March 25th-26th, 2011
When The Island School first started we asked young people to set up aquaculture tanks, assemble their dorm furniture, and explore the ocean using the buddy system—depending on each other in lots of meaningful ways. We put young leaders—over 1,100 of them now—in positions of responsibility, and they have responded by growing into the role. It wasn’t a new idea, and yet schools don’t usually design meaningful work into what students do in the classroom. Many of my own leadership opportunities growing up were in extra-curricular activities—literally “outside of the coursework”. How do we expect students to find and do meaningful work after school if they have no practice? We know there must be others out there putting schools and students to work. Jon Isham, professor at Middlebury College, is one example from higher education of someone who has put young people in charge of making REAL change happen. In 2005 Jon and his students tackled the issue of climate change: starting with a classroom experience, expanding to a political movement, and starting companies to do GOOD work. A the October 2010 Middlebury TEDx conference there were so many great stories shared to keep us all inspired and motivated.
The next phase of The Island School is all about Sharing Solutions: sharing what works, and supporting others in their GOOD work. We need you to harness the energy in your school to make the work of schools and students connected, useful, and relevant. We encourage you to think about coming to Eleuthera to share your story.
We are asking you, students and faculty, to organize a delegation from your school. We are asking universities to send graduate students, professors, and administrators. We are asking institutions that are involved in leadership development, and those who have made a commitment to sustainable practices, to take this opportunity to learn and share and make tangible progress towards making our educational institutions more effective.
By sharing the stories of how our students have made a difference, we hope to make it more likely that future leaders will follow in their path. We hope you can join us in celebrating and exploring how to make meaningful change happen.