This is a story of how a teacher-led Inspiration Tour of Norway became a student-led project of creativity and collaboration, in order to develop one girl’s idea into nationwide shared goal.
Alma Blystad’s journey to the Global Montessori Games began with a spark of inspiration. After Roelant Wijngaards visited her school – Bærum Montessoriskole – she and her friend Katarina immediately recognised a unique educational opportunity. As Alma stated, they believed it was “such an educational and special opportunity to travel to Chile, we just couldn’t miss.”
That initial excitement quickly turned into determined action. Alma took the lead, assembling a team from her own school. She then leveraged her role on the Norwegian Student Council to connect Montessori communities across the country. After successfully convincing not only her own school’s administration, she also invited students from DaVinci in Bergen to join the effort. The response was overwhelmingly positive because she made them see what she saw. In her words, “They thought it was so important and they didn’t want to miss out on this.”
To turn this dream into a reality, Alma and her team became master fundraisers. They spearheaded inventive campaigns like “mini cake lotteries where we earned money by baking and selling cakes.” Their strategy was a resounding success, so much so that Alma’s advice to others is clear: “Stalls like cake lotteries work so amazingly, that you have to book a place at the mall early!” With plans for a GoFundMe page underway, their relentless efforts have secured significant funding, with more still coming in.
Through her passion and perseverance, Alma was instrumental in ensuring Norway would be represented at the upcoming event in Chile. She transformed a personal goal into a collective mission, uniting students from different schools and proving that with vision and hard work, young people can achieve anything.
We at GAMES are proud to see such creative and collaborative efforts to attend our events, and invite other educators and young people to share their own stories of success.
PEACE,
Global Association of Montessori and Sport