Dear Colleagues—
This summer during a trip to Japan, I encountered an advertisement for The Innovation Fellowship (TIF), a new school in Tokyo. Their personalized, project-based curriculum made me wonder whether it could be a good study-abroad experience for my son.
When I connected with Scott, the founder, a light bulb went off for me: “You need to talk to Naveen and Raaji at Beyond 8!”
If you don’t know Beyond 8, here are two good reasons to look them up: first, they are a Middle States member school; second, its founders, Naveen and Raaji, are bringing innovative, high impact education to India.
In fact, they exemplify this year’s theme: “Changemakers in Education.” After their meeting with Scott from TIF, Naveen and Raaji emailed me to say: “Scott has the prerequisite attribute to learn and transformation education: humility. He is open to learning, empathetic to learner needs, willing to collaborate… Raaji and I are certainly going to have an accelerated learning experience in Scott’s company.” It made my heart sing that a Middle States member was eager to talk to a stranger to advance a common purpose: to create positive change in education.
Middle States will offer more of that support to you by evolving last year’s theme, “The Middle States Network,” into this year’s theme, “Changemakers in Education.” In fact, we have begun that work already:
- We hosted a successful Advancing Education Leaders of Color webinar in September. Read about it here.
- We are excited to offer The Best Teachers on Earth workshop series virtually to accommodate educators all around the world (we recently hosted a session with people across 8 time zones, from Saudi Arabia to Burkina Faso to Pennsylvania). Sign up for future sessions here.
- On November 9, we will host Amanda Bickerstaff for AI and the Future—and Present—of Learning.” Register here.
In these ways and more, Middle States is here to guide you on your changemaking journey. I look forward to hearing your story.
Christian Talbot
President
MSA-CESS
