The Road to The Final Four Starts Here
A member of Team LEARN during a “scrimmage” (ie, practice pitch) prior to “the game” (ie, CEO panel on Zoom, open to the public)
Think about how basketball players develop:
They learn the mechanics of the game by practicing a several times a week.
They improve by applying those mechanics by scrimmaging.
And they grow the most by playing in games in which the score matters.
We use the same principles in each Expedition:
Students learn the techniques of social entrepreneurship by practicing as much as they can in a few days.
They improve by applying those techniques during 5-6 practice pitches.
And they grow the most by pitching their solution to a CEO panel they have never met before, with additional members of the public watching in the audience.
“Winning the game” for teams during an Expedition means getting encouragement from the CEO panel to develop their concept prototype into a “minimum viable product.”
A member of Team LEARN (upper right corner) explains on Zoom to the CEO panel how the concept prototype would work. In addition to the 3 panelists, another 25 members of the public attended the event.
During our last Expedition, that’s exactly what happened to Team LEARN—twice. They developed an antiracism development program for K12 students. One of the CEO panelists asked Team LEARN to consider collaborating with her on two DEI initiatives that she’s involved with, one at a K12 independent school and the other for a medical school. Separately, a school leader in the audience wants Team LEARN to consider a multi-school collaboration.
Of course, the CEO panel is like the first game of a full season. Team LEARN got the W, but if they want to win the championship, they’ll need to go back to the gym to practice their technique, test themselves by scrimmaging with additional experts, and eventually play more games by running their program with school partners.
The Road to the (proverbial) Final Four doesn’t start after 16+ years of formal classroom learning.
It starts with scrimmaging and playing games early and often, and alternating those performances of learning with “classroom” learning about techniques and engaging with mental models.
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Do you know a high school student, gap year student, or first year college student who might want to earn college credit for learning to design solutions to the world’s most urgent and important social problems?
They can apply early for a spot in our next Expedition (date TBD).
School leaders who want to send a team of students can contact us directly to apply early.
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