Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to episode 121 of our podcast.
Speaker: My name is Chris McNutt and I'm part of the progressive education nonprofit human restoration project.
Speaker: Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that this is brought to you by our supporters, three of whom are Sybil Prieb, Vaughn Cleary and Eric Martinson.
Speaker: Thank you for your ongoing support.
Speaker: You can learn more about us on our website human restoration project.org or find us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.
Speaker: So this is our third spotlight series where we're reaching out to schools who are doing intriguing progressive practices that could inspire and influence others to do the same.
Speaker: Each has their own twist on how their school is operated.
Speaker: And we're bringing in students, teachers, et cetera, to talk about it and what they're doing.
Speaker: Today, we're featuring OneStone and kind of an element of OneStone, which is a student-led nonprofit in Boise, Idaho.
Speaker: OneStone has a variety of initiatives to help students use their voice to change the world.
Speaker: Two thirds of OneStone's board are young people.
Speaker: And in fact, most of the folks that are joining us today are on the board of OneStone.
Speaker: who have voted to establish multiple initiatives over the years, including 2BIRD, which is a student-led creative studio, Solution Lab, a business incubator for young people, and now Lab 51, who we're talking with today, an independent sliding school tuition program, high school.
Speaker: Today, we have five folks joining us from One Stone and Lab 51.
Speaker: We have Ian, Rhea, Lila, Ella, and Jesse.
Speaker: Ian, Rhea, Lila, and Ella, who are all students, three of whom are on the board, and Jesse, who's the director of Strategic Policy.
Speaker: partnership.
Speaker: So thank you all for being here today.
Speaker: I'm excited to get to know all of you and learn about what you all are doing.
Speaker: Thanks for having us.
Speaker: Great to be here.
Speaker: I'm just going to open this up to the floor.
Speaker: I'm just first interested to learn more about who you all are.
Speaker: What is the school?
Speaker: If you could summarize it, the elevator pitch of why Lab 50 Watt 1, why One Stone?
Speaker: What's different about your experience?
Speaker: I think that our mission really sums that up.
Speaker: Our mission is making students better leaders in the world a better place.
Speaker: And that is really at the forefront of everything we do.
Speaker: And it's not like we have this curriculum and these set regulations that we have to fit.
Speaker: And then we just kind of throw in making students better leaders in the world a better place on top of that and try to fit it into these pre-made rules.
Speaker: We kind of mold everything around that.
Speaker: So we have something in our day or in our schedule that doesn't feel like it's accomplishing that.
Speaker: We'll take it out.
Speaker: We don't have any problem or any rules around that.
Speaker: It's if things, if what we're doing isn't making students better leaders in the world, a better place, we're not doing it.
Speaker: And I think that's what really makes One Stone.
Speaker: A lot of people, when I describe One Stone, they hear like no grades, no structure, like one of those like new age feel gooderies kind of thing.
Speaker: But it's really like it's so much more than that.
Speaker: Like we have like I am learning things that if I was in a more traditional school, I would not be learning.
Speaker: Like these are things that are going to help me for life after high school.
Speaker: These are things that are going to help me, you know, 20, 30, 50 years in the future.
Speaker: Yeah, I think one thing that One Stone really gives students that maybe a less traditional school wouldn't is this real world toolbox that really teaches you how to like interact with maybe adults in a professional setting or community members and gives you just that involvement in the world around you.
Speaker: That's super special and really allows you to have this unique perspective coming out of high school and into the world beyond that.
Speaker: I think the easiest way to sum up one stone is to say that it can't be summed up.
Speaker: Agreed.
Speaker: All right, fair.
Speaker: So let's go through the concrete stuff first on what does a day look like?
Speaker: I get the idea it's unstructured, but I'm sure there's an organized chaos to it in terms of what you all are doing day to day.
Speaker: Does one of you want to describe like, what did you do today?
Speaker: What did you do yesterday?
Speaker: What does it actually look like?
Speaker: I love this question because there is no typical day at One Stone.
Speaker: Every student is doing something different, especially this year.
Speaker: We have over the summer, we had several brainstorming sessions with students and coaches on how we should make the schedule this year.
Speaker: And so everyone is doing something different at different times.
Speaker: But we all have our design lab and we all do workshops and we all do experiences.
Speaker: And then we have stuff like community read, which is like book club.
Speaker: and other things like that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So like for me yesterday, I got to school and I started out the day with about an hour and 45 minutes of my experience, which is kind of like my big class that I got to pick, which is an analyzation breakdown of systems.
Speaker: Then from there, I went into design lab where we implement our design
Speaker: process to solve real world problems for community members.
Speaker: Then we had lunch.
Speaker: And then my afternoon was broken up into two chunks, one for my math workshop, which I'm doing independently right now, and one for my writing workshop, which is called Adjacent Possible.
Speaker: And we're really diving deep into different objects that helped make our world and the possibilities behind.
Speaker: Also, one big thing to highlight about what one stone looks like in a day to day is to really notice that everything we do here is super interdisciplinary.
Speaker: So like Ella was saying, she's in this experience about systems and that can look like education systems.
Speaker: That can look like waste systems.
Speaker: That can look like anything you want it to look like.
Speaker: And in that way, it really molds together
Speaker: So many different areas.
Speaker: One of the coolest things about our current schedule is that it's super customizable.
Speaker: So you can tie everything you're doing in the day together into one thing you're interested in.
Speaker: So like a lot of the things I'm working on right now focus around sustainability and like studying climate change and stuff like that.
Speaker: Whereas like Ray is doing a lot of stuff for like her individual passions.
Speaker: And I think our experiences are a really great example of what One Stone is and us being student led.
Speaker: At the beginning of the year, we spent about a week brainstorming and creating these experiences that we were going to do for eight weeks in the fall.
Speaker: And our group created systems.
Speaker: So everyone is diving into a system that they're interested in.
Speaker: Ray is doing education.
Speaker: I'm doing government.
Speaker: Ella's doing education.
Speaker: Kind of a mix of everything.
Speaker: It's just, it's a really cool way for us to be able to dive into our passions, but also have, you know, a good.
Speaker: Like structure behind it, I would say.
Speaker: Like you get to dive into your passions in a way that makes it super great for your learning experience in total.
Speaker: So you gain not just an understanding of the thing that you're passionate about and researching, but we're also learning how to like critically read, do math, like all these things that are components of your big project.
Speaker: And something else that's fit into our schedule is if you are intending to graduate soon and you're applying to colleges and things like that, there is space in the schedule for you to be doing that and working with that and working with our college counselor and things like that.
Speaker: So OneStone really...
Speaker: strives for students to be college ready, career ready and life ready, which I think is really cool because if you don't, if you're not applying to college, you have the space to be exploring your future career and getting internships and getting your foot in the door in those opportunities.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Where to start?
Speaker: I have so many questions.
Speaker: Let's start at the very beginning of this.
Speaker: I'm not sure how long all of you have been going to OneStone, but what is that like when you first step into the environment and you're placed in a position of power, right?
Speaker: You're someone who actually can design their own learning experience.
Speaker: What's it like adapting to that?
Speaker: What were your first projects like or your first designs like?
Speaker: What were you doing?
Speaker: I'm in my third year here at One Stone and I have another year left.
Speaker: Two years ago, I transitioned from a traditional public school to One Stone and the transition from going to a place that is solely dependent on grades as your main form of validation to going to somewhere that really sees you as a person and like holistically as a person and a learner was
Speaker: really insane.
Speaker: And it took me a while to get used to it.
Speaker: But like the overwhelming amount of support at One Stone really makes it easier.
Speaker: And just knowing that everyone is in this for you as well.
Speaker: Yeah, I have a quick thing.
Speaker: I just want to say, like, right when you asked, what did it feel like?
Speaker: I was like imagining me in my first year, which was last year, walking in and it just feels like a big hug.
Speaker: You know, they're putting like, they respect you.
Speaker: They trust you.
Speaker: They're here to support you.
Speaker: Everyone just wants you to be you.
Speaker: And it just feels like a big hug coming into this building in this community.
Speaker: Yeah, I had a little bit of a different experience.
Speaker: I grew up around One Stone and I had a sibling that was here for a couple of years.
Speaker: So I kind of knew the lingo.
Speaker: I kind of knew the space a little bit, but I was still super intimidated.
Speaker: And like, I did not feel like I would belong here.
Speaker: Like I always saw One Stone as this super cool thing that I was not a part of and that I couldn't be a part of because I was just, you know, an internal voice in my head telling me that.
Speaker: But when I came to One Stone, it was like,
Speaker: you are meant to be here.
Speaker: If you want to be here, you can be here.
Speaker: You can get as much out of one stone as you put into one stone.
Speaker: And it was really just like this breath of fresh air.
Speaker: Like I have control of my education and I can do great things.
Speaker: Yeah, for me, I kind of had the same experience as Lila did.
Speaker: I'm in my second year at One Stone and grades back at the public school I went to before were how I kind of got all of my validation and how I measured my self-worth.
Speaker: So coming into One Stone, I was super excited for all of like the community involvement and opportunities that we would have, but very apprehensive of having that like validation and kind of safety net stripped away from me.
Speaker: And I really, really struggled with that.
Speaker: in my first year.
Speaker: And over and over again, my mentors and coaches have told me that there is kind of a point in each student's OneStone journey where they get it and they like understand kind of what we like to think of the magic behind OneStone.
Speaker: And I think that really happened for me this year.
Speaker: And there were a couple moments last year that really contributed that, like when I had a project that was a science experiment that really didn't work.
Speaker: And I was so scared because I was like,
Speaker: My project didn't work.
Speaker: I don't really have any data to complete a data table with.
Speaker: My teacher is going to be really upset with me.
Speaker: It's going to like ruin my first year at One Stone.
Speaker: I'm going to be destroyed.
Speaker: And my teacher was like, whoa, it didn't work.
Speaker: That's so cool.
Speaker: Why didn't it work?
Speaker: And I was like, you're excited about this?
Speaker: And those moments have really helped me like adjust to this new space.
Speaker: And it's just super different for everyone.
Speaker: Like there are people who come into One Stone and are immediately like,
Speaker: They belong here and it's their space.
Speaker: And then there are some of us who maybe take a little longer, but I think, or at least I hope that everybody leaves one stone kind of having had that moment of like, wow, like this is what one stone is and this is what it means.
Speaker: And this is what it feels like to truly be at one stone.
Speaker: I mean, what a powerful experience.
Speaker: The fact that all of you are relating so much to community.
Speaker: I think really says something about the vibe, if you will, of the space and how awesome that is.
Speaker: Let's talk about physical space.
Speaker: So you have this environment where you're coming in, you're developing these projects.
Speaker: It sounds like some of the projects are shared amongst other folks in the group, but you're all taking your own spin on it.
Speaker: What is the actual space like?
Speaker: Are we all in a giant room together, all doing our own thing?
Speaker: Are there...
Speaker: So OneStone currently has two spaces.
Speaker: The one that we're in right now is a converted warehouse.
Speaker: And it's essentially one big open space.
Speaker: We happen to be right now in a production studio.
Speaker: So this is like for music, podcasting, all of that stuff.
Speaker: And you might be able to faintly hear behind us the enthusiastic yells of everyone else in the great room, as we like to call it.
Speaker: Yeah, so we don't have classrooms.
Speaker: We maybe only have like five closed off spaces in the whole space.
Speaker: And that contributes a lot to the way that our learning feels.
Speaker: And sometimes it can be insanely chaotic, but most of the time it's really amazing to see what everyone is doing in this one space and without wall.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: One stone is kind of like it's like one big room, like Lila said, the gray room with a couple of smaller rooms off of to the sides that are like conference rooms or the studio and stuff.
Speaker: But really, we don't have like doors.
Speaker: So it's a super kind of new way of being in a space and learning because there's not that much separation between you and everything else going on.
Speaker: um and i also think that that's a really big thing that we have to get used to because it's like there's a lot of background noise and stuff but like after a while i feel like it really becomes this like hotbed of creativity where you're like oh i can hear everybody else having these good ideas like now i have good ideas too because i can hear them all like yeah excited and like curious and there's opportunities so like our actual building is located in downtown boise
Speaker: So there's that opportunity to go work in a coffee shop like our systems experience.
Speaker: We went the other day and worked in the coffee shop for an hour and 45 minutes and we're right by a park and we go to the park all the time.
Speaker: So there are those that opportunity just like where we're located, where we get to kind of disperse and go to different places in BC.
Speaker: Yeah, I also think there's a lot of opportunity in the building.
Speaker: Like we have where now we're in Ripple Studios, so it's a music studio.
Speaker: And then we also have our foundry, which is our makerspace.
Speaker: We have stuff like CNC machine, laser printers, stuff like that.
Speaker: And then we also have our commercial kitchen, which is open to students during the day.
Speaker: And yeah, a lot of cool stuff comes out of this building.
Speaker: And I would add into that, you know, this idea of designing for connection to community is part of that physical space, too.
Speaker: So it's part of how we engage.
Speaker: But that physical space is one that, as you mentioned, you know, you're in a recording studio and that recording studio is open to anybody in the community.
Speaker: students in the region to be able to use.
Speaker: And so if we think about how do we make this a space that is community connected and community driven, part of that has to do with having something like a recording studio there or the commercial kitchen that you mentioned.
Speaker: We've had small businesses who are testing new products.
Speaker: They need a space where they can prepare that in order to take it to market.
Speaker: And we've invited them into our commercial kitchen.
Speaker: So it really becomes this communal space.
Speaker: That leads into a question I have about the difference between these different types of experiences that you have and how they relate together.
Speaker: So you have deep dives, you have immersions.
Speaker: I think there's also a couple other ones.
Speaker: Does someone want to walk me through what these different things are?
Speaker: A couple would be an understatement.
Speaker: I'd say one of the biggest adjustments to one is definitely understanding the lingo.
Speaker: Our vocabulary is always changing.
Speaker: So like they were called immersions.
Speaker: Then they were called experiential learning opportunities.
Speaker: Now they're explorations.
Speaker: Like after my first year, I was sitting down with one of our coaches and he was just like, forget everything about your first year.
Speaker: And that was just like, whoa.
Speaker: But then I came in the next year and I was like, oh, okay.
Speaker: So now we're doing this.
Speaker: This is super cool.
Speaker: But also I'm lost.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So like currently we have our explorations, which are like kind of,
Speaker: what I like to think of the big chunk of my schedule that I get to kind of pick.
Speaker: And so there are these guided experiences that you do with coaches where there's kind of a broad topic and then you dive into your own individual projects part from that.
Speaker: So like me, Ian and Raya are all in analyzing systems.
Speaker: So we each are picking a system that we're breaking down and then either modeling visually or like remaking.
Speaker: And just by the end of these
Speaker: explorations, the thing that they kind of all share in common is that you produce a final artifact, which is like a project that sums up all of the work you've done in those like however many weeks that you were in that exploration for.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And then we have immersions, which are a three-week long experience where you're doing just that all day, every day.
Speaker: Then we have some smaller things.
Speaker: We have like community read, which is there's like 12 different options of books that have either student leads or coach leads.
Speaker: And you can pick which book sounds the most interesting, the most appealing.
Speaker: And then for the next like eight weeks, however long it is, you just dive into that book and you read it and you talk about it.
Speaker: It's like a little book club.
Speaker: We have workshops and sprints.
Speaker: So those are a writing workshop and a math sprint.
Speaker: So the math looks different this year.
Speaker: There's a lot of people doing independent math, which can be, you know, Khan Academy.
Speaker: It can be IDLA, which is like an online math platform.
Speaker: It could just be working through a textbook like Ian is just going through a textbook.
Speaker: And then there's also things offered by coaches.
Speaker: which they range from, you know, solving equations to advanced applied calculus or algebra and things like that.
Speaker: And then writing workshops also differ from like scientific writing to fictional storytelling.
Speaker: And you get to pick for everything.
Speaker: I think that's one of the coolest parts of One Stone is you have these chunks that are kind of set out for you, but within them, you have so much choice of what they look like, what you're doing, what time you're doing them and things.
Speaker: I would throw in that part of the reason for this change that you're hearing about, while it can be confusing, it's tied to what members of this group said at the very beginning, that one stone is the belief in the power of students and making students better leaders and the world a better place.
Speaker: And if that is the core, then everything else around it can change.
Speaker: And we are...
Speaker: you know, used to that culture of pivoting and iterating to continue to try and get closer to that mission.
Speaker: So, you know, that's why our students can be okay with the fact that semester by semester things look so different because we're keeping our mission and vision right in the forefront as we change everything else around it to continue to get closer.
Speaker: Yeah, one stone lab week one hasn't had a schedule that's looked the same two years in a row.
Speaker: Like it's always changing.
Speaker: And one of the things that we really value as students is like embracing that ambiguity and coming to school every day, maybe not knowing what we're going to be doing, but like diving deep into it and getting as much out of it as
Speaker: Just a couple like quick logistic questions just to frame this for the audience.
Speaker: The first would be so when you're choosing a schedule for your classes, I'm assuming that it's almost like a college type environment where it's like this class is offered at this time, this time, this time I choose one of those three.
Speaker: Or is it up to you to set like it's entirely flexible?
Speaker: For our explorations, we actually spend a good chunk of time creating those.
Speaker: And then they get compiled and kind of synthesized.
Speaker: And then, yeah, you're right.
Speaker: We kind of pick...
Speaker: how they fit into our schedule.
Speaker: So like math workshops, like some will only be offered at certain times.
Speaker: So if you're like, oh, I really need to take this, then you'll be taking that and you'll kind of mold your schedule around.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So I like to think of it as kind of pick like one thing that you really, really want, or maybe two things, maybe one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and then you mold the rest of the blocks of your schedule to fit those two things.
Speaker: And then there's also that ownership of it and the accountability of like, okay, I know that this semester I need to take a math sprint and a writing workshop.
Speaker: And even though, you know, this sewing exploration sounds really fun, I think that this takes priority over that for me personally.
Speaker: And having that like management to be like, okay, I'm going to take that another semester.
Speaker: And right now I'm going to do this math writing.
Speaker: And some of that work, you know, comes into play is both what you're describing, right?
Speaker: I think is fantastic.
Speaker: You have the ownership and it's also a shared conversation with a mentor and sort of, you know, bouncing ideas off each other and somebody who can look at short term versus long term, exploring that.
Speaker: And then, you know, something that we might address later in the call or maybe right now is exploring our living in beta wayfinding program that students are engaged in.
Speaker: So really, you
Speaker: looking at interest inventory and then starting to look at what those things could look like if you dove into them more deeply and starting to uncover some passions and connections between them and then how you can explore those through the offerings that are either available already at once or through creating some of the things that you don't see that you feel like should be there.
Speaker: To add on to the question about just describing this idea of living in beta, you had also mentioned crafting the experiences before you sign up to take them.
Speaker: Can you walk through as well, how does that all connect together?
Speaker: Like are you as individuals crafting your own experiences or are you all doing that as a group and then it's being offered and you're choosing from that?
Speaker: What does that look like and how does that connect to your interests at large?
Speaker: This was something new we tried this year.
Speaker: And to be honest, it was a little bit rocky at times.
Speaker: Like you have 105 people with all different interests and you somehow have to come up with like six or seven different things for all of us.
Speaker: So it was a little bit hard, but we spent about three or four days.
Speaker: Like we did a lot of different like brainstorming activities and like we interviewed someone and like created an experience for them just like it.
Speaker: creative juices flowing and then we all decided what kind of time we wanted to do things and then we met with all those people and sort of came up with what experience we would be doing and how that would look.
Speaker: Yeah so the sequence of that was kind of making our tea popper which is a part of Living in Beta and it's basically just a mind map
Speaker: brain dump, whatever you want to call it, of you and your passions and interests.
Speaker: And you would take that and you would partner up with someone and then you would design for each other.
Speaker: And then you would take some time to look over what they designed for you and kind of edit it a little to make it your ideal experience.
Speaker: And then we broke into those groups based on the time slots we would be doing our exploration and then brought all of our ideas to like a broad topic.
Speaker: And I know for like our group specifically, we took a minute and looked back at some of the things other people had written.
Speaker: And that when we were in our time slot, and that was really what kind of created this systems exploration that we're in because we saw someone else's like experience that they designed for someone's exploration, excuse me.
Speaker: someone else's exploration that they designed for someone.
Speaker: And we were like, whoa, analyzing systems sounds really fun.
Speaker: And like it could incorporate a really wide like range of passions.
Speaker: And we found a coach who was super happy to do that with us.
Speaker: And then we kind of pitched that to our group.
Speaker: And a lot of people were like, that sounds great.
Speaker: So that was kind of how that exploration like came to fruition.
Speaker: And I feel like that's kind of the similar process that a lot of other groups experienced as well.
Speaker: I mean, that's what our nonprofit focuses on.
Speaker: So you're definitely like in our world systems-based thinking is like the whole concept behind it.
Speaker: I love all of this.
Speaker: Rhea, earlier you were saying you were talking about how you didn't take sewing, for example, as one of the explorations because you wanted to focus more on like the math.
Speaker: Is that part of that wayfinding process that you know that I'm going to need to know math in my future?
Speaker: So therefore I need to take this class.
Speaker: What is your like rationale for taking one class over another class?
Speaker: Yeah, so I think that one for me, because that was something that I actually was like going through.
Speaker: I was like, there is a sewing one going on right now.
Speaker: And I was like, oh, that is so cool.
Speaker: But I was also like, I kind of want to focus on math.
Speaker: And so that decision for me was based on the math that was being offered.
Speaker: It was the advanced applied algebra.
Speaker: And I had just taken almost like a prerequisite for that the previous year.
Speaker: And I was like, oh, I love the coach this is with.
Speaker: And I learned so well.
Speaker: And I really enjoy doing math when I'm doing math with this coach.
Speaker: So I want to do that, not just because I think I'll need it in my future because who knows if I will, but because I really enjoy it.
Speaker: And then I also talked with the coach that was offering the sewing exploration.
Speaker: And I was like, could I do this with you after the school day or in another semester?
Speaker: And she was super understanding.
Speaker: And she was like, yeah, I think I'll offer something like this.
Speaker: at the next semester or another year that you're here.
Speaker: So there will be opportunity for you to be doing this.
Speaker: So it was more of just like, what do I want to be doing this semester with that time block?
Speaker: And it was kind of based off my passions and it just went with math.
Speaker: It sounds like because of the opportunities that you've all been provided, it sounds obvious, but it actually is quite innovative that you have the opportunity to think about these things.
Speaker: Like you're stopping and thinking about
Speaker: this is why I'm taking this class.
Speaker: This is why it matters to me.
Speaker: This is something I might use or might not use.
Speaker: But you're satisfied with that ambiguity.
Speaker: I think for a lot of folks, they want the answer right then and there on whether or not this class is useful or not useful.
Speaker: Put me through it and go on this zombification process where I'm going to go to college or career or whatever using these tools because they've been set up for me and that's the pathway that I'm on.
Speaker: But because of the
Speaker: the more meta narrative of what's going on at lab 51, you all are understanding how to act within that, that like questionable, never knowing what's going to happen environment.
Speaker: That's such a unique experience.
Speaker: I don't know if I've ever spoken to the young folks that can articulate it like that because they, these kinds of schools don't, are not that normal.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's, you know, it's interesting that,
Speaker: In your example there, the answer that somebody wants when they take the required class or choose between these things, of course, that's a false answer anyway, right?
Speaker: It's an assurance that this is valuable because we said so.
Speaker: And we, you know,
Speaker: as those of us who've gone through high school and then, you know, put into the college and beyond realize that, oh, just because this was a requirement at some point in the past had no bearing on whether or not it would be valuable in the future that we could not predict and the kind of work that we would be doing.
Speaker: And so this idea that, you know, students are embracing ambiguity and recognizing that they want to develop a toolbox that can be applied in a variety of ways or something just as basic as what Ray's describing there is like,
Speaker: responding to your internal instinct to follow your curiosity.
Speaker: And my curiosity is about this particular thing.
Speaker: It strikes me that you're right and you're saying that we don't hear about this much.
Speaker: This seems so rare.
Speaker: And yet in some ways, all we're describing is every human being's natural instinct towards curiosity and then following up on that, which we all do when we're very young and then sometimes get unfortunately conditioned away from that.
Speaker: When you're talking about embracing ambiguity here at One Stone, I mean, really, that's just what you're doing in life.
Speaker: Like, especially outside of school.
Speaker: Like, that's constantly what you're doing.
Speaker: You never know a concrete answer for like, oh,
Speaker: I don't know, some random scenario, like, Oh, I don't know if I should go get coffee today.
Speaker: Like, no one's gonna tell you, like, yes, go get coffee today.
Speaker: And so you're right, like, it seems so obvious.
Speaker: And yet it's something that's so overlooked.
Speaker: And most I love that idea, too.
Speaker: And it's something Jesse that you mentioned, and really, both of you are getting at when you're trying to design for the future, you're often be incorrect.
Speaker: As in there was a big push in the last
Speaker: God, at this point, 20 years to do coding in school.
Speaker: There's like a code.org initiatives and focusing on code.
Speaker: And that's great.
Speaker: It's great if you want to focus on code in school.
Speaker: But the idea behind that was have every single kid take a coding class so they get jobs in STEM.
Speaker: But the issue is going to be, obviously, if every single kid learns how to code, that's going to lead to a lot of problems down the road.
Speaker: And they're not necessarily interested in coding.
Speaker: And they're not necessarily going to relate those skills they learned in school to what they're going to do after school, et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker: In your environment, all of the decisions are being made year to year.
Speaker: They're not being made top down.
Speaker: But it is interesting, segue, that you have a student-led board where decisions are being made because they're being made primarily by young people.
Speaker: Let's talk about that because that's also hyper unique.
Speaker: The student-led board, what do you all do?
Speaker: What is the student board?
Speaker: What is it?
Speaker: Yeah, it's actually written into our bylaws that we have to have at least two thirds of the board of directors be high school students.
Speaker: And so that's something that's so foundational in what the board is.
Speaker: And it's not just like a student council.
Speaker: Like, no, this is a nonprofit board of directors and it's real.
Speaker: And a lot of what we do.
Speaker: is super like high level, like looking at what the organization needs, not today, but what will make us sustainable for five years, 10 years in the future.
Speaker: What about the next generation of students that go to One Stone?
Speaker: And so like the decision to make One Stone tuition based was made by the board of directors and was made by two thirds students.
Speaker: And same with everything that we're doing here.
Speaker: Yeah, and I think another thing is right now, actually, the board, it must be two-thirds students, but I'm pretty sure right now it's more like three-fourths students.
Speaker: And it's not just students that go to Lab 51.
Speaker: We have students from other schools, other high schools, public schools that are part of things like Project Good, which is our student organization.
Speaker: led experiential service program, which is an afterschool thing.
Speaker: So anyone in the Treasure Valley can come and join.
Speaker: And there's kids who are super involved with that and they love One Stone.
Speaker: They believe in the mission and they get invited to the board of directors and they're on there.
Speaker: People super involved with like two birds and who are there at every two birds meeting and are making, you know, ads, commercials, documentaries, whatever it is with two birds.
Speaker: They're on the board.
Speaker: So it's really interesting.
Speaker: It's so cool.
Speaker: And I didn't really know this until I was on the board that there were students outside of Lab 51 who I didn't see every day that loved OneStone as much as I did.
Speaker: And being able to talk with them and hear their experiences of being in our community, but also still being in that more traditional environment has been like such a interesting duality.
Speaker: And just like, I don't know, it's been amazing.
Speaker: I've really loved that part of being on the board.
Speaker: Yeah, and just kind of to take it in a different direction, like being on the board as a student has felt so incredibly empowering because it's just this like, it's a real board.
Speaker: It does anything like a nonprofit board for any other nonprofit organization would do.
Speaker: And like, I'm a high school student on the board.
Speaker: And like, I can introduce myself.
Speaker: I can be like, hi, I'm Ella.
Speaker: I'm a board member at One Stone.
Speaker: Like, it's insane.
Speaker: And the opportunities that like we get to do
Speaker: Because of like the things, not just the board, the things that happen at One Stone are so incredible.
Speaker: And I just like have felt so empowered.
Speaker: And I feel like a lot of people feel the same way.
Speaker: Like just that you feel so lifted up by being included on such like a big scale and big level of this organization.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And a lot of what we do is like reviewing the audit and like reviewing our executive director's compensation and like all of that stuff.
Speaker: And it's just it's crazy to think about like, oh, my God, like I'm 16 and I'm reviewing audits.
Speaker: Like that just doesn't make any sense.
Speaker: And it's still something that I'm like trying to wrap my head around.
Speaker: And it's also so interesting to contrast that with what most people see like a student board as, like take a student council at a traditional school, like they're maybe planning the prom, like that's probably their biggest duty.
Speaker: Like I just, I just think that's really fascinating.
Speaker: And I feel like especially like everybody's like perception of a high school student is kind of like your classic teenager who they portray in the movies, who's maybe kind of a slob, who doesn't really feel super passionate about school.
Speaker: And then we kind of take that definition and like flip it on its head.
Speaker: And we're like, we kind of run our organization like hand in hand with our administrators and coaches and everybody.
Speaker: And we are excited about it and we just take charge fearlessly.
Speaker: And I think that's a really cool thing that One Stone cultivates for anyone who kind of comes in contact.
Speaker: we're all in a community read.
Speaker: We're reading The Power Moments right now.
Speaker: Really good book.
Speaker: But one of the main points of like, how can you make a moment?
Speaker: Like, what is a moment?
Speaker: And one of the things is breaking the script.
Speaker: And I believe that One Stone totally breaks the script, like shatters expectations.
Speaker: And we are like, when I think of a school, One Stone is probably like one of the last things I would think of before I came here.
Speaker: But it's truly incredible.
Speaker: I want to just amplify exactly what we're talking about here because it's mind blowing.
Speaker: So Ella,
Speaker: You hinted at like, you know, you're doing compensation, for example, or you're doing, you know, you're doing actual things that actual nonprofits do.
Speaker: You're hiring and firing teachers or mentors.
Speaker: You're quite literally on the call.
Speaker: We have Jesse, who's the director of strategic partnerships.
Speaker: He is also subordinate, at least to the collective of you.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I work for them.
Speaker: That's just like such a unique thing, because I think a lot of places will
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I don't know.
Speaker: I feel like it's really a combination of things.
Speaker: Like, of course, like students making so many decisions, like makes it super possible for all other students to feel really empowered and lifted up and like they can really join in in the effort and kind of like build our army of good for good.
Speaker: But also I feel like having coaches and administrators who really believe in you and who let you know that they believe in you and that they trust you is also huge because I mean, we all kind of have grown up in this environment where it's like teachers are here above you and students are like learning from teachers.
Speaker: But at one time, it's the idea of like learning together.
Speaker: And that's not just with coaches.
Speaker: That's with like Jesse.
Speaker: Like we're learning with Jesse and we're learning with like,
Speaker: the like director of our school Teresa, like it's just super cool.
Speaker: And I don't know how else to describe it.
Speaker: It's just amazing because I feel like it's not just other students lifting you up.
Speaker: It's everybody.
Speaker: It's a whole community effort.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I think One Stone has been helping me learn from others that aren't in a school environment.
Speaker: So like, for example, when I'm thinking of the board, I'm thinking of
Speaker: are adult board members who have been on multiple other nonprofit boards and have worked in so many different organizations.
Speaker: And so they bring so much knowledge to the board and even just like the way they phrase things and what they say, I'm like, oh, I can use that.
Speaker: Like that's what people talk.
Speaker: I'm like, I get it now.
Speaker: And so, and then even just in any opportunity, I, you know, one stone is fostering a love for learning.
Speaker: And that love for learning goes way beyond our building.
Speaker: And so this isn't at all answering the question you asked.
Speaker: But I learn everywhere now.
Speaker: I'm walking down the greenbelt and I see a plant and I'm like, oh, yes.
Speaker: tree of heaven.
Speaker: I get like, I'm just always learning and I love it.
Speaker: And I love having this mindset now of just this love for learning is just, you know what?
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: And one thing I really like, like to kind of go off what Raya said, I feel like one stone like creates lifelong learners, which I feel like is something that gets lost in translation a lot of the time.
Speaker: But here we really strive to kind of empower everyone to follow their curiosity.
Speaker: past high school, past college, like throughout the rest of your life.
Speaker: Like you never stop learning and you never stop growing.
Speaker: And like the growth mindset that you gain at OneStone is huge.
Speaker: Like failure is a totally different concept here than it is in traditional school.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: because like we embrace it and we love it.
Speaker: And it's this insane growth opportunity, kind of like this metamorphosis like moment.
Speaker: And I just think that that's super cool and kind of goes hand in hand with love of learning and being a lifelong learner and having this growth mindset.
Speaker: And we're all in Pathfinders, which is like our admissions program.
Speaker: And a part of that is giving tours to potential students and their families.
Speaker: And one of my favorite things about it is seeing like how excited their parents or guardian is.
Speaker: Like they are just as excited about being in this space and seeing what we're doing as the kids are.
Speaker: I hear a lot of like,
Speaker: I wish I had this when I was a kid.
Speaker: And it's just, it makes my heart so happy to see that like, this is so much bigger than just us as students.
Speaker: Like this is something that could be beneficial for everybody.
Speaker: And just to clarify that point though, right.
Speaker: So our students are the ones who are,
Speaker: making the decisions about, you know, admissions, the whole application process.
Speaker: They do that in conjunction with the leaders of the school who are also adults, but it is the students leading the way all along.
Speaker: And then they have such a sense of buy-in of, you know, the creation of this community as well and how that process works.
Speaker: So yeah, I mean, your original question, I think, I think you were answering the question, Rhea, because I think it was about, you know, what leads to one stone success.
Speaker: And some of that has to do with just when you break down that sort of, you know, box that was education, once you crack that open, then suddenly we see, wait, education is everywhere.
Speaker: The, you know, empowerment and learning is everywhere.
Speaker: And it doesn't look like one thing.
Speaker: And you're all describing parts of that.
Speaker: So students,
Speaker: you know, leading their own learning.
Speaker: That sounds radical.
Speaker: But again, going back to what we found before, that actually is very natural, right?
Speaker: You're just now taking advantage of that opportunity.
Speaker: Hey, thanks for listening to our podcast so far.
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Speaker: This helps even more folks listen to great conversations like this one.
Speaker: Further, if you want to access free resources to build a human-centered education system, check out our research, handbooks, writings, and additional podcasts at humanrestorationproject.org.
Speaker: Now, back to the show.
Speaker: On the one hand, it makes me very sad, but on the other hand, it makes me very hopeful that
Speaker: This is such a transformational learning experience for you all when you just change the underlying systems and structures of how school works.
Speaker: This is not meant to discredit any of you, but it's not like you all are the most amazing students that ever existed.
Speaker: It's not that.
Speaker: It's just the fact that you're young people that are given the power and privilege and ability to be yourselves and have a say in what you do.
Speaker: in a meaningful way.
Speaker: And as a result, you're able to flourish.
Speaker: And I think about that at scale.
Speaker: If you could see that across the entire country or across the entire world, how that would transform society at large to have systems that way.
Speaker: In terms of how you work as a nonprofit, obviously you're expanding upon your programs and offering this to your community.
Speaker: Do you ever think about outreach to other schools, traditional schools, or even just expanding your model in general?
Speaker: This is actually so funny because yesterday we all, the four of us met with Jesse to talk about an opportunity that we're really excited about, about possibly partnering with another school to focus on sustainability practices and design thinking.
Speaker: So to answer your question, yes, we're always working with other schools.
Speaker: In my current design lab project where I practice design thinking, I'm currently working with many schools in Canada to
Speaker: kind of develop a mental health initiative for teenagers.
Speaker: So yes, we're always, always working with other schools and trying to get our mission
Speaker: And then at an organizational level, yes, in addition to what the students are engaging in, we, in the last two years, have started to partner with other schools and organizations, sharing aspects of our model.
Speaker: So in particular, our Living in Beta program that we've talked about, we now offer certification in becoming a wayfinding mentor and using this Living in Beta program.
Speaker: And we've been sharing that training program with educators and
Speaker: teachers and homeschool parents for those who want to engage in student-led learning.
Speaker: We've been doing that with those around the country and with different cohorts around the world.
Speaker: We also are sharing our human-centered design for student-driven learning.
Speaker: So our particular approach to human-centered design, we offer certification in that program as well.
Speaker: We've been doing that for another year here.
Speaker: And then another major aspect of One Stone that is now being shared around the country is our growth framework.
Speaker: And so this is something that contains both our bold learning objectives.
Speaker: That's our unique profile of a graduate, which contains 32 21st century skills or durable skills ranging from mindfulness to humility to passion.
Speaker: So our bold learning objectives, which we affectionately call the blob, and all of our students, rather than having grades, they set goals in and self-assess and receive assessment in their growth in those 32 learning objectives that are in our blob.
Speaker: And then we've alongside that created something we call the growth transcript, which allows different weights to be applied to those assessments and for various people to input those assessments, whether that's teachers or an internship lead or, you know, a boss at work and the students themselves, of course.
Speaker: And it aggregates those and then presents growth in every one of those areas, ranging from sort of just developing in the area to all the way to mastering.
Speaker: There are now several schools that are piloting the use of this growth framework in their organizations.
Speaker: We call them schools that are powered by OneStone.
Speaker: And pretty happy about the fact that we've also just this summer received a grant from the National Science Foundation to build out this growth framework platform in an app that will be really accessible for others around the country.
Speaker: Congrats.
Speaker: That's incredible.
Speaker: I don't like dealing in the business of caveats because...
Speaker: I feel like the conversations always end up being pointless because you get into like, but what about college admissions?
Speaker: What about testing?
Speaker: What about standards?
Speaker: Like all of these, what about type questions, which at the end of the day, you all are showing what happens.
Speaker: Like you don't need to explain yourselves theoretically on why these things matter because you yourselves are living examples of how it works.
Speaker: However, I'm sure you all have data in terms of the folks that would, would listen to this and say,
Speaker: You know, are they going to college?
Speaker: Are they successful after this?
Speaker: Or are they just wandering off into the world with no guidance?
Speaker: What does the post-school experience look like?
Speaker: Yeah, I'll jump in here, but feel free.
Speaker: I know some of you have siblings who have gone through One Stone and can speak to this as well.
Speaker: Yeah, it's a great question.
Speaker: With our first class, that was the number one question that all parents had, right?
Speaker: The first, we opened the doors and said, well, this sounds amazing.
Speaker: I don't want to close any doors for my students down the line.
Speaker: And what's going to happen here with this growth transcript and no grades?
Speaker: We believe in it.
Speaker: We asked for a lot of trust with our community and we had a lot of data and research to back up what we're doing.
Speaker: But once that first class graduated and we saw that they were getting into every school they wanted to get into.
Speaker: And now that we're four classes through and we've been accepted into over 120 colleges and universities, ranging from the UC system to elite art schools, to Middlebury, you name it, that we know that this is not only something that works in terms of college admission, but
Speaker: But then the success that students are having once they're in college, being able to draw from the toolkit that you're getting glimpses of when you talk to these students here, the ability to know how to navigate ambiguity, to learn when you need to learn, to handle failure and to embrace it.
Speaker: All those things are leading to tremendous success in college or in career where students are already, some of them are choosing to jump there.
Speaker: But
Speaker: Yeah, just, you know, we have on our website, but a list of all of the schools.
Speaker: And, you know, it's one thing to step back for many of your listeners know this already that
Speaker: One stone isn't the first place that's offering a non-traditional transcript to colleges.
Speaker: This is no longer so boundary breaking to send students forward without a GPA or a letter grade that colleges are asking for some, you know, clarity on how your system works, what you're assessing, show us some rigor and some consistency.
Speaker: And we absolutely do that.
Speaker: And they are embracing it.
Speaker: Then they're coming back the next year and saying, please have more of your students apply.
Speaker: Yeah, and actually I can add a little bit of a personal tidbit to this.
Speaker: So my brother was in the first graduating class at 1CILNAP1 and he got into a pretty prestigious liberal arts college in Washington on a scholarship.
Speaker: And he is doing amazing there.
Speaker: He's about to graduate and just seeing how successful he was,
Speaker: in college was just so inspirational for me because I've talked to so many people who've been through the traditional public school system and are now like really struggling in college because they don't understand how to ask for help from their professors and they don't understand how to advocate for themselves and get the classes that they need.
Speaker: And so that's something that I think One Stone students will never struggle with.
Speaker: So yeah, we just,
Speaker: Yeah, another thing on that is my brother graduated just this past summer.
Speaker: And so he's in his first semester at a local college right now.
Speaker: And having that transition from like, there's a transition from a traditional environment into one stone.
Speaker: But there's also that reverse when you go into college of coming from an untraditional spot to a traditional schooling system again.
Speaker: And he was really worried about how he would do.
Speaker: But this toolbox for life is what is like pushing him through.
Speaker: He's like, you know, math, it's really tough.
Speaker: It's never been my thing.
Speaker: But I hear him still using words like, but I have grit, but I'm working on my management skills.
Speaker: Things that are on our blob that we make goals in consistently over our time at One Stone.
Speaker: Like they're still a part of his vocabulary and they're still how he is succeeding is with those things that we are learning here and exploring.
Speaker: And we have a great college counselor here.
Speaker: You know, we have like college essay writing nights.
Speaker: So we definitely have people here that can help us get to where we want to be.
Speaker: And you mentioned testing.
Speaker: Like last week, we all took a PSAT.
Speaker: And, you know, so we have.
Speaker: We killed it.
Speaker: Yeah, we killed it.
Speaker: And we have like the structure to be able to like do all these things and also succeed in college.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I think what's most self-evident is that toolbox that you all are carrying with you makes you not, for lack of a better way of saying it, lose your humanity.
Speaker: You care about other people.
Speaker: You care about learning.
Speaker: It's not just about college and career readiness, although that might be something that's important.
Speaker: At the end of the day, what matters the most is that you care about other people, that you're part of a community, that you're able to speak up and use your voice.
Speaker: That's such a powerful tool for
Speaker: a hundred, a thousand, 10,000 people that all do that can make a lot of transformational change at large scale.
Speaker: With all that said, what suggestions would you have for teachers who teach at a more traditional environment or maybe even one that's a little bit more progressive, but not as progressive as this, who are doing this kind of work?
Speaker: They're hearing you're all like, yes, this is so awesome.
Speaker: What could they do within a classroom environment that could at least start to tackle this?
Speaker: I was actually recently asked this question because I was on a panel for some schools across the Northwest and a public school teacher asked me this and I was stumped.
Speaker: I was pretty stumped.
Speaker: I was like, a lot of what makes One Stone special is like we were talking about before, how student leadership is built into the foundation of our organization.
Speaker: But there are so many things that you can take from OneStone that I think can really enhance your students' learning.
Speaker: And I think my biggest suggestion would be to meet your students where they're at and to really get to know them as a person and not just who you see in class every day.
Speaker: And I think that's the biggest thing that really transformed my experience here and gave me a lot of empowerment and ownership in what I was doing.
Speaker: Thank you.
Speaker: Like my advice would be going back to what Ian said earlier about breaking the script.
Speaker: I think sometimes people get really comfortable and they feel really safe in a schedule and in something that dictates what you're doing and when.
Speaker: But that kind of, when I was in a more traditional setting, that made me feel like the schedule was more important than I was.
Speaker: And that they would rather keep to the schedule than, you know, talk about something for five minutes over.
Speaker: And so I think breaking the script and if something isn't working or the students just aren't into it that day, saying, whatever, like, okay, it's not working.
Speaker: Let's not do this day.
Speaker: Like, let's do something else.
Speaker: What do you guys think is going to help you?
Speaker: Do you want to go outside?
Speaker: And just having that
Speaker: fluid mindset and that growth mindset to just be like, okay, I'm going to meet my students where they're at.
Speaker: And if they're not at, let's write an essay for an hour today, then we won't write an essay for an hour today because their success and happiness and love for learning is more important than this schedule.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I don't think in my, what was that?
Speaker: 15 years of public education.
Speaker: I don't think I ever had one teacher genuinely asked me how it was doing.
Speaker: And like, ooh, like that's rough.
Speaker: At least once a day we have a call.
Speaker: And so even just like little things like, like pulling someone aside and like actually asking them, like, what do you think about what we're doing today?
Speaker: Or like, how are you doing?
Speaker: Like that does make a difference.
Speaker: And I was on the same panel Lila was on, and I was asked the exact same question too.
Speaker: And I said that I think it's really important for every teacher to really drive home the fact that failure isn't negative and failure isn't final, because that was something that coming to one-step was the biggest shift for me, was so much of my success in traditional school was like, hinged on that, like, if you are successful, you're going to go far.
Speaker: And if you fail once, like,
Speaker: that's end of the road, like no more.
Speaker: But as soon as I came to One Stone and people were like, failure is a growth experience.
Speaker: It sounds kind of cheesy, but it changed the whole way I looked at the world because I was like, you're so right.
Speaker: Like, this is incredible.
Speaker: And I feel like if I had had a teacher sit me down in public school when I maybe didn't do as well as I'd hoped I would on an assignment and be like, it's okay, this is going to help you grow.
Speaker: And here's why I would be like,
Speaker: whoa, I can apply this to everything else.
Speaker: So I feel like something small that every single teacher can do in their classroom is really enforce the fact that failure is good and that you should always be working to cultivate this growth mindset.
Speaker: I'd say something every classroom could do, we do portfolios.
Speaker: So at the end of every semester, we just take everything we've done and put it into a Google Sites presentation and we present it to a
Speaker: our mentor and our parents and we get we know we just have like a conversation about like what we did this semester how we felt about it what we learned how we grew how we failed and it's just I think that is something that every school could do it's like a parent teacher conference on steroids and it was honestly it's just incredible and I think that it's something that every classroom could do and it would be really impactful
Speaker: I want to acknowledge that, you know, teachers in all sorts of situations, in traditional spaces or progressive spaces, genuinely, if it doesn't come across, I think almost all of them genuinely care about the students they're working with and their success.
Speaker: A lot of times,
Speaker: We get caught up in other people's definitions of success, though, and in efforts to try to be rigorous and have students get to a particular place, we lose track of the individual power of those students and the creativity and the curiosity.
Speaker: And something that I've found to be a wonderful question is to ask myself, what decisions am I making for these students that they could be making for themselves?
Speaker: So asking that question and then acting on it in ways that are reasonable within your space and then continuing to cede power because it isn't about the teacher.
Speaker: That was, you know, adjustment for me moving into the space, even after being in some fairly progressive educational spaces before this to really step back and, you know, look at that sign when you walk in the building that says we believe in the power of students.
Speaker: To act on that means to, you know, reduce my ego, to be vulnerable, as you're describing, you know, to
Speaker: make mistakes and own those mistakes and just say, I don't have to be the expert on everything.
Speaker: All I can really do with you is show you how I pursue things that I don't know the answer to and how to be, you know, acting on my curiosity alongside you.
Speaker: Ian, Rhea, Lila, and Ella, and Jesse, thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker: Is there anything else that you would want to add before we sign off?
Speaker: Any final thoughts?
Speaker: I love One Stone.
Speaker: I agree.
Speaker: One Stone is the best place ever.
Speaker: Thank you for doing this.
Speaker: We are people.
Speaker: Thank you again for listening to Human Restoration Project's podcast.
Speaker: I hope this conversation leaves you inspired and ready to push the progressive envelope of education.
Speaker: You can learn more about progressive education, support our cause, and stay tuned to this podcast and other updates on our website at humanrestorationproject.org.
