Over 40 members of the Vilnius International School staff went on a two-day retreat. The aim of the event was two-fold. We sought to induct ten new staff members into our school culture and to align our organizational values with the new context.

In an activity aimed at sharing our organizational identity, teachers expressed their connection to the school community by comparing it to an artefact of their choosing.

‘Mushrooms as you know are very beautiful, but they are fragile things and this one in my hand is poisonous. As a person who teaches language, I was thinking about a verb which had to do with a mushroom popping up because in the same way, ideas and emotions that pop up can be poisonous. But as you know, mushrooms have an underground network called mycelium. It is something unseen that holds them together. So, while a mushroom is temporary, everything that is underground remains tightly woven and through its interconnectedness it survives the knocks and pops up again as a new organism.”

Six teams of teachers complied from four value statements to present to the whole group. These were vetted by the leadership team and shared with the VIS School Council for a final vote.

Our organizational values for 2021 are: