About OCN
Hi, I am Leo Wilder, founder of the Orchid Care Network. What exactly is the Orchid Care Network? Well, it is not about horticulture, except for when that is one of our student's special interests. The Orchid Care Network is all about helping ensure all students get what they need in order to learn and grow so they can flourish and bloom into their fullest potential.
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The name for the Orchid Care Network comes from a book I read by W. Thomas Boyce called The Orchid and The Dandelion. Boyce, an American pediatrician, published the book in 2019 and within it he explains a lot of science around how nature and nurture interact together and shape children into distinct traits that can be represented by the metaphor of the orchid and dandelion. You may have purchased an orchid and noticed the little tag that tells you to water it with an ice cube once a week. Most people do this and then throw the orchid away when all the pretty blooms fall off. If you give an orchid really specific, delicate care, these sensitive and incredible plants will bloom again and again. You may also have noticed a dandelion growing up through a crack in the sidewalk. These hardy weeds can withstand a lot of unfavorable conditions and still manage to push forward towards the sun. Boyce uses this metaphor to explain how many children are more like dandelions - resilient, able to handle a lot of pressure and challenges and still bloom regardless. However, others are more like orchids - with innate, gorgeous, and almost other-worldly talent ready to bloom, but requiring much more specific and thoughtful care in order to do so.
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I started this network because I am a teacher and a parent. When I was in Kindergarten, I said I wanted to be two things: a teacher and a mom. How lucky am I to have achieved both of my life goals already! I have gained a lot of experience between teaching K-3 Special Education on the south side of Chicago in 2012 to learning about my own neurodivergence through parenting a child who reminded me so much of myself it was scary, to opening a micro-school for these "orchid" kids in my local area who had been bullied and misunderstood by their school systems and peers due to their uniqueness. Through the past decade of my work in both public and private schools, I have become more and more aware of the massive inequality going on in our education system today. I have also learned of so many harmful practices continued on by educators who either simply do not know better or who refuse to listen to more recent research and guidance.
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These orchid kids often have Autism, ADHD, a history of trauma, gender and sexuality differences, and/or other neurological conditions that make them easily targeted by bullies of all ages. They are thrust into classrooms where teachers are underpaid and overworked, not allowing even some of the best ones enough time and energy to devote to individualizing the child's learning to the level that they require. They then go home to exhausted parents who are most likely also neurodivergent and dealing with the anxiety and depression from a lifetime of not having their own needs met. The parents want to do right by their kids and want to support them, but they don't always know how to do that.
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This is where the Orchid Care Network comes in. Our mission is to:
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provide funding, training, and resources to micro-schools and other educational programs that strive to meet the individual needs of each student
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equip parents with information and connection to help them better meet the needs of their child at home and to meet their own needs as well
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foster safe, flexible learning communities where all students are free to be who they are, explore what lights them up, and receive supports and accommodations to help them learn everything they need in order to pursue their future goals
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advocate for fair, appropriate, accessible education for all
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If you are interested in learning more, sign up below for updates or reach out to me at:
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Thank you!​
Leo
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