SparkHouse is a conference where schools from all over the country come together in Washington, D.C. to discuss ways to popularize learner-centered education. We talk about our schools to discover the similarities and differences of each school and make our learner-centered school better. We learned what learner-centered education means to us and how we can make it more accessible to everyone.
“A new future of learning is emerging–one that celebrates the wonder, creativity, and endless imagination in every child.”
Education Reimagined
Alexa: I am extremely grateful I got picked to go to SparkHouse. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget. Everyone felt genuinely excited to learn and excited to be there.
One of my most important takeaways from SparkHouse is how I want to improve myself. It made me want to become a better person. It inspired me to be more kind and think about what I am saying and how it will affect others. SparkHouse inspired me to give myself more room to grow and trust myself.
Another important takeaway I had was that we have the power to change things. SparkHouse is an organization formed on the notion of change and I believe that it can make the world a better place. This inspired me to make a change in the world too.
I realized how important education is, and some people aren’t getting a good one. A lot of kids aren’t thriving in their learning community and SparkHouse could change that.
Overall, SparkHouse was a transformative experience.
Kate: I am so glad I went to SparkHouse because it was an incredible experience I will take with me for the rest of my life.
At SparkHouse, I learned that to be a leader, you have to act like a leader to show younger people what a true leader is, not just tell them, and the same goes for learning. To get younger people to want to know, you have to excite yourself because kids have a habit of copying what you do.
SparkHouse was a meaningful experience because everyone treated me like the human I am. A lot of times, adults will treat kids like they don’t know anything when, in reality, a lot of times, we know just the same amount as adults.
What I want everyone to know about SparkHouse is that there is hope for everyone. Everyone has the ability to do anything, but they might not be in the right environment. That’s why learner-centered schools are so important; everyone can find the right environment to learn. Sometimes, learner-centered schools are not suitable for some people, and that’s okay, but in many cases, they are the correct answer. That’s why it is so essential to get the word out there that there is another answer.
A lot of times, kids grow up thinking that they are stupid and dumb when, in reality, it is the adults in their life that are telling them that and the tests that they are not good at. But learner-centered schools don’t have that mindset because they help kids learn that everyone learns at a different pace and that is okay.
Luke: SparkHouse was a transformational experience for me because it showed me there is no one way to do learner-centered. Learner centered can be taking responsibility for your own learning to following your passions and goals. At SparkHouse we talked about the similarities and differences within our schools and found that learner directed means learning the way you personally are meant to learn. Learner directed is not just taking responsibility over your own learning or following your gifts and passions, what learner centered means is learning the way that your brain learns the best. The biggest takeaway I had was seeing how many cool things every learner was doing when they had the environment and resources to thrive.
Owen: This was not my first Education Reimagined event, but I feel so much more knowledgeable after participating in this event, and it has been the most influential Ed Reimagined event that I have participated in yet. I am so grateful that I was invited to this incredible event, and I am grateful to all the other environments out there for helping me learn more about learner-centered education.
At the 2023 SparkHouse conference, I learned so much about other schools, and learned even more about myself and my own environment. I learned how much I want my environment to be full of curiosity and excitement to learn. I wanted to try and spread that contagious feeling through my school. I think that this trip was extremely necessary for my school, and we all went back home feeling inspired to make some changes to our environment.
This conference made me curious about education and made me put a lot of thought into what I want my high school experience to be. It is really scary to think about high school because I don’t know exactly where I will go. There are no learner-centered high schools where I live. As I thought about it, I realized that, wherever I go, I think that learner-centeredness will come with me, because I will always do cool projects and I will always have a unique sense of agency in my education, thanks to my elementary and middle school experience.
At this SparkHouse, the most interesting part was making the videos. At SparkHouse, we split into groups and pulled different topics out of a hat. Each topic was oriented around learner-centered education. My group’s topic was employers on learner-centered education. We made a video full of cool scenes with an interesting storyline. This was the most hands-on thing that we did, and I enjoyed how we could relay our opinions and beliefs through creativity.
I really am grateful for being able to be part of this community and inspired by all the really good things Education Reimagined is doing to raise awareness of what learner-centered education really is. Hopefully, one day, everybody will know about learner-centered education. Every kid deserves this education.
Aaryn: I am truly grateful for SparkHouse and honored to have connected with the incredible young people and educators there. I was moved, challenged, encouraged, and inspired by this learner-centered community at what felt like every moment. I can’t wait to see how this dedicated and capable group of learners will continue to ignite learner-centered education!
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