Our children are our future. Education is at the heart at developing their skills and abilities and yet year after year we hear about the degrading state of our educational system. Our nation has spent trillions of dollars on failed programs that research and experts had promised would work. Achievement gaps persist, performance declines are accelerating and so it is of paramount importance that we explore novel ideas and solutions. You might not agree with many or any of the ideas below, and we certainly are not endorsing policies – our hope is just to create a space where bright, dedicated folks from the community can share their ideas – so that we can all come together and better understand each others experiences, concerns and how we might move forward together to build a brighter future.

Tanya Boucicaut

There are many things that I would change about the educational system for whom I have spent the majority of my life being engaged, which is higher education, as an almost 20-year professional student (I finish my PhD in December) to being a former professor to being an editor for a college and career preparation nonprofit called AVID Center for which I was an AVID student all four years of high school. I must shout out Coach Dwight Robinson, Dr. Kellie Mason, and Dr. Paula Johnson, who have been instrumental in my life from high school to my present-day career and academic choices. I shout them out because they are/were all connected to AVID in pivotal ways that impacted my life. They saw me here before I could even imagine it. I give AVID a shout-out because, with this current position, I can live and thrive in LA. Read more>>

Preston Craig

In both my B.A. and M.F.A. program, emphasis was placed on learning or refining ones skills. While this is great and necessary, there was no emphasis placed on how to prepare for the marketplace once one graduated. There were no internships provided or guidance for job search, preparing for a job interview, or setting up one’s business as a contract freelancer. For some odd reason, the schools didn’t seem to think this was important. After my B.A., it took me many years of struggling to finely land a decent job as an illustrator. Unfortunately, the company dynamics left a lot to be desired and I eventually left. After a goodly while, I decided to go for my M.F.A. The school (Academy of Art) made a lot of promises to encourage me to enroll in their program (the success rate of their graduates, their job placement program, putting one in contact with potential employers, teaching experience, setting up portfolio reviews with major companies, etc.). I did some due diligence to make sure these weren’t empty promises and they mostly seemed to check out. It was only a few months before I graduated that I discovered that this had all been a lie. Read more>>

Lisa Cheby

As a librarian, the question options here do not really seem to fit. The focus is not about sales or marketing, but empowerment. I think in education, because our mindset of success is so focused on the right marketing, a good profit (for the company or for our personal accounts) that we forget about supporting a person’s growth as a person. We do not nurture curiosity, uncertainty, compassion, and service as we should. Perhaps a biased opinion as a librarian, I would allow more time for discover, more opportunities and support for students to pursue inquiry-based learning individually and as a community.They always have questions about the “content” that we often dismiss, maybe with a kind metaphorical pat on the head, because there is a timeline we must meet of testing and graduation dates, etc. Also more time in the library to read and libraries that are fully staffed and funded so they can have the relevant material and support for independent reading activities (it can be enhanced with thoughtful and informed curation). Of course all of this implies a need to revamp our entire system, Read more>>

Katie Ehrlich

Most university design programs are focused on just that, design. Those creative thinking, iterating, and problem solving skills are obviously incredibly important to being a successful designer. But design is a unique field that requires half artistic ability, half entrepreneurial ability. When students reach out to me for advice, it’s never for critique of their work, but for direction in their career. How do I find clients? What should my portfolio contain? How do I write an effective opening email? How do I negotiate prices? What’s the average hourly rate? What should I include in a proposal deck? How do I get into a new area of design? These business skills are rarely touched upon in a design class, yet they are just as important to leading a successful design career as the art itself. I would love to one day lead a lecture series on these topics to really help young designers stepping into the field for the first time. Read more>>

Brittany Jenkins

I think in general the education system does not prepare us for the real world in many ways. One of these ways is in really educating students the vast array of jobs that exist, specifically within niche industries. When looking specifically at photography within the arts, there are so many photography jobs that exist. Wedding and portraits perhaps being the most obvious, but you could also look at sports photography, events, food and beverage, branding, real estate, or marine photography, to name a few. And then within each of those you can even get more specific. Maybe you just want to focus on one specific sport or event, or you only want to photograph at a certain type of venue, you want to only do branding sessions for small business owners, etc. When I was in high school, I remember taking a photography class as my art elective and loved it. We worked with film cameras and learned the ways of the dark room, and worked with digitals, learning a few of the many ways you can play with photos in photoshop. It was possible to assist in sports photography for the schools sporting events. Read more>>

Myles Harris

In order to get better results academically, today’s students need more investment into their emotional & mental well being than in the studying itself. This generation is struggling with so many negative influences that are preventing them from even having a chance on a test and exam. if we don’t address the negative self talk, anxious & depressive thoughts, or the attention span issues then they will be doomed to failure. We go about school the wrong way and educators don’t have the capacity and resources to adequately address these social & emotional (SEL) needs due to the pressure placed on them to pass a test. I recall a principal telling me about how they have a counselor specifically there to address SEL needs of students. However, the counselor was so overwhelmed by administrative work that she rarely has the time to actually counsel! We cannot continue to function this way as a society and expect better results from our youth. Read more>>