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!

“We believe that the kind of person our learners become is far more important than how much they know. By viewing each of our learners as trustworthy, capable, and kind we know we are making a profound difference in their self-worth and who they become.”

The Village School

This session, Adventure learners are exploring the five Learning to Live Together character traits outlined in the TVS Profile of a Learner: accountability, compassion, servant leadership, collaboration, and respect.

Accountability

“By rising above and consciously holding ourselves accountable, we will be able to overcome what was holding us back and achieve things that we never thought possible.”

Janyssa Berrios

Learners dove into Session 2 with Janyssa Berrios’s Tedx Talk on accountability. After reflecting on Berrios’s ending challenge (see above quote), learners were invited to share any tools and strategies that they could use to hold themselves accountable during Session 2. One learner said, “I need to break big tasks down into small tasks. That will help me reach my goals.” Another learner stated, “I want to make daily goals and have a list of things I need to do.” To utilize these strategies and provide the space for each learner to make progress at their own pace, learners have been writing at least two goals of their own on a shared whiteboard in the studio each day. For example, one learner might plan to do forty-five minutes of math and thirty minutes of reading, while another learner may choose to write a Deep Badge Book review and complete research for Civilizations. 

At TVS, learners have a lot of freedom and responsibility. One of their biggest responsibilities is taking ownership of their learning and putting their best effort into their work and community.

Compassion

“We don’t get harmony when everybody sings the same note. Only notes that are different can harmonize. The same is true with people.”

Steve Goodier

During the second week of Session 2, learners explored compassion as a way to help each other overcome obstacles. Naturally, this deep dive began with a story–a story about a snail and a caterpillar. In the story, a snail and a caterpillar are going to a garden party and face an unexpected challenge along their path–a wooden door. The snail’s shell is too big to fit under the door so she asks the caterpillar if they can go another way. At first, the caterpillar has a hard time understanding the snail’s request because he has never personally experienced that challenge. After talking things through with the snail and doing his best to see the situation from the snail’s perspective, the caterpillar and snail work together to find a different way to the party. 

At the end of the story, learners were asked the following question:

Which of the following is the most important for seeing another perspective so we can help each other overcome obstacles?

1. Focused listening
2. Reminding yourself that everyone faces different challenges in different ways
3. Asking thoughtful questions with sincerity
4. Something else?

Though there were individuals in each camp, the majority of learners chose option B. Learners then discussed the benefits of tapping into compassion, shared several concrete examples of approaching situations with understanding, and explored how compassion can build a team.

Servant Leadership

Leaders eat last.

Simon Sink

At the beginning of the year, Adventure learners watched a talk given by leadership expert Simon Sinek on how to build trusting teams. In the talk, Simon challenges the audience by asking, “How do we create an environment in which our people can work at their natural best?” and stating, “Leadership is not about being in charge, it’s about taking care of those in your charge.” Simon’s question and statement served as two touch points for the learners while building the team last session. Now, two months later, learners have been challenged by Sinek’s words once again.

Sinek discusses servant leadership in his account of how he developed the title for his book Leaders Eat Last. Sinek proposes that the phrase ‘leaders eat last’ is very literal and that leadership itself is servant leadership. When asked what the phrase ‘leaders eat last’ looks like in day-to-day life, one learner responded, “Servant leadership looks like making sure everyone is taken care of.” A second learner added, “Leaders eat last looks like checking on someone when they’re having a bad day.” A third learner shared, “It’s helping people when they need it.” 

Collaboration & Respect

Learners will wrap up their deep dive into the Learning to Live Together character traits by exploring collaboration next week and closing out the session with respect.

Learning to Live Together

At TVS, learners learn how to live together. The environment is often messy and the community is constantly changing. As each trailblazer ascends their mountain, they’re equipped with the tools they need along their path and, more importantly, choose who they are as they climb.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

African Proverb

The first session of the year is all about building community, creating culture, and finding a rhythm. In contrast to a more traditional middle school where only one day or week might be reserved for community building, in the Adventure Studio, learners focus on the Build the Team Project and spend an entire six weeks completing challenges that intentionally build community. With every challenge, the adventurers learn more about their roles and responsibilities as members of a community, and dig deeper into what it means to be a trailblazer. One of the first team-building challenges learners faced was the Frostbite challenge. For the challenge, learners were divided into small groups and given the following scenario:

“Imagine this: You and your crew embark on a new adventure and decide to climb Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Russia. Though you thought this would be one of the best trips of your life, your arctic adventure turns into an arctic expedition gone wrong. As a storm approaches, your group leader gets frostbite and can no longer move. To make matters even worse, the UV rays reflecting off of the ice and snow cause the rest of your group to develop snow blindness and they can no longer see. As the storm draws nearer and nearer, your mission is to work together to build a shelter that will survive arctic wind and snow. Your leader will verbally guide you as you build your shelter. Good luck!”

As soon as the 30-minute timer began counting down, the pressure was on! Some learners patiently attempted to identify their mystery objects, some started throwing things together as quickly as they could, and others waited for instructions from their leader. Newspaper was ripped, paper cups went flying, bits of plastic were hastily flung over leaning structures, and tape was furiously wrapped around anything and everything. When the timer hit zero, learners presented their shelters to the whole studio and then reflected on the process of building a shelter together. Learners identified the mindsets and skills that are necessary for building a team, as well as the challenges that naturally come with having so many different perspectives. One learner shared, “When one of us did something wrong, our leader would correct us and no one got frustrated. We just took a deep breath and tried again, this time listening to all of the instructions given to us.” Another learner stated, “It surprised me that my team was actually able to build a structure that may be able to survive a big storm/blizzard.” A third learner shared, “I was surprised that everyone had their own idea!”

Here at TVS, learners are trailblazers. Trailblazers are empowered to take risks, overcome obstacles, make choices, be leaders, and claim ownership of their journeys. Since the Frostbite challenge, learners have used their unique talents and gifts as trailblazers to come together and craft a studio contract, build badge plans, create a music video, and plan a field trip. That’s not all. These trailblazers have also stretched their critical thinking skills by engaging in challenging discussions, changed and improved studio systems, practiced holding each other accountable to their studio promises, and gained confidence in advocating for themselves and others.

Here, learners have the special opportunity to craft the environment and culture they want to be part of. In just a few weeks, learners have taken several steps towards not only becoming independent individuals, but also becoming a strong, capable, and resilient community; a community that strives to be a team of individuals who choose to show up and be present, learn from failure, and lift each other up. 

Here, learners unite to be a team that trusts, a team that leads, a team of trailblazers.