By Cameron Jackson, Strategic Communications & Information Intern
Recently, three high school students and two members of the faculty from a small San Diego Unified high school got on a plane to Minneapolis, Minnesota to participate in a conference aimed at reimagining education. I had the privilege of being one of those students.
The San Diego Met is an atypical high school under the San Diego Unified umbrella. At our school, students attend internships of their choice, have access to Mesa College’s course catalog to enroll in during high school, and are part of a small community of 126 students. The model allows each student at our school to design their own learning experience.
Our high school was invited for the third time to the SparkHouse conference by the organization Education Reimagined. The purpose of the SparkHouse conference is to bring students and staff from distinctly student-centered learning environments across the entire nation together to learn from each other and expand what they dub the learner-centered movement. Being alumni of the conference, our students were asked to take on leadership roles. One senior took on the title of Program Leader and helped to plan and lead the entire conference.
Ezri, SD Met Senior, leading the first night of icebreaker activities in the Bakken Museum.
We spent two days in a conference room in the Mall of America, connecting with students and adults from 14 different schools across the country, learning about their programs and sharing about our own. We discussed getting student voices into staff meetings, board meetings, and beyond. We contemplated strategies to collect student voices beyond just a survey to inform how our school runs. We even ideated how we could spread the idea of student centered learning throughout the entire district. The five of us come back to San Diego with a new spark within us, excited to spread what we learned to our school and others, causing an increase in student voice and engagement everywhere.
‘Silly One’ Group photo of all the students and adults attending the Sparkhouse Conference, Minneapolis. Mall of America in the window behind us.
About the author
Cameron Jackson is a senior at the San Diego Met High School, currently interning with the Strategic Communications and Information Office of the school district. Cameron is excited to write stories highlighting some of the great things occurring throughout our district. For any questions, contact Cameron at [email protected]