Belonging and Connection as Drivers of Learning

Transcend: How we transform the way we do school

For too long, education reform has been caught between two extremes: top-down mandates that overlook community wisdom, and grassroots efforts dependent on heroic educators to implement. Aylon Samouha makes the case for a third way: community-based design that brings together lived experience, design thinking, research & development, and community participation. CLICK HERE to learn more.

Shereen El Mallah Rebuilding young people’s trust in adults

For seven years, Shereen El Mallah asked students what they thought would happen to their data before collecting it. She never once got a positive response. Her work is about closing that trust gap: building visible feedback loops, honoring lived experience as expertise, and recognizing something too many systems miss – young people are not a potential resource. They’re a current force. CLICK HERE to learn more.

Local Civics How young people can transform communities

A middle schooler redesigning healthcare access. A group of Bronx seniors designing a women’s safety shelter. This is what becomes possible when young people are given the space and trust to lead. Beverly Leon believes the future of education is as much about what students build, for themselves and for their communities, as what they learn. CLICK HERE to learn more.

NACA Inspired Schools
Network What’s possible when education begins with who we are

When a school is built around a student’s full identity: their culture, their language, their community, it is transformative. Kara Bobroff founded the Native American Community Academy in Albuquerque grounded in the belief that when young people can fully be themselves, the opportunities in front of them are boundless. CLICK HERE to learn more.