Chicago educator and entrepreneur Scott Steward breaks down his teaching philosophy, rooted in getting to know his students. Steward founded Genius Lab in Chicago, where he teaches young people technology, business, and how to become an adult. He honed his curriculum from teaching in Chicago Public Schools classrooms for fifteen years in largely black and brown communities. First Steward traces his youth on the South Side of Chicago, when he did not prioritize academics at all, and then he explains the turning points that took him through the corporate world and eventually to teaching youth who grew up much like himself. Related to this episode: • Scott Steward: https://scottsteward.com/ • Genius Lab: https://www.geniuslabchicago.com/ • 666 new Texas laws go into effect Sept. 1: https://www.texastribune.org/2021/08/31/new-texas-laws-september-2021/ • Derrion Albert: The Death that Riled the Nation: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/derrion-albert-the-death-that-riled-the-nation/ • Million Man March: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Man_March • Guillain-Barré syndrome: https://www.cdc.gov/campylobacter/guillain-barre.html • NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship): https://www.nfte.com/ • Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep: https://brookscollegeprep.org/ • SEL (social-emotional learning): https://www.nu.edu/resources/social-emotional-learning-sel-why-it-matters-for-educators/ • Chase the Lion, by Mark Batterson: https://www.markbatterson.com/books/chase-the-lion/ • 31 Ways to Improve Your Life, by Scott Steward: https://scottsteward.com/merch/stewisms • Scott Steward on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@therealprofessorstew • The 2019 Chicago teachers strike: https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/2019/10/15/20915723/chicago-teacher-strike-2019-cps-ctu Subscribe and find more podcast information at: http://www.k12engineering.net. Support Pios Labs with regular donations on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/pioslabs. You’ll also be supporting projects like the Engineer’s Guide to Improv and Art Games, The Calculator Gator, or Chordinates! Thanks to our donors and listeners for making the show possible. The K12 Engineering Education Podcast is a production of Pios Labs: http://www.pioslabs.com.