Extreme Project Makeover: The Big Reveal

As the bus pulls away and the beleaguered family sees their new home for the first time, invariably the tears start streaming down the faces of all involved. From the tirelessly working mom who never thought she would catch a break to the volunteer who finally felt he had done something worthy with his time, the feeling of fulfillment is a human need not to be denied and is often greeted with a rush of emotion. The Global Action Project Symposium on May 15th, 2012 was no different. At 8:45pm on a day that included a full day of class, coaching a playoff lacrosse game and now two hours of presentations, I was as surprised as anyone else when my eyes welled up with tears listening to a student talk about her hero Malalai Joya, an Afghani political activist, and how her social enterprise was created to be a refuge for women in that embattled nation to seek safety and eventually become independent. She eloquently described how her organization, appropriately called Newstart, was not concerned with immediate scalability, but their strength was through “The women we reach, the women they reach, the children they teach.” She and her partner had truly learned the lessons we worked on throughout the year about the success rates of grassroots organizations, about the plight of women detailed in Nicholas Kristof’s Half the Sky as well as the concepts of sustainability. As I listened to her work and her infectious enthusiasm, I allowed myself to think that she may launch something like this someday.

And so the makeover of The Sudan Project was complete. Instead of just focusing on the plight of the Sudanese, we expanded our worldview with an emphasis on the plight of women, examined our own personal causes (even writing a mission statement), learned about social enterprise with Jacqueline Novogratz and strengthened our work with documentary filmmaking. The students bought in 100%. Whether it was the variety, the personal element, or the empowering feeling, their enthusiasm rarely waned throughout the year. The constant interjections of what others were doing around the world gave them hope where the inundation of the Sudan information for an entire year truly weighed down the students in past years. The problem in Sudan is just so big and so profound that it was hard to be optimistic.

While project-based learning remains a minor form of torture for a Type-A teacher, there was no doubt of the student investment the afternoon before the final symposium. As one group was practicing in the presentation room, there were groups scattered throughout the halls practicing, talking, coaching, negotiating. Making sure that their ideas were clearly communicated to the audience mattered to them. Our Assistant Head of School made an interesting comment to me later; he said he knew the work was authentic because while there were good presentations, there were others that needed revision and polish. He said this was clearly a sign that even though I tried to guide the groups, the final decisions were truly their own. Four years in to the Sudan Project, the Cuba Project and now the Global Action Project, I still get nervous when the students present to a wider audience, but each time, it reaffirms my belief that this experience is so much more valuable to them than most others we provide in a traditional school setting.

Moving forward, I am fortunate enough to teach this class again next year and we need to be better. I want to be more mindful in my implementation of design thinking skills from the beginning of our work together. Students do not like process and they certainly don’t want to be patient enough to work through stages such as inspiration, ideation, iteration and implementation. I don’t blame them; in a world where they have a million assignments to keep track of, sports practice, play rehearsal and tutoring sessions, there is no time to give to thinking in any form, more less something as divergent as design thinking. Students commented that when we did use this process, it felt like a waste of time; I noticed that with few exceptions, students kept one of the first ideas they had and then worked around any weaknesses rather than reinvent or even revise. Additionally, I hope to use the community better. Our business plans were weak because their teacher knows very little about business, but there are plenty of people in the community that can help. Additionally, I hope to get our feet on the ground and see some of the work people in the St. Louis area are doing. The more people I can put in front of the students the better for everyone.

So as Ty Pennington and his crew pull out of town each week, they leave many happy people in their wake and know they are off to have the same experience with a new group in a new place. School years are the same in many of ways: there are new groups in your room and new personalities to learn, but the work continues to be meaningful for all participants. That seems to happen when you know you are building something together.




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