A SIMPLE IDEA: USING COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR GOOD
This Computer Science course for middle school students was designed around a simple question to ask and a complex one to solve: What website or app could we create to positively impact our community?
Disrupting Education [by design]
Community Partnerships, Educator Symposium & Professional Development Programs
What Are We Doing? Helping Students Triumph through Adversity
We started TEA in 2011 to create a more engaging, holistic and equitable education for a diverse set of learners in Pre-K-12th grades. At TEA, we intentionally use adversity and adventure, both inside and outside of the classroom, to push students just beyond their comfort zones in a supportive environment. This is where building key character traits really happens.
In our approach, called Constructive Adversity®, students develop key character traits like resilience, compassion and adaptability right alongside academic knowledge. Each child’s uniqueness is critical to this experiential learning process which, very simply, uses the real world to teach students how to thrive in the real world.
Why Are We Doing It? Because Youth Are Demanding It
Education is the most powerful tool to change the world. But traditional education was designed for a different era and not designed to adapt. This is why nearly half a million youth from over 170 countries and territories have stated in the United Nations Youth Declaration “We are not waiting for an invitation to transform education. In fact, we are at the forefront of driving change; pioneering innovations, mobilizing our peers and communities, advocating for universal and quality education, and unceasingly working from the ground up to transform education.”
TEA is here to do this work alongside our students.
Catalyzing Innovation in Education
We started this initiative to partner with schools, youth organizations and teachers so we can catalyze innovation in education and youth programming. By connecting curriculum and the classroom to the real world, reprioritizing outcomes and redesigning assessments, we can better train young people for today’s complex, ever-changing, fast-paced world.
Disrupting Education Blog Series
We are excited to kick off our Blog Series that shows how we are Disrupting Education (by design). This Blog Series will highlight the work we are doing with students to hopefully inspire teachers and schools across the country to connect the classroom with the real world and help students become creative, adaptable and compassionate change-makers in the process.
02
03
WA-SHE-SHU DA-OW-GA HISTORICAL TOUR
The word “Tahoe” itself is a mispronunciation of the washoe word Da-ow-ga, meaning edge of the lake. So why do we continue to call it Tahoe? In this video project, we visited different sites around Tahoe that are now seen as touristy. We started with what we know about the landmark, white sandy beaches, vast green lawns, and summer fun. Then, we were lucky enough to work with Ben Rupert, a member of the Shoshone and Paiute tribes, who told us the Indigenous significance of the land.
READ BLOG POST HERE.
01
CHECKING IN WITH TEA’S CO-FOUNDER, TAYLOR SIMMERS AS HE (LITERALLY?) DRIVES OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS
At TEA, as you know, we are intentionally using adversity to push students outside of their comfort zones (in supportive learning environments), where their learning really happens. Of course we are committed to helping our students thrive. And we have for many over the years. But that is not good enough, and our work remains unfinished. We also need to use our privilege to help students not as fortunate as our own who attend TEA, which is, what I call (and yes, I am biased), the best school in the world.
READ BLOG POST HERE.
02
A SIMPLE IDEA: USING COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR GOOD
This Computer Science course for middle school students was designed around a simple question to ask and a complex one to solve: What website or app could we create to positively impact our community?
READ BLOG POST HERE.
03
WA-SHE-SHU DA-OW-GA HISTORICAL TOUR
The word “Tahoe” itself is a mispronunciation of the washoe word Da-ow-ga, meaning edge of the lake. So why do we continue to call it Tahoe? In this video project, we visited different sites around Tahoe that are now seen as touristy. We started with what we know about the landmark, white sandy beaches, vast green lawns, and summer fun. Then, we were lucky enough to work with Ben Rupert, a member of the Shoshone and Paiute tribes, who told us the Indigenous significance of the land.
READ BLOG POST HERE.
01
CHECKING IN WITH TEA’S CO-FOUNDER, TAYLOR SIMMERS AS HE (LITERALLY?) DRIVES OUR OUTREACH EFFORTS
At TEA, as you know, we are intentionally using adversity to push students outside of their comfort zones (in supportive learning environments), where their learning really happens. Of course we are committed to helping our students thrive. And we have for many over the years. But that is not good enough, and our work remains unfinished. We also need to use our privilege to help students not as fortunate as our own who attend TEA, which is, what I call (and yes, I am biased), the best school in the world.
READ BLOG POST HERE.
02
A SIMPLE IDEA: USING COMPUTER SCIENCE FOR GOOD
This Computer Science course for middle school students was designed around a simple question to ask and a complex one to solve: What website or app could we create to positively impact our community?