Elliot Washor's TGIF 08.29.2025

Are you with me now? A. J. Ryder

This week, I spent loads of time in California. Whether it was in Los Angeles where Anthonette and I met with the Commissioner of the Port of Long Beach or down in San Diego with the Learn4Life group where we continue to discuss potential connections to Unbound, the IBPLC and when appropriate Harbor Freight Fellows. We are also in talks with San Diego Unified about developing internships in four of their high schools. Another interesting potential body of work is with former NBA star Ralph Sampson and his Agri Hub Initiative at theMcBride Sisters Wineryin Napa, CA.  Ralph’s work in both in Napa and in Virginia where he started developing Agri Hubs on his family farm using regenerative farming techniques are places for youth to plug into and learn anything from business, distribution or farming. The idea is to supply local food to hospitals, schools, elderly care facilities and communities. Price reductions come because everything is handled locally.

Next week, I’ll be up in Lost Hills, CA also doing work with charter schools around the development of BPLiving and B-Unbound.

Perfectionism and Mattering

I was reading an article called The Pain of Perfectionism by Leslie Jamison when to my surprise the storyline took a turn toward mattering. Turns out that Gordon Flett, a researcher on perfectionism sees mattering “as a counterpoint to perfectionism, a more viable way to arrive at a sense of self-worth. One doesn’t have to be perfect; one just has to matter to someone.”  Recent polls have indicated young people, especially Gen Z-ers, are facing an “epidemic of perfectionism.” A 2024 Gallup poll found that more than one in three U.S. teen-agers feel pressure to be perfect. This race to be perfect is in many ways driven by how young people align to physical and mental standardized perceptions set up on social media. On the flip side mattering shows up as an antidote to perfectionism and fits squarely into the book Pam and I are now writing presently called THE EDUCATION PIVOT: MEANING & MATTERING IN THE AGE OF AI. You never know where connections are going to pop up that you need to follow up on. Now I’m going to make a call to Gordon Flett and find out more about his research on mattering.  

Speaking about living up to a standard, our IBPLC work is also a counterweight to this drive toward perfectionism that is harming youth through the ranking system used by standardized assessments. Instead with the IBPLC students can use all sorts of ways to match to a standard and show what they are capable of. What a great way to matter! In the near future I’m hoping we can get time with our BPL staff to review some of their documents and research to get everyone up to speed around understanding the importance of this work.

We are also in the midst of writing a proposal for a statewide skilled trades apprenticeship in New Jersey using our Harbor Freight Fellows design as the process of entry. This is the kind of opportunity we have been waiting for to do work at scale.

Happy Labor Day!