In the first episode of Season 2, Jim and Chris talk about the need to connect and join arms in this effort to revolutionize education. There are many working hard to create opportunity for youth, what happens if we link arms in our efforts to create opportunities for youth and inspire others to do the same?

We talk with Melissa Mouton and Keith Hayes of 5280 High School in Denver and Tony Simmons and Joey Cienian of High School for the Recording Arts in St. Paul (MN) about how they engage youth in meaningful projects and offer them the kinds of personal supports that support them to be successful.

Sandeep Dutt and Kiran Sethi share their stories and their passion for changing how we support youth around their heart, love, making a better world, and relationships. And then Chris asks : For someone listening to this, what can THEY do?

We need more equitable schooling. And we need to transform education so that youth can flourish. Brandi Kenner and Erin Raab talk about their work in the Choice-filled Lives Network as well as the many other endeavors they have been part of and continue to engage in. How do we create communities that contribute to the full potential and well-being of our youth!

Kyle Wagner's purpose for being in education is to save the planet by creating more globally, socially and emotionally aware citizens. The WHY for changing education is well established. We now need the HOW. Our current factory model is not producing the informed, critical thinking, inquisitive, curious problem-solvers our world so desperately needs

We have a BRAVE conversation with Thabiti Brown, Head of School of the Codman Academy Charter Public School in Boston, and Juma Crawford, CEO of the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation, about race, equity, the purpose of school, and what is still needed post-pandemic in our society to give every youth the opportunity to thrive. A powerful conversation that raised the ongoing challenges of race in our schools, communities, business, and society.

Matt Coleman, CEO at Inflexion, Claire Brown, National Director of AVID Australia at Victoria University in Melbourne, and Vanessa Wilkins, Founder of Future School Lab and Expert-in-Residence at Harvard Innovation Lab, talk about the need to focus on WHO our students are, the development of their identity, and reframing the paradigm of schooling. Grounded in years of experience reframing what we could and should be doing.

We talked with Abhijit Sinha who was taking the typical path, realized he was much happier creating amazing things and began to make spaces where community members could do the same. Sandeep Dutt, social entrepreneur, author of The Good School, Learning Forward podcaster, and HundrED ambassador, adds his thoughts. Cath Fraise, founder of 100 Roads and Workspace Education, adds to the fun. Hear how Abhijit has created self-directed, community-driven spaces of “creating, making, and doing,” where the community is creating their own learning and making their own solutions.

James Harris & Dirk Tillotson both have views of what is not working in our system of education through YEARS of experience. James, from his schooling in Oakland to his being President of the Oakland Unified School District and now zealot for all things education for youth in Oakland. Dirk Tillotson, Founder and Executive Director of Great School Choices, who has devoted his life to improving schools for poor Black and Hispanic youth in Oakland, NYC, and beyond. They talk about school funding, public investment in lower-income communities, and how federal money is and could be spent for youth and communities.

We talked with Mike Realon and Clifton Vann who share the importance of their work not only for the individual lives of the youth they work with but for the well-being of their communities as well. Mike Realon is the Career and Community Development Coordinator at Olympic High School in Charlotte, NC and Clifton Vann the CEO of Hyde Park Partners (HPP), the holding company for Livingston & Haven, MRO Stop, and AEG International (AEG), all leaders in technology, advanced manufacturing, design, and engineering.

Antonio Boyd, Executive Vice President at Future of School, and Zelda Waymer, President and Chief Executive Office at South Carolina Afterschool Alliance have been working in South Carolina and beyond for years in the best interest of youth, with a specific interest in providing learning experiences that will propel youth in disadvantaged communities. In this conversation, they hit upon the importance of relationships in forging partnerships that are mutually beneficial and extend beyond the usual give and take.

It's amazing how individuals from around the world come together around the same desire and purpose – to impact education for youth and the teachers in our systems. Here Vanessa Wilkins from Oregon with a background in leading efforts with Nike and Harvard, James Harris from his schooling in Oakland and subsequent President of the Oakland School Board, and Sanjili Gilway, by way of Toronto and now in the US supporting youth across the US engage in projects that impact their community and the lives of others. A special episode hearing from those coming from very different histories but sharing the pursuit of making a difference for others in education.​

Cath Fraise is ALWAYS creating, making, and dreaming of how to bringing learning to youth with a focus on their becoming agentic, self-directed agents of their own lives. Several years ago she created Workspace Education. Ever since has been assisting and supporting others who want to create their own local version of workspace in their communities, through 100 Roads. Now she is building a Workspace in the Sky, a virtual co-learning community space for youth to be self-directed in their learning, find peers to work and learn with and from, offer multiple avenues for learning, support youth with ongoing advising and coaching, AND support parents in how THEY can best assist and support their children to be self-actualized. Amazing, amazing, amazing.

In the center of Denver exists three entities: Pinwheel Coffee, Framework Cycles, and Embark Education. Embark Education, an alternative, learner-centered middle school where the focus is on supporting young adolescents' curiosity in learning, "supporting students to courageously inquire, engage, and discover a sense of self." The school focuses as much on typical academics as it does on their students' social development and interpersonal growth. Listen here to Miguel Gonzalez, Director of the School, and Megan Parry, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and four of their students – Elijah, Eireann, Hayes, and Jazmin – talk about the design of the school and how it has given students the opportunity to own their own learning.

Join two of our HS student interns, Hunter Kuchenbaur and Xan Maddock-Mark at Barrington RI High School, talk with Sanjli Gidwaney, Director of Design for Change USA, and two amazing youth, Minnah from Raleigh NC and Daniel from NYC, about how Design for Change has created an opportunity for them to make a real difference in the world – and in doing so, come to feel empowered as change agents and learners in the world. Minnah talks about her projects with Syrian Refugees and the remembrance of George Taylor while Daniel explains Suds 4 Society. Sanjli, Minnah, Daniel, and student interns, Hunter and Xan share how THEY would design their K-12 school.

My good friend and co-host of Season 2 of a Revolution in Education, Jim McCue, and I were blessed to have three students from Barrington High School join us as a team in the production of this podcast series. Jack Culton, Xan Maddock-Mark, and Hunter Kuchenbaur, joined us in this effort. One thing we both deeply believe is that youth should learn about the world, explore their interests, and pursue their passions through authentic activity in the world. This will help them come to discover, develop, and pursue their skills in making a difference in the world. Having Jack, Xan, and Hunter become the production team for our podcast, as well as the primary designers of our website and architects of our social media pursuits, and for us to work AS a team not only benefited us ... but we hope them too.

This is a special SUMMER edition podcast of Season 2 of our A Revolution in Education podcast, a collaboration between Jim McCue and two students at the Charlotte Lab School, Albert (Tré) Kirton III and his friend Branson Flynn, joined by Charlotte Lab leaders Mary Moss, Ricky Singh, and Vikki-Rose Tunick, and fellow students John Harmon and Kylie Southivongnorath. Mary, Vikki-Rose, and Ricky share how the Lab School started and the students share their first impressions of the school and the impact it has had on them. Everyone speaks to “the Lab Way,” focusing on relationships, WHO each student is, diversity by design, rigor and innovation, learning in the real world, and self-discovery through their advisory. Co-produced by two of the students at Charlotte Lab School.