Are you with me now? A. J. Ryder     “I love this school!” These are the first words I heard as I entered Namahana School. They were an unsolicited exclamation of joy from a student.   Going from one island school, Beyond the Box to another Namahana has been a blessing. Last week in Barbados and this week on Kauai. Wow! Having the opportunity to do this trip made the similarities between the two schools even more pronounced and the work more important. Sometimes taking tim

Are you with me now? A. J. Ryder   Our time in Barbados was chock full of wonder and excitement. Wonder at seeing each and every student as the curriculum and the entire community as the school. For its size, Beyond the Box is the mouse that continues to roar. Like so many other countries the school system in Barbados is very traditional. When we visited Combermere School we saw firsthand what this looks like. Robin Douglas the principal graciously gave us lots of his time t

Are you with me now? A. J. Ryder   I arrived in NYC just before last week’s snowstorm for the BPL Leadership Summit and barring the storm and perhaps even because of it, the time at the Renaissance Hotel on 125 th St and the school visits were all eventful in and of themselves. It was a great gathering. Being from Brooklyn, it was especially memorable. I felt like I was home and that the hard work of so many developing lots of schools and programs in NYC was for me a time of