Have you ever had a moment of knowing that you are in the right place at the right time? Here is ours:
In June, Marcy, Veronica and Laura attended a leadership conference in Italy. The conference was hosted by Susan MacDonald (an American early learning consultant/coach) and Angela Ferrario ( an American professional development consultant) in the small village of Mercatello. While the conference topic felt like one that we didn’t need to travel to Italy for, who were we to turn down such an experience?
The day pre conference, we took advantage of being in Italy and visited the Loris Malaguzzi Centre in Reggio Emilia where we were inspired to play, to discover, to question, to create…. Everything was intentional, the documentation showed pride in their work and highlighted their learning. We talked about how we were missing this from our curriculum and talked about ways to bring it back.
The first day of conference, we quickly learned WHY we were in Mercatello, Italy. A small village that is centred around the Piazza, where community members gathered at various times of the day. We would find them in the morning having a cappuccino, gelato in the afternoons and a glass of wine in the evenings. Children were gathered playing, people gathered with their instruments. It reminded us the power of community. We met in our meeting room, where Angela shared her why. While she had ties to the village, it was the values of community and collaboration amongst others that drew her to having a retreat there. Every detail was done with intentionality. Our room was picked based on its name, meaning a place where people gather, collaborate, belong, are innovative etc. THIS IS THE MOMENT: she then tied it to the “The Third Place”. We all looked at each other, loving the concept as we were sitting in a room with 11 other strangers who we already felt so connected to, when Marcy says ” my mom opened a transition house in Truro called the Third Place.” It was at this moment that we started dreaming.
Introducing you to Allegro’s Third Place! We hope that this place will bring joy, wonder, spark imagination , innovation and collaboration. We are excited to see children explore and make new discoveries, to see our staff gather and connect and have a space for our Allegro community to collaborate.
“For me, the third place has always been a feeling. An emotion. An aspiration that all people can come together and be uplifted as a result of a sense of belonging. This is the cornerstone of our business, yes, but “belonging” is also a basic human right, which should be afforded all members of a society.” ~ Harold Schultz
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