Who Needs School?

Why not ask the customer? Seniors Riley Spahr and Frankie Kimball offer a current customer's perspective and insights into what works and what doesn't in their experience. We also delve into lessons learned during COVID--what will stick and what can we do without.

A veteran high school counselor, dean and now Principal of St. Ignatius College Preparatory speaks about her perspective on the role that schools play in teaching students how to build resilience and protective factors for their mental health. She shares early lessons learned during the forced shutdown of schools during the COVID pandemic, and she offers contemporary advice for adults raising teenagers today.

Sam Bernstein is the co-founder of Loper, a mobile-first startup designed to help high school students navigate the college application process by using data to match them with potential colleges. Sam discusses why he co-founded the company and what he has learned thus far in starting a company.

Lauren Mandel is a senior in high school and offers her perspective about what has inspired her to learn and about what it's like to explore life's deepest questions. She offers some unexpected insights to the needs of our students today when asked about being the principal for a day.

Trained in clinical social work, Kerrie founded LaRosa Parent Coach after realizing that good parenting leads to curious, responsible and independent kids and young adults. Today we discuss our first teachers--our parents and guardians.

A partner at DLA Piper, a litigation law firm in San Francisco, Matt Miller serves as the chair of the Pomeroy Recreation and Rehabilitation Center in San Francisco. The Pomeroy Center serves developmentally challenged kids and young adults mainly in after school programs. In this episode we explore the work at the Pomeroy Center with what is often the invisible in our society.

This tech leader speaks about how she learned the confidence to break glass ceilings and why the diversity of though is so important to thriving organizations. Carolyn speaks to the importance of instilling curiosity in young adults and the importance of collaboration and teamwork. This inspiring leader has advice and offers a perspective for all of us.

Entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of VoiceBrain.AI discusses his path into the start up world and how he found his niche. Peter explores the vital role of experiences outside the classroom that helped shape him into the leader he is today. Peter offers great advice for all of us, but especially for young adults, on the importance of finding mentors and taking initiative to reach into areas of interest.

A video game industry investor and analyst, Ted Pollak discusses the current and future situation of gaming and education. We explore the possibilities of merging video games--a predominantly visual medium--with education--a predominantly auditory realm.

Born in Hong Kong, Rayfil immigrated to the US and grew up in San Francisco. His story resonates with so many in the United States and particularly in the Asian-American community in San Francisco's Sunset District. After a decade in business, Rayfil returned to Hong Kong where he currently resides. He is an entrepreneur--one of his startups is the financial literacy series on YouTube called Professor Savings.We discuss his experience as an immigrant in the school system and what schools could do to prepare future entrepreneurs.

Capital One Senior Banker and Vice President Joshua Hunt and I discuss the implications of the hidden history of the Tulsa Race Massacre, his own family's story as part of the great migration of Black Americans out of the South, and how schools can address issues of race in the classroom.

Adria Renke is the President of Brophy College Prep in Phoenix, Arizona, and has decades of experience in education. We have a wide ranging conversation about the importance of curiosity, organization and confidence in a young person's educational journey.Adria also has a interesting perspective on worldwide diversity and the role our schools can play in forming citizens of the world. And finally, we talk about the importance of belonging to a people and of learning a moral code in the educational experience. A quick editor's note. I mentioned two books in this podcast:The first is Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. And the second is How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World by Neil Irwin.

Paul is the co-author of Charting a New Course: Reinventing High School Classes for the new Millennium. A long time English teacher and editor of St. Ignatius's Alumni magazine, Genesis magazine, Paul created a course that he team taught called Nature/Nexus. He discusses his evolution from classroom teacher to guide.

Jim shares how he turned a library into an innovation commons at Brophy Prep in Phoenix, how he's formalized innovation in the curriculum at Creighton Prep in Omaha as the head of school, and how formation is as important as education in secondary education.

The Catholic order of priests known as the Jesuits have been renown educators worldwide for over 450 years. What is their secret to success? Fr. Reese discusses cura personalis or "care for the whole person" at the center of a Jesuit education. 85ZGVRj8XqGpXMUFAaIa

After decades of building a leadership consulting business, Jeff Snipes is creating the Millennium Way through the start up middle school, The Millennium School in San Francisco. Started in 2016, the Millennium School strives to form students' minds, bodies and souls in a wholistic experience meant to prepare thoughtful leaders.

As a San Francisco Bay Area Design Thinking expert, Dr. Sam Yen shares his thoughts on how schools might use design thinking to teach deep critical thinking and inspire students to tackle today's most pressing issues and opportunities.

Conversations about the future of education.