Connecting with the Community
June 12, 2013
“In an era where the world is only a mouse or a keyboard click away – home, neighborhood, city, and immediate environment, become a central part of the components comprising individual and cultural identity. When faced with global uniformity, one’s perception of belonging to a unique place with an intriguing story breeds a sense of identification and pride. And in order to leverage this local story and use it to strengthen the city’s people – adults and children alike – one must harbor collaborations between the various active elements in the city.” – Yaacov Hecht, Education-cities.com
“The Open School as a concept will extend beyond the physical space of the school campus. Inspired by the flourishing Education Cities, pioneered by Yaacov Hecht, our school community will interact closely with the community at large. An Education City perceives the education system as an essential instrument for citywide development, and the city as a central instrument in the education system’s development.” — The Open School project description
The Open School values interconnectedness between the school and the community at large and has included that priority in our vision. We believe kids and adults alike benefit from collaboration and partnerships, and we envision our future students involved in apprenticeships, internships, field trips, and even entrepreneurial partnerships with community businesses and non-profits. Our upcoming field trip to Blizzard Entertainment is one small example, of our plans for future relationships.
Last month, our Meetup group hosted a fascinating discussion on video games. Genese Davis, author, and gaming advocate shared her experiences and addressed negative stereotypes about games and gamers, and in the process, parents were able to share their concerns and solutions to integrating games into their families, as well as education. The discussion will not be the last of its kind and sparked what we hope to be a new series of events. Eric Davis, Genese’s producer, works in cinematics at Blizzard Entertainment, one of the biggest and most well-known video game studios. He invited The Open School to host a field trip to tour Blizzard, and we excitedly accepted.
The event was posted to Meetup and Facebook, and within 12 hours, it was completely full, with a waitlist. We are now attempting to arrange a second or third tour to accommodate more interested parents and students.
This Blizzard tour is exactly the type of activity The Open School will facilitate once our school is operational, and so we plan to do more. If your child is interested in a particular industry or company, or if you have connections to a local company that would be fascinating to visit, please email info@openschooloc.com to share with us.
Like this blog post? Why not check out the book we wrote:
Empowered Kids, Liberated Parents