one module to the next.
The journey begins with a program introduction and Kickoff before moving through Vision, Passion and Strengths. Each experience adds another part of the foundation:
Vision helps students see the future.
Passion helps them understand why it matters.
Strengths help them recognize what they can use to build it.
Vision
Where do you want to go?
Students identify their aspirations and begin putting them into words. Through Vision development, Dreamers learn that a meaningful future becomes easier to pursue when they can see it, describe it and share it with confidence.
Students work toward:
- Identifying personal and future aspirations
- Developing and articulating a Vision Statement
- Creating language that keeps their dream visible
- Practicing confident written and verbal communication
Passion
What matters enough for you to act?
Passion helps students connect their curiosity and interests to the people, problems and possibilities around them. Dreamers explore world issues, consider what they care about and begin discovering the purpose behind the future they want to build.
Students work toward:
- Discovering their Passion through real-world issues
- Connecting curiosity with purpose
- Developing and articulating a personal “why”
- Practicing problem-solving and responsible decision-making
Strengths
What are your best tools?
Strengths helps students recognize the qualities and abilities they already possess. Dreamers build greater self-awareness, learn how different strengths contribute to a team and consider how their personal tools can help turn their dreams into reality.
Students work toward:
- Identifying their individual Strengths
- Building confidence and self-awareness
- Understanding different communication and collaboration styles
- Applying their Strengths to challenges, relationships and future goals
About Jones Elementary School
Jones Elementary School is part of Metro Nashville Public Schools in Nashville, Tennessee. The school works to create a supportive learning community where every child is known, valued, challenged, and equipped with the tools to succeed.
Through academics, performing arts, enrichment opportunities, and family engagement, Jones Elementary supports the development of the whole child. As part of MNPS, the school helps prepare students for continued success in school, college, career, and life.