Elliot Washor's TGIF 02.28.2025

“Are you with me now” A J Ryder

“I didn’t reject school. School rejected me.” Student at BPL Windsor discussing his last school. As we say, a school MUST fit a student as much as a student fits a school.

This week I went to visit schools up in Sonoma County where I spent time with Shannan Johnson, students and Heather Kristensen, the principal of Big Picture Windsor. Aside from all the work inside the school, Heather keeps BPL at the forefront of education in the larger high school district and beyond. Being a small school always has its challenges. Our educational system is all about scale, efficiency and consolidation where quality and the personal touch to students can be lost in the shuffle of politics and budgets. Amidst all the chaos and uncertainty of the Educational Silly Season we are in, I had a great time with everyone I came into contact with. As Shannan did her 1:1’s with students I got to hear their unique abilities and interests shine and how they are going to take their next steps albeit getting ready for the written examine to become a barber, going to UC Berkeley, San Diego or Long Beach State in Communications or going to nearby a Junior College with a two- and four-year degree programs for ranching and equestrian studies. There’s not enough space here to get into the nuance and depth of what these 1:1’s accomplished but rest assured Shannan knew these unique and incredible students like only an advisor in our kind of schools could and it was great to be part of those meetings and a great example of how a school fits each and every student.

It is better to know me when you don’t need me than to need me when you don’t know me. King Stahlman – Bail bonds San Diego

For some reason this week I had lots of calls with organizations that know us but have never really understood us. I had a long zoom with OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). They are a forum and knowledge hub for data, analysis and best practices in international public policy. One of their main programs in education is PISA. You know PISA the Leaning Tower of PISA no, not that one but an apt metaphor. They were sincerely curious about what they thought was our internship work and want to do a follow-up conversation. There were other calls as well from the US DOE, an unschooled group called MOSAIC and Carnegie Foundation for the advancement of teaching and learning. Given our data, our stories and the length of time we’ve been around, why does it take so long to get us? There are answers and one wry one is if, people acknowledge our existence, they can’t say what we do hasn’t been done and that puts them in a tailspin about how they spin their raison d’etre.

Here's just another example this week from John Merrow’s blog. John was the former education journalist from PBS and NPR. He knows us and has known about our work for decades.

Let’s stop asking, “How intelligent are you?”  Let’s ask instead, “How are you intelligent?”  That may strike some as a steep hill to climb, but it’s essentially the question that caring parents, teachers, and other adults ask about individual children. They phrase it differently, asking, “What is Susan interested in?” “What gets George excited?” “What motivates Juan?” or “What does Sharese care about?”  Every child has interests, and those can be tapped and nurtured in schools designed to provide opportunities for children to succeed as they pursue paths of their own choosing. Giving children agency over their education—with appropriate guidance and supervision—will produce graduates better equipped to cope with today’s changing world.  And a larger supply of informed voters!

Why not mention that BPL’s work is at the forefront of your story? It happens all the time.

Then, today I had a Zoom with Jen Stine and Lisa Poller from Agile Fundraising and Strategy Consulting who are working with BPL to get others to get us. We’ve done similar processes many times before with other consulting groups but I have a feeling this time it will be different. I hope that as we go through their process, we follow the advice of Alessio Figalli, a Field’s Medalist who stated: “It’s not that you wake up with an applied question and you find the answer. Usually the answer was already there, but it was there because people had the time and the freedom to think big. Big changes usually happen because of free thinking.” 

I’m always doing deep dives into crafts because is oft times it is overlooked in our work. Yep, we talk about AI and so many other technology platforms and sciences but craft brings it all together in human ways first and foremost. All that said, our Harbor Freight Fellows conference is coming up in Greenville South Carolina. Another one will follow in Los Angeles on May 31st and yesterday I was Monterey getting ready for my buddy Bob Stein’s 80th birthday, an educator with craft wisdom whom both Peter Rivera from Hewlett Foundation and Moises Aguiree the Superintendent of Sweetwater Unified would consider their mentor. Among so many other things Bob opened O’Farrell, the first charter school in San Diego and the first one in the Coalition of Essential Schools. He never forgets how he grew up literally homeless and on the streets in The Bronx. His love for children always drove his work first and he is a master craftsman in the field of education and democracy. All that said, we are up celebrating on the Monterey Peninsula where so many of John Steinbeck’s stories took place. Steinbeck understood craft. Here’s a couple of quotes from Cup of Gold that highlight this understanding.

“An aged seaman was sitting on a hatch plaiting a long splice. His fingers seemed each a nimble intelligence as they worked for their master never looked at them. Instead, his small blue eyes, after the manner of sailors’ eyes, looked out beyond the end of things. ‘So you would know the secrets of the lines?’ he said, without moving his gaze from the horizon. ‘Well, you must watch. It’s so long I’ve been doing it that my old head has forgotten how; only my fingers, remember. If I think about what I’m doing I get muddled up.”

Then 10 pages later and talking about a well-read gentleman

“He had learned without absorbing, remembered without assimilating. His mind was a sad mess of unrelated facts and theories.”

In a month we will be at the Deeper Learning conference. Once again, they never quite get us and more specifically the work we do with skilled trades. This is yet another group that sees us but doesn’t get us. Yes, the Seaman’s work is deeper than Deeper Learning might THINK!

 I’m keeping up with the topic of scarcity and abundance by reading The Serviceberry by Robin Wall Kimmerer. I found a copy of it on Shannan's desk. Synchronicity!

 “Our economy is rooted in scarcity, competition, and the hoarding of resources and we have surrendered our values to a system that actively harms what we love.” ‘Nuff said about international politics these past few days.

Next week, I’m in Austin for loads of scheduled meetings at SxSW.

Be well!