Driven 2 Educate

Originally studying to work in academia, Rachel Gogos took a somewhat winding career path through life. Starting her career at United Nations headquarters in NYC and turning into a serial-entrepreneur and brand strategist, she felt some angst with every new transition. This experience inspired her to help students better understand themselves at a younger age in life. Today, Rachel is the owner of brandiD, where she channels over 20 years of marketing and communication's experience into each and every one of brandiD's clients. She is a true Internet pioneer who was creating business on the web before Google was established as a commercial entity in 1998, and long before the phrase "personal branding" became an industry buzzword. Rachel's held positons at The Wall Street Journal, DowJones.com as well as launched three companies (besides brandiD) of her own. Her entrepreneurial spirit started young: the product of Greek immigrants and Buffalo-based entrepreneurs, Rachel literally grew up in the restaurant busin

Growing up a self-proclaimed nerd and with a passion for technology, Jennifer Wadella went through school wanting to be a graphic designer, not knowing that coding and web development was even an option for her. It was a male-dominated career path. Later, as a freelancer, she quickly learned that in order to get jobs, she had to teach herself how to code and build websites. When she got her first developer job at VML and recognized that working as a full- time developer meant being surrounded by guys only, she started her own organization to foster the addition of women into the field. With Kansas City Women in Technology (KCWIT), she wanted to offer support for gender-equality in the field of technology. It was her way to give back and bring like-minded women together. There were hardly any female coders out there, and that, to Jennifer, was not acceptable! She had to change direction to order to solve this problem in different ways. Through her organization she has launched techtalks, CoderDojo events, Codi

What is the purpose of early care and education? How does our system impact these early years of development? How do we begin building brains instead of putting up barriers early on? And what do we really do about all the problems we currently face? These are the questions that Dr. Kristie Pretti-Frontczak asks in her work training early educators through her company, B2K Solutions. She finds solutions to complex problems such as conducting authentic assessments in an age of accountability, teaching with intention during play, and supporting children in the "messy middle" (i.e., when children are struggling). Kristie spent 16 years, as faculty, at Kent State University. Now, her passion lies in changing the paradigm of early care and education. In Kristie's opinion, the purpose of education has gotten lost. Instead of focusing on children, the focus now lies on paperwork and testing with assessments starting as early as with 3 year olds. Instead of this, there needs to be chaos! There needs to be play and exp

According to the founder and brand strategist of the Wayfinding Academy, the current education system has it all backwards. First, students are supposed to choose a college, then a major, then a job, then they get to try it out not knowing if all their choices will actually lead to a job they truly like. Couldn’t that be flipped frontwards? Couldn’t we completely reimagine higher education? In this second part of my conversation with Michelle Jones and Gina Lorubbio of the Wayfinding Academy, we address the issue and the importance of education in general and what problems led them to create their own college from scratch. One of the biggest problems of traditional higher education is that students go to college feeling lost and leave college without any idea of what is coming next. What’s even worse is that the system leeches students of all their creativity, spike and joy. Michelle believes that education is not something students should do without knowing their “why”. They sho

Where Students Can Learn "On Purpose" with Wayfinding Academy Part 1 When Michelle Jones gave her last lecture at the Concordia University in Portland, Oregon, she shared her imminent endeavor with her audience: starting a college that was an alternative to traditional institutions. Gina Lorubbio, a brand manager, who was sitting in the audience absorbed Michelle’s message and enthusiasm, loved it and knew she was going to be part of it. Today, Michelle, Gina and a team of change makers are in the process of accepting applications for their dream come true: the Wayfinding Academy, a two-year college at the heart of a movement to re-imagine higher education. Michelle’s last lecture was the culmination of about a decade of thinking and trying to change higher education from within the system – a quest Michelle had to realize was too hard to accomplish. Early on in her career, she had come to see that the role she was in with students as a full-time professor wasn’t quite the mentor role

When Jamie Greason went to the Google Teacher Academy in 2012, she realized that up until this point, she didn’t know what she didn’t know. This life-altering experience set her on a mission to leverage Google tools in the classroom and empower students to discover a love of learning. Jamie Greason received her Bachelor’s degree from William Jewel College and received a Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language from Avila University. On top of becoming a Google Certified Innovator in 2012, she is an eMINTS certified teacher. She is passionate about engaging students in work that matters outside of the classroom and uses this passion in her work as a “Blended Learning Coach”. In our conversation, Jamie discusses her experience of working as a Blended Learning Coach and that her work is dynamic by nature. On any given day, she might be planning with a teacher, thinking long term about a project, working with an innovation cluster in the city to rethink what they can do local

Lindsay Yates has always dreamed of opening a school. Now, her dream is coming true. Last year, Lindsay was hired by the Crossroads Academy to be the new principle of Quality Hill Academy, a school that is going to open its doors this fall. An Iowa State University graduate, Lindsay moved to Kansas City to begin her career in education. After teaching 5th grade at Santa Fe Elementary in the Hickman Mills School District, she ventured into the charter school world, teaching math and science at Scuola Vita Nuova. Her career path led her to being certified in special education, teaching at Ewing Marion Kauffman School as a Learning Support Specialist and later being promoted to the Dean of Students. Her experience taught her that learning happens everywhere and all the time and should not be confined to the classroom. That is why she is so excited that Quality Hill Academy will open in the middle of Kansas City; a place where students can utilize the community and study in the

Sitting on a plane on his way to Oxford, Chris Rosson, traveling from a single-parent, low-income home in Kansas City, noticed a passenger in First Class reading a half-page article about him in the Kansas City Star. The contrast of this situation was not lost on Chris. And his life definitely makes for a good story: Being a first generation college student, he graduated summa cum laude from both William Jewell College (BA in Economics & Business Administration) and Johns Hopkins University (MA in International Economics & International Relations), completed honors credentials at Oxford University, and was named one of the top 20 college students in the nation as a member of USA Today’s All-Academic First Team (2006). Today, Chris serves as the Executive Director for Teach For America in Kansas City and proudly utilizes his diverse background and experiences to advocate on behalf of kids from his hometown. In a way, Chris led a dual life and blasted through all stereotypes attach

A former Teach For America Corps Member, Josh Densen had a vision of creating a charter school in New Orleans that was build on 2 pillars: advancing educational equity and creating innovators who can change the world. He knew that in our times, it is important to give children a balance of independence within limits. At Bricolage Academy, the school Josh went on to found, there’s a lot of student ownership and freedom within clear boundaries allowing students to thrive. Josh has two children: Max, who is a 2nd grader at Bricolage, and Ella who is in 4th grade at another charter school in New Orleans. After TFA, he participated in the Coro Fellowship and advised one of ten regional superintendents in New York City Department of Education.  Josh returned to the classroom as a 5th grade math teacher at KIPP: STAR College Prep Charter School in Harlem.  Later, he relocated to New Orleans to open and lead the local office of The Achievement Network, a position he

When Adam Halmos, owner of the largest book publishing companies in Hungary, along with a small circle of influential friends found themselves with the question of where to place their children in the current Budapest school system, they discovered a unified passion: education and its reform. Though all of them had the resources to place their children into great schools, they knew that the real answer was to change the fate of an entire generation. For fun, they started to talk about building an entirely new school system from scratch, recognizing the current system was outdated and would be too difficult to change quickly. Soon after, their visions and conversations turned into actions. They launched two pre-schools for children 3 through 6 in locations that are very similar to a home setting, one in an apartment and one in a house. They are currently designing their first school launching in September for kids aged 6 - 10. The principles their school is built upon include: allowing kids of mixed

“If the system isn’t serving you, stop trying so hard.” After 3 years of teaching History outside of DC, Kenneth Danford became frustrated with the system. Instead of blaming it on large class sizes or limited funds, he realized that the biggest problem was having a captive audience. He saw that the real issue when it comes to bored or “difficult” kids is that they’re required to be in class, they can’t leave and are forced to do something that they may or may not be interesting in. When a friend and future co-founder gave him The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace LleWellyn, his life changed forever. He realized that there was actually no downside to not going to school and that quitting school could actually lead to a better life for some kids. Teenagers who feel trapped in school, are bored, depressed, anxious or fragile, don’t have to be in school to succeed in life and in their careers. He resigned his teaching job and went on to co-found and direct North

“Education is the key for solving all your problems.” A son of a political refugee from Vietnam, Davis Nguyen grew up in Riverdale, Georgia, one of the worst neighborhoods around, in a single mom household. He was living on food stamps and welfare and attended a school district that was called "the worst in the US." Basically, everything seemed to be against him.  In 2015, however, he graduated from Yale University with honors and zero debt. In this conversation, Davis shares his journey from poverty to receiving over 1 Million dollars in scholarships – and giving most of it away.  His determination to go to a great college began when his grandma told him that the value of education would open up all doors for him. Education, she said, is the key for solving all your problems. If you excel at school, everything will work out for you.  Inspired by her words, instead of roaming the streets, he’d study for the SATs and joined extra curriculum activities that would expand hi

“The SAT is such a beautiful test.” Andrew McGlothlin’s father was a terrible student. The only classes he excelled in were chemistry and auto shop. Living in other countries of the world, Andrew believes, his father would’ve been a mechanic his whole life. In the US, however, he got into a university and majored in chemistry.  That’s why Andrew doesn’t believe that standardized testing is a problem in education. In fact, he believes that standardized tests are far more effective at helping minority kids than helping kids from a privileged background. And this is the reason Andrew is so passionate about helping children excel at standardized test. Andrew is a father of 4 kids, an actor and an inspiring tutor based in LA.  He started working as a tutor back in 2001. He began his career at The Princeton Review and that’s where he found his calling. Coming from a family of educators, tutoring felt natural to him. Today, he teaches and inspires students’ l

Why 4 walls in the classroom? Why 1 teacher for 28 students? Why this system? Why? Ricky is a student who just cannot sit still. He talks quite often out of turn and disrupts the classroom more than other kids. He’s Carrie Markel’s favorite student, but he’s the one child who’s disturbing the entire curriculum. Ricky is just one of millions of students who made Carrie question whether the students are the problem or whether it’s the confines of the educational system that’s failing our kids. Originally from Denver, Colorado, Carrie Markel joined the Teach For America Kansas City corps in 2012 with a B.A. in English Literature received from the Colorado College. After two years of teaching in a classroom in Kansas City Public Schools, Carrie knew she wanted to work outside of these four walls. Just like some of her students, she couldn’t sit still and her mind couldn’t stay in the classroom. Instead, after having been awakened to the reality of poverty and educa

“When I was 32 I knew I’d spend the rest of my career in education.” When Tom Vander Ark was asked by his boss to pick a children’s charity and take it to the next level, his life changed forever. He was shocked to see the dire situation in Denver schools, which made him decide to do something about it. He got involved in the Denver chamber of commerce, a children’s campaign, joined a leadership group called leadership Denver and spent a year with a diverse group of leaders. Many years later, he received an offer to become a public school superintendent in Washington State that was ready to be innovative and loosen rigid structures. He worked hard at connecting with parents and the community and his district went from the highest cost administrative district in the state to lowest cost in about 2 years.  He went on to serve as the first Executive Director of Education for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Together, they started hundreds of schools and worked with scho

“Technology is never going to replace the need for great teachers.” One Mother’s Day, Alicia Herald decided to try online dating. Although she wasn’t successful in the love department, her career was thriving. After years of teaching fourth graders in South Central Los Angeles, she had joined the staff of Teach For America as a recruiter and had most recently started and operated the Teach For America – Kansas City region as their executive director. After all this time in the educational system, she had noticed numerous pain points and had seen the state of American schools first-hand. Statistics like 20% of teachers leaving every year or only 50% of teachers making it to their 5th year, made her realize that something had to change and it had to change fast. While the online dating scene wasn't working out quite as she had planned, it lead her to one of those entrepreneurial "Aha" moments! She saw that if you took the concept of online dating and applied it to K-12 education, y

“I see you and you’re OK and we’re going to be OK.”  On Valentine’s Day of 2011, Landon committed suicide. Ricky, Landon’s twin brother, happened to be in Paul Richardson’s class the following year where Landon’s name came up over and over again. Paul noticed his absence in the way his students behaved and expressed themselves and he knew he had to do something about it. This realization would change Paul’s career, life and teaching style. It would inspire him to help his students in a different way than ever before, to help them live from their core. Before encountering Ricky’s class, Paul quit his job and moved to Florida, telling people he wanted to be a pirate. This was his way of dealing with a world that to him had gone mad and remembering a childhood where he had been on edge, which is what now makes it possible for him to relate so closely to his students, showing them intuitively that he would die for them. Back in Kansas City, he chose

“I think this world will be saved by kids rather than adults.” What if we all truly believed that our children would save the world rather than us adults? What if we allowed our children to experiment, play and educate themselves? What if we educated entire families in a whole new way? Marc Winn is a believer who is determined to implement neuroscientific concepts and the limitless potential of maverick kids in education and thus create a more sophisticated and effective system, which will ultimately change our world for the better. Marc has been coaching and mentoring entrepreneurs since 2008. Before that he was an outwardly successful but inwardly unhappy Internet entrepreneur. He is married to Valerie and has a 3-year old son called “cheeky Charlie”. In 2010, Marc read Tim Ferris’ book, The 4-Hour Work Week; a book that changed the course of his life. After spending decades being unmotivated and – as Marc admits himself - lazy, he realized that his weaknesses were actual