Open Way Learning

If you could fix one thing about the world or your community, what would it be?

At lunch, students answered this simple question on sticky notes. Their responses ranged from world hunger and climate change to bullying, sports, screen fatigue, and wanting more time outside. One 5th grader wrote: “Less online/digital, more paper… more social time being outside and hanging out with friends.”

Student-centered classrooms do not have to start with a huge project. They start with simple routines that help teachers learn what students care about, then connect those insights back to core content, daily conversations, and classroom practice.

Join Open Way Learning’s Student-Centered Classrooms Cohort to catalyze engagement at your school or district.
Info Session: June 1, 4 PM EST

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Last Friday evening, downtown Marshall was full of energy as Madison Early College High School students turned creativity into community action through a thrifted fashion show at Marshall High Studios.

Supported by a WNC Resilience Project microgrant, students used upcycled fashion to raise awareness and support for Beacon of Hope, connecting sustainability, food security, and student leadership in a way that felt joyful, local, and real.
Earlier this year, during a school visit, one MECHS student described resilience this way: “It helps to be able to help others.”
One way schools can help young people build resilience during times of recovery is by giving them real opportunities to make a difference in their own community. That can happen through clubs, service projects, and core content when students are invited to connect what they are learning to the people and places around them.

As Beacon of Hope thrift store manager Anna Anderson put it: “It’s really inspiring that the kids in our community are thinking about the intersection of sustainability and food security.”

Read the article: https://www.msn.com/en-us/education-and-learning/general/it-s-really-inspiring-madison-early-college-students-fight-food-insecurity-with-fashion/ar-AA23hLIL

Madison Early College High School

'It's really inspiring': Madison Early College students fight food insecurity with fashion Madison Early College High School is putting together its first fashion show at Marshall High Studios on May 15 to benefit Marshall’s Beacon of Hope.

School improvement scales through systems that make great teaching visible, collaborative, and repeatable.

In this new OWL blog post, we explore how radical collaboration and experiential learning can become a catalyst for school cultures where innovation spreads naturally from the inside out.

If you’re a school leader wondering how to move from “one amazing classroom” to a culture of powerful learning across an entire building, this article is for you: https://bit.ly/4u5ZguZ

School Leadership and Experiential Learning: How to Scale Great Teaching From the Inside Out How do schools move from one exceptional teacher to a culture of great teaching across the entire building? This article explores how school leaders can use experiential learning, lesson study, continuous improvement, and collaborative practice to spread innovation from the inside out—without rely...

At the Spring Convening, we asked students how school has changed since Hurricane Helene. One student described it as an opportunity. Not because it was easy, but because of how people showed up for each other. Students talked about returning to school more thankful for their teachers and more ready to learn. In a moment where the conversation often focuses on learning loss, students named something else. They described strength, connection, and growth.

Read the full blog post here: https://bit.ly/4n0V50N