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QUESTION

What voices should be prioritized when considering education innovation?

ANSWER

“The real experts on student issues are students themselves”

David Spicer

Undergraduate Association
President and Student,
Massachusetts Institute
of Technology

Explore

QUESTION

How did virtual learning affect your school experience?

ANSWER

After COVID, we split apart in eighth grade. People just didn’t connect with each other. I drifted away from all of my friends.

Emiliano Juarez

Junior, White Plains High School

Explore

QUESTION

How can we create space for more diverse voices?

ANSWER

When working across differences, it’s important to enter the setting with the idea that ‘I’m coming here to learn from someone else.’

Iyana Gross

Student, Morgan State University

Explore

QUESTION

How can we encourage students that feel trapped by their current situation?

ANSWER

“I think we’ve been too quick to blame all these other reasons for why kids aren’t reading. It does correlate with things like poverty and circumstances in kids’ homes, but for some reason we haven’t looked at instruction.”

Delashay Lawrence

Student, University of Arkansas
at Pine Bluff

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QUESTION

Why is a quality education so important?

ANSWER

“One key role education has to play in our generation is helping to build critical thinking skills so we can create a better democracy.”

David Diao

Great Communicator, Ronald
Reagan Presidential Foundation
and Institute

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QUESTION

What are ways we can acknowledge the impact of Gen Z?

ANSWER

There’s the cliche that ‘young people are the future,’ but I think that dismisses just how involved young people are now in the moment.

Krasi Staykov

Student Advisor, Kentucky
Student Voice Team

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QUESTION

Why is nurturing Gen Z creativity so important?

ANSWER

“Kids need to learn how to create because the entrepreneurial surge is going to blossom.”

Jacob Idra

Voices for Choice Fellow,
American Federation for Children

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QUESTION

How can Gen Z become advocates for change?

ANSWER

“Start small. Find a tiny problem and find like-minded people to help you work on it.”

Nzinga Muhammad

K-12 Education Fellow, UNCF

Explore

QUESTION

What fuels your passion to support children who are homeless, ill, or in foster care?

ANSWER

“I learned that giving back is something I want to do and that I’m effective in doing.”

Grace Callwood

Founder, We Cancerve
Movement Inc.

Explore

QUESTION

What impact have the teachers in your life had on your education?

ANSWER

I believe I’m here today because of the teachers who chose to give me time and attention and donate all of their efforts and emotion to me.

Jadyn Fleming

Scholar, Rogers
Honors Academy

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QUESTION

What encourages you to work through complex issues with your students?

ANSWER

“When you give up, you’ve lost for sure. Every day is a new chance. Every morning I wake up, I can try.”

Martin Luna

Math Instructor, Graduate of
Roscoe Collegiate ISD,
a Collegiate EduNation District

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QUESTION

How do we improve literacy rates across the country?

ANSWER

“I think we’ve been too quick to blame all these other reasons for why kids aren’t reading. It does correlate with things like poverty and circumstances in kids’ homes, but for some reason we haven’t looked at instruction.”

Emily Hanford

Senior Producer and
Correspondent, American
Public Media

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QUESTION

How must we change our teaching methods to match students’ needs?

ANSWER

“Gen Z is not going to sit at desks and be lectured all day. We have to adapt our instruction to meet their needs because they’re digital natives. They were born into technology.”

Dr. Simone Jenkins

Assistant Dean, Hillsborough
Community College

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QUESTION

How can we lead students toward a better future?

ANSWER

“People come to you to be heard, not to be told. Part of being a leader is doing more listening than talking.”

Anna María Chávez

President and Chief Impact
Officer, Encantos

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QUESTION

How can schools better engage with the communities they serve?

ANSWER

“We need far more transparency for families around what’s going on in their schools, how their schools are doing, and actual parent voices at the table.”

Tricia Noyola

CEO, Rocky Mountain Prep

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QUESTION

How can social media help us reach and teach more students?

ANSWER

“This experience made me a community teacher who isn’t bound by the four walls of my classroom. If there’s a student out there who wants to learn, I am there to help that student.”

Jonte Lee

Chemistry and Physics Teacher

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QUESTION

How has technology changed how students learn?

ANSWER

“Young people are learning all the time—whether they’re in school or on Instagram or on TikTok—and it’s our job as educators to understand how to engage with them.”

Tony Weaver

Founder, Weird Enough Productions

Explore

QUESTION

How can we help students be more engaged in school?

ANSWER

“The secret to engaging kids is finding their passion and getting them excited to come to school every day.”

Dr. Debbie Jones

Superintendent, Bentonville
Public Schools

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QUESTION

How can we better support students in rural areas?

ANSWER

“Having internet access, having the ability to connect, creates opportunities that every child should have.”

Hosea Born

Lead For America and Heartland
Forward American Connection
Corps Fellow; Middle School
Teacher, Hope Public School
District

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QUESTION

How can we help more students achieve career success?

ANSWER

“We’re engraved with college, college, college. But college isn’t a pathway for everyone. It’s not only college that can make you successful.”

Ronald Perkins

Director of Workforce
Innovation, FUSE Corps

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QUESTION

How can we make learning more comprehensive?

ANSWER

“Learning is in everything that you do, and if you adopt that mentality, then it becomes liberating because now nothing is off limits.”

Torlecia Bates

Homeschool Teacher, Banking
Manager, Parent of Three

Explore

QUESTION

What about students today inspires you?

ANSWER

“I’m very hopeful because this generation of children is brilliant and has lots to say.”

Common

Artist, Actor, Author, and Activist

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QUESTION

How do you define social emotional learning?

ANSWER

“Social emotional learning is, if I can put it simply, to balance the teaching of head with the teaching of heart.”

Tim Shriver

Member,
COVID Collaborative National
Advisory Council;
Chair of CASEL

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QUESTION

What inspires you to seek new ways to improve education?

ANSWER

“What gives me hope is when educators who were thinking about leaving the profession tell me this is their dream job, and they want to stay in teaching.”

Shauna Causey

CEO, WEEKDAYS Micro-Schools

Explore

QUESTION

How can we give students more opportunities to succeed?

ANSWER

“I see really hungry kids who want a shot at that American dream. So let’s give it to them.”

Reshma Saujani

CEO and Founder, Girls Who
Code and Marshall Plan for Moms

Explore

QUESTION

How can we increase access to quality education?

ANSWER

“Education cannot be thought of as a commodity or as a means to maximizing profit. It is a sacred rite of passage that must be afforded to all in recognition of our human dignity.”

Isaac Lozano

Student and Writer

Explore

QUESTION

How can we build a more supportive learning environment for all students?

ANSWER

“It’s not just working with somebody on their algebra lesson—it’s about relationship building.”

Claudy Chapman

Tutor and Regional Director,
Saga Education

Explore

QUESTION

How can education empower students to become the leaders of tomorrow?

ANSWER

“We talk about students being the leaders of tomorrow. These young people are ready to lead today.”

Kaya Henderson

Founder & CEO,
Reconstruction US;
Co-host, Pod Save the People

Explore

QUESTION

How can we create an environment that encourages better quality learning?

ANSWER

“We have to care about the students, absolutely, but we also must care about the teachers.”

Sharon McMahon

Former High School
Government and Law Teacher

Explore

QUESTION

What makes you excited to go back to school?

ANSWER

"Elmo had fun learning with his friends and teachers on video, but Elmo really really can't wait to see them at school again!"

Elmo

Sesame Street

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QUESTION

What brings you hope when you imagine the future of education?

ANSWER

“When we have young folks who are relentless in the pursuit of justice, that is how we will move to a better world.”

Nekima Levy Armstrong

Executive Director,
Wayfinder Foundation

Explore

QUESTION

How can we help ensure all students feel they can be their authentic selves?

ANSWER

“A sense of belonging means feeling like you're accepted, but also that you can contribute.”

Ze Min Xiao

Director, Center for Economic
Opportunity and Belonging
at the Economic Development
Corporation of Utah

Explore

QUESTION

How can we inspire students to be more self-confident?

ANSWER

“We wanted to create an experience where students learn to manage themselves, build more intrinsic motivation, self-control, and self-care.”

Mikala Streeter

Co-Founder, Zucchinis
Homeschool Co-Op

Explore

QUESTION

How do we prepare for school reopening after a year of virtual learning?

ANSWER

“I really hope we can make sure that the fear that has pervaded adults—that we can push past that to say, ‘It’s okay to have the kids in school.’ That we will not let our anxiety affect our children’s ability to go back to having their regular lives.”

Emily Oster

Professor of Economics,
Brown University

Explore

QUESTION

What excites you most about your students and their future?

ANSWER

“Kids are so curious, and each kid is so different. Our interests and our unique gifts are all part of what makes great adults who are doing important things and helping others and building a stronger community.”

Jessica Hamilton

Teacher

Explore

QUESTION

What motivates you to create a positive impact in your community?

ANSWER

“You need to have an ideology that you’re going to change things. You have to work hard and expect to have pushback from people.”

Zahir Mbengue

Student, Village Leadership
Academy

Explore

QUESTION

How can we create more inclusive spaces for students, regardless of immigration status?

ANSWER

“I envision a place where our students are coming in, knowing they can thrive and that they can do anything they dream of without having to think about their immigration status.”

Viridiana Carrizales

Co-Founder & CEO, ImmSchools

Explore

QUESTION

How can we rethink and rebuild education better?

ANSWER

“I think we should re-imagine education by asking how and who should educate us. It’s not so much about what we teach—it’s every mechanism and who is getting to educate our students that we should rethink.”

Eddie Koen

President & CEO, Urban League
of Greater Southwestern Ohio

Explore

QUESTION

What do young people truly need to thrive?

ANSWER

“We have to knock down this idea that you have to prefer either academic outcomes or social, emotional wellness—that one needs to come before the other.”

Drew Furedi

President & CEO, Para Los Niños

Explore

QUESTION

How can the pandemic change our approach to “what matters” in education?

ANSWER

“This is our once in a lifetime opportunity to make the world a safer, more secure place.”

Tom Frieden

President & CEO, Resolve to
Save Lives; Former CDC
Director, Obama Administration

Explore

QUESTION

How do we recover from learning lost during the pandemic?

ANSWER

“Lost learning implies that it can't be recovered. But we can recover it and move forward.”

Shalinee Sharma

Co-Founder & CEO, Zearn

Explore

QUESTION

How do we recover from the trauma of the pandemic?

ANSWER

“Our children are looking to us, and we need to show them that we are survivors, and we are vulnerable too.”

Maria Hinojosa

Founder, Futuro Media

Explore

As we turn the page on a school year we won’t soon forget, we’re exploring what the future of education looks like with the doers, thinkers, and learners at the heart of it.Explore Voices

As we turn the page on a school year we won’t soon forget, we’re exploring what the future of education looks like with the doers, thinkers, and learners at the heart of it.

What voices should be prioritized when considering education innovation?

“The real experts on student issues are students themselves”

How did virtual learning affect your school experience?

After COVID, we split apart in eighth grade. People just didn’t connect with each other. I drifted away from all of my friends.

How can we create space for more diverse voices?

When working across differences, it’s important to enter the setting with the idea that ‘I’m coming here to learn from someone else.’

How can we encourage students that feel trapped by their current situation?

“I think we’ve been too quick to blame all these other reasons for why kids aren’t reading. It does correlate with things like poverty and circumstances in kids’ homes, but for some reason we haven’t looked at instruction.”

Why is a quality education so important?

“One key role education has to play in our generation is helping to build critical thinking skills so we can create a better democracy.”

What are ways we can acknowledge the impact of Gen Z?

There’s the cliche that ‘young people are the future,’ but I think that dismisses just how involved young people are now in the moment.

Why is nurturing Gen Z creativity so important?

“Kids need to learn how to create because the entrepreneurial surge is going to blossom.”

How can Gen Z become advocates for change?

“Start small. Find a tiny problem and find like-minded people to help you work on it.”

What fuels your passion to support children who are homeless, ill, or in foster care?

“I learned that giving back is something I want to do and that I’m effective in doing.”

What impact have the teachers in your life had on your education?

I believe I’m here today because of the teachers who chose to give me time and attention and donate all of their efforts and emotion to me.

What encourages you to work through complex issues with your students?

“When you give up, you’ve lost for sure. Every day is a new chance. Every morning I wake up, I can try.”

How do we improve literacy rates across the country?

“I think we’ve been too quick to blame all these other reasons for why kids aren’t reading. It does correlate with things like poverty and circumstances in kids’ homes, but for some reason we haven’t looked at instruction.”

How must we change our teaching methods to match students’ needs?

“Gen Z is not going to sit at desks and be lectured all day. We have to adapt our instruction to meet their needs because they’re digital natives. They were born into technology.”

How can we lead students toward a better future?

“People come to you to be heard, not to be told. Part of being a leader is doing more listening than talking.”

How can schools better engage with the communities they serve?

“We need far more transparency for families around what’s going on in their schools, how their schools are doing, and actual parent voices at the table.”

How can social media help us reach and teach more students?

“This experience made me a community teacher who isn’t bound by the four walls of my classroom. If there’s a student out there who wants to learn, I am there to help that student.”

How has technology changed how students learn?

“Young people are learning all the time—whether they’re in school or on Instagram or on TikTok—and it’s our job as educators to understand how to engage with them.”

How can we help students be more engaged in school?

“The secret to engaging kids is finding their passion and getting them excited to come to school every day.”

How can we better support students in rural areas?

“Having internet access, having the ability to connect, creates opportunities that every child should have.”

How can we help more students achieve career success?

“We’re engraved with college, college, college. But college isn’t a pathway for everyone. It’s not only college that can make you successful.”

How can we make learning more comprehensive?

“Learning is in everything that you do, and if you adopt that mentality, then it becomes liberating because now nothing is off limits.”

What about students today inspires you?

“I’m very hopeful because this generation of children is brilliant and has lots to say.”

How do you define social emotional learning?

“Social emotional learning is, if I can put it simply, to balance the teaching of head with the teaching of heart.”

What inspires you to seek new ways to improve education?

“What gives me hope is when educators who were thinking about leaving the profession tell me this is their dream job, and they want to stay in teaching.”

How can we give students more opportunities to succeed?

“I see really hungry kids who want a shot at that American dream. So let’s give it to them.”

How can we increase access to quality education?

“Education cannot be thought of as a commodity or as a means to maximizing profit. It is a sacred rite of passage that must be afforded to all in recognition of our human dignity.”

How can we build a more supportive learning environment for all students?

“It’s not just working with somebody on their algebra lesson—it’s about relationship building.”

How can education empower students to become the leaders of tomorrow?

“We talk about students being the leaders of tomorrow. These young people are ready to lead today.”

How can we create an environment that encourages better quality learning?

“We have to care about the students, absolutely, but we also must care about the teachers.”

What makes you excited to go back to school?

"Elmo had fun learning with his friends and teachers on video, but Elmo really really can't wait to see them at school again!"

What brings you hope when you imagine the future of education?

“When we have young folks who are relentless in the pursuit of justice, that is how we will move to a better world.”

How can we help ensure all students feel they can be their authentic selves?

“A sense of belonging means feeling like you're accepted, but also that you can contribute.”

How can we inspire students to be more self-confident?

“We wanted to create an experience where students learn to manage themselves, build more intrinsic motivation, self-control, and self-care.”

How do we prepare for school reopening after a year of virtual learning?

“I really hope we can make sure that the fear that has pervaded adults—that we can push past that to say, ‘It’s okay to have the kids in school.’ That we will not let our anxiety affect our children’s ability to go back to having their regular lives.”

What excites you most about your students and their future?

“Kids are so curious, and each kid is so different. Our interests and our unique gifts are all part of what makes great adults who are doing important things and helping others and building a stronger community.”

What motivates you to create a positive impact in your community?

“You need to have an ideology that you’re going to change things. You have to work hard and expect to have pushback from people.”

How can we create more inclusive spaces for students, regardless of immigration status?

“I envision a place where our students are coming in, knowing they can thrive and that they can do anything they dream of without having to think about their immigration status.”

How can we rethink and rebuild education better?

“I think we should re-imagine education by asking how and who should educate us. It’s not so much about what we teach—it’s every mechanism and who is getting to educate our students that we should rethink.”

What do young people truly need to thrive?

“We have to knock down this idea that you have to prefer either academic outcomes or social, emotional wellness—that one needs to come before the other.”

As we turn the page on a school year we won’t

soon forget, we’re exploring what the future

of education looks like with the doers, thinkers,

and learners at the heart of it.Explore Voices