Notes From The Field: Too Many Students Are Dying
The most inspiring stories can often be found in the most unlikely places. In Webster City, Iowa’s StuCamp was no exception. First for some background: StuCamp is a day long mini conference hosted by students, for students. It follows the popular un-conference model where the agenda for the day is set in the beginning by asking the room of 50+ students, “What issues exist in your school that you want to solve?” The session suggestions ranged from “school lunch” to “What is th
Student: I think this school should be shut down.
I started off the roundtable in this rural South Carolina school the way I always do. I asked, “What can y’all tell me about your school that you think the adults in your school don’t know?” One student responded without hesitation: "I think this school should be shut down. I’m serious, no one here, not the principal, not the students, not the teachers, cares at all." It was an oddly warm winter day in South Carolina. Merrit and I arrived at the front door of the crumbling bu
