Motivational speaker tells children to reach for the sky

By Cheyenne Thomas As they entered the gymnasium, Granton summer school students and guests walked past a series of signs. Each one displayed a different, short message. Be creative. Be positive. Be responsible. Be yourself. At the end of the program held there on June 13, the students were encouraged by speaker Travis Wagner to take at least three of those messages and practice them in their daily lives.

Wagner was there to bring lessons of encouragement to children through his “Try Higher” presentation. The presentation was sponsored by both the Granton Community Library and Abbotsford Public Library, where Wagner stopped later in the day for an evening presentation.

Using several different items to provide the children with a way to visualize the lessons he was trying to teach, Wagner not only talked to the kids about how to stay positive and believe in oneself, but also told them unique facts and history about hot air balloons. At the end of his program, he inflated a full-size hot air balloon in the school gymnasium to the wonder of everyone who attended.

“I have here a $100 bill,” he told the children at one point during his presentation, pulling a $100 bill from his wallet. “Sometimes, moms, dads and teachers have a bad day. Let’s say this $100 has a bad day. You are the $100 bill. It falls on the floor and gets stepped on. Is that $100 now worth only $50? Is it worth $20? No. It’s still worth $100. Even on a bad day, you still have your value. No one can take your value away from you.”

At another point, Wagner pulled out a sign that had the word “Impossible” written on it. He told the children that with one simple change — the addition of an apostrophe — the word would change to mean “I’m possible.”

“An apostrophe is just a small thing,” he said. “You may think, ‘Well, I’m just a kid.’ But it’s the little things that make a difference in our lives and make a difference in other people’s lives.”

Even when he provided history and facts about hot air balloons, Wagner’s words provided lessons to the children about not giving up. Telling them about a pair of brothers who invented and used the first hot air balloons in France, Wagner said their drive and belief in themselves allowed them to conquer flight.

“They believed that they could do it,” he said. “When you tell yourself that you can’t do something, you won’t be able to do it. Success starts by saying that you can try, that you can do it.”

Before inflating the hot air balloon inside the gym, Wagner told the children that if there was anything he wanted them to leave with, it would be with the messages in their hearts of the kinds of people they want to be. There were several signs on display outside the gym which displayed positive messages on good qualities a person could practice. “I want you to walk past those signs and pick three of your favorites,” he said. “Maybe you can do more than three, but three of your favorite ones and I want you to do them.”

Capping off the presentation, Wagner invited everyone in attendance a chance to take a brief walk and picture inside the inflated hot air balloon. The unique opportunity was one that the kids eagerly took part in, giving them a memorable way to remember the important life lessons they learned that day.

Above, a member of the audience wows the crowd by lifting “20,000 pounds” of weight during the “Try Higher” presentation given by Travis Wagner (right). A full-size hot air balloon was inflated in the Granton central gymnasium (bottom left) and the children in attendance were allowed to walk into the 70-foot tall balloon for pictures and for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of being inside a hot air balloon.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTOS