Redding School District

It all started in Bridgeport, Connecticut.  The pie company in town had many drivers of their horse-drawn carriages to deliver their one product, pies.  Every afternoon those drivers gathered behind the shop to have lunch when one of the drivers became extremely bored.   While in this state of boredom and idea was born.  He reached into the back of his wagon, pulled out one of the companies wares, and tossed it at another one of the drivers seated nearby.  Of course, this received laughter from many of the drivers and before you knew it, they were all engaged in tossing their companies items about.  It was after that day that the workers decided it was a great way to relieve their boredom.  The tossing of the tins became a regular lunchtime creation. 

Before you start thinking that this was the beginning of the great Bridgeport pie fight or some form of new comedy.  You should know that these employees had discovered something over many months of practice with their newfound pastime.  They had turned their lunchtime fun into a real art.  For example, they found that the accuracy depended on the how you held the pie tin and that a certain flick of the wrist helped with stabilization of the flight.   Soon Yale University students took notice and began throwing the tins about and it became a craze.  Not to be outdone Harvard students followed close behind and soon after Notre Dame and then all other major universities across the country.

It was the workers of a pie company in the 1870’s who discovered a great way to let off some steam and relieve boredom.  The activity is still considered a great way for others to let off steam and pass the time.  As a fact, there are sports dedicated to this activity in most universities today.  Right now one of the original pie tins is on display in the Smithsonian Institute because of its significance in aeronautical design.  That pie companies name is proudly embossed on that tin.   You might have guessed, Frisbee.

Many of us have heard Plato’s saying, “Necessity is the mother of invention” as a way to explain how problems are solved.  Frisbee became the invention to solve the problem of boredom and grew into something greater than imagined.  

We truly value the fact that all kids can learn.  The greatness of our system comes from the abilities of the people who serve those students.  Our ability to work together and make powerful process choices in order to continue to improve outcomes for all students.   It was the driver’s collective work with the pie tins where discoveries were made that turned the Frisbee into what it is today.  As we move our processes more and more towards a collaboration model of collective inquiry, stay focused on the results for our students.  Helping our students become successful, productive, healthy, responsible citizens within our community is one of our highest priorities.  As you engage each other in action research, learning science or collective inquiry models I encourage you to embrace the failures and learn to overcome.  I truly believe we have the capacity to make a grand difference across our many varieties of student groups.

When Thomas Edison was asked why he was so prolific an inventor, he replied that is was a result of what he called the “multiplier effect.”  He placed his team of inventors near each other to encourage them to consult with one another so that each member of the team benefited from the collective intelligence and failures of that group.  His teams not only worked better but faster.  (Smith 1985 American Enters the World

Enjoy your weekend,

Rob