Today at the Hope Foundation's Annual General Meeting we have students from Montana School in Hobbema sharing their hope art and the accompanying stories of hope. Eleven students participated in the Youth Hope Art Project that coincides with HOPE WEEK during the last week of every January. The reason we are having a special pre-AGM showing of their work tonight is because their artwork turned into a story that they want others to hear.

In addition to the art work and stories, we are hoping that one of the grade five students from Montana School will share her newly created hope model. We do not as of yet, have a multi-dimensional hope model for children and youth like we do for adults. However, as we are seeing, children and youth see hope as a multidimensional construct that is more than the goal setting theory of hope. I say this because last week grade six Hope Kids at Katherine Therrien school also shared their DNA's of of hope with me. In our conversation at Katherine Therrien school, like the one I had with the grade five student from Montana School, I heard things like, "This is my hope now." It would seem that these youth understand that our hopes change over time.

As soon as I get the models of hope off my camera and permission from the grade five student to share her model I will share them with those of you who cannot be at our Annual General Meeting tonight!