\u201cImagine what it would look like if all our schools were set up to help youth discover and pursue their passions instead of guiding them along a predictable path.\u201d<\/i> \u2014John Legend<\/p>\n
LRNG Innovators is launching its third challenge, inviting educators to imagine engaging ways to help young people explore their interests, thereby igniting a passion that can lead to college, to a career, or having a positive impact in the community. We seek proposals for programs, curricula, or projects that actively help youth discover interests connecting the spheres of their lives, both in and out of school, and provide potential future opportunities. For example, how do we help a child identify and link a passion for video games to math and science, and later a career as a video game developer? The possibilities are endless.<\/p>\n
Proposals should be led by teams of teachers, but will benefit from collaboration between other educators and community leaders who work with youth in learning-\u00adcentered institutions like museums, libraries, and afterschool programs, where interests are often activated.<\/p>\n
Connected Learning research<\/a> demonstrates that all young people benefit from opportunities to follow their interests with the support of peers and mentors and that give them the time and space to create work that is meaningful to them. With support from the National Writing Project<\/a>, John Legend\u2019s Show Me Campaign<\/a>, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation<\/a>, and Collective Shift (lrng.org)<\/a>, the LRNG Innovators Challenge supports teams of educators in designing, testing, and sharing solutions that build the future of creative and connected learning today.<\/p>\n