What this year’s “tour of schools” taught me.

I just came off a few weeks of visiting PreK-12 schools in different states. While I’m frequently in schools, it’s good for me to get far away from home and see what others are really doing to keep education (especially public education) relevant for our kids and our communities.

Here are the big lessons after walking into big and small, rural/suburban/urban, and everything from well funded to completely broke public schools.

Lesson 1: If you really want to do amazing things for kids you let absolutely nothing stand in your way.

That’s a big lesson and I was grateful beyond words to see it so clearly enacted in so many communities. These were the same communities where there was clear vision, attention to data that went well beyond test scores, kids empowered to do all they can without superficial adult-imposed limits, and strategic leadership behind it all.

In these communities I saw kids using hand held science tools along side the EPA. I saw kids coding real programs (doing incredible writing and mathematics along the way). I saw kids using 3D printers to solve real problems. I saw kids writing letters to representatives. I saw non-verbal kids using tools with peers to be 100% involved. I saw families and grandparents and all generations of volunteers keeping things moving when staff was…