Showcase: One Stone | Lab51 (Student-Driven Schooling)

Speaker 1 Hello, and welcome to episode 121 of our podcast. My name is Chris McNutt, and I'm part of the progressive education nonprofit Human Restoration Project. Before we get started, I wanted to let you know that this is brought to you by our supporters, three of whom are Sibyl Prieb, Von Cleary, and Eric Martinson. Thank you for your ongoing support. You can learn more about us on our website, humanrestorationproject.org, or find us on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. So this is our third spotlight series where we're reaching out to schools who are doing intriguing progressive practices that could inspire and influence others to do the same. And each has their own twist on how their school is operated and we're bringing in students, teachers, etcetera to talk about it and what they're doing. Today, we're featuring we're One Stone and kind of an element of One Stone, which is a student led nonprofit in Boise, Idaho. One Stone has a variety of initiatives that help students use their voice to change the world. Two thirds of One Stone's board are young people. And in fact, most of folks the that are joining us today are on the board of One Stone, who have voted to establish multiple initiatives over the years, including Tuber, which is a student led creative studio, Solution Lab, a business incubator for young people. And now Lab fifty one, who we're talking with today, an independent sliding school tuition program high school. Today, we have five folks joining us from One Stone and Lab fifty one. We have Ian, Rhea, Lila, Ella, and Jessie. Ian, Rhea, Lila, and Ella, who are all students, three of whom are on the board. And Jesse, who's the director of strategic partnerships. So thank you all for being here today, I'm excited to get to know all of you and learn about what you all are doing. Thanks for having us, great to be here. I'm just gonna open this up to the floor, I'm just first interested to learn more about who you all are. What is the school? If you could summarize it, the the elevator pitch of why Lab fifty Watt One, why One Stone, what's different about your experience?

Speaker 3 I think that our mission really sums that up. Our mission is making students better leaders in the world a better place, and that is really at the forefront of everything we do. And it's not like we have this curriculum and these set regulations that we have to fit, and then we just kinda throw in making students better leaders in the world a better place on top of that and try to fit it into these premade rules. We kind of mold everything around that. So if we have something in our day or in our schedule that doesn't feel like it's accomplishing that, we'll take it out. We don't have any problem or any rules around that. It's if things if what we're doing isn't making students better leaders in the world a better place, we're not doing it. And I think that's what really makes OneStone.

Speaker 4 A lot of people, when I describe One Stone, they hear, like, no grades, no structure, like, one of those, like, new age feel gooderees kind of thing. But it's really, like, it's so much more than that. Like, we have like, I am learning things that if I was in, you know, a more traditional school, I would not be learning. Like, these are things that are gonna help me for, like, after high school. These are things that are gonna help me, you know, twenty, thirty, fifty years in the future. Yeah. I think one thing that One Stone really gives students that maybe a less traditional school wouldn't is this real world toolbox

Speaker 5 that really teaches you how to, like, interact with maybe adults in a professional setting or community members and gives you just that involvement in the world around you that's super special and really allows you to have this unique perspective coming out of high school and into the world beyond that.

Speaker 6 I think the easiest way to sum up one stone is to say that it can't be summed up. Agree.

Speaker 1 Alright. Fair. So let's go through the concrete stuff first on what does a day look like. I get the idea. It's unstructured, but I'm sure there's a there's an organized chaos to it in terms of what you all are doing day to day. Does one of you wanna describe, like, what did you do today? What did you do yesterday? What what does it actually look like? I love this question because there is no typical day at One Stone. Every student is doing something different, especially this year. We have

Speaker 4 over the summer, we had several brainstorming sessions with students and coaches on how we should make the schedule this year. And so everyone is doing something different at different times, but we all have our design lab, and we all do workshops, and we all do experiences. And then we have stuff like community read, which is like book club,

Speaker 5 and other things like that. Yeah. So, like, for me, yesterday, I got to school, and I started out the day with about an hour and forty five minutes of my experience, which is kinda like my big class that I got to pick, which is an analyzation breakdown of systems. Then from there, I went into design lab where we implement our design thinking process to solve real world problems for community members. Then we had lunch. And then my afternoon was broken up into two chunks, one for my math workshop, which I'm doing independently right now, and one for my writing workshop, which is called Adjacent Possible, and we're really diving deep into different objects that helped make our world and the possibilities behind.

Speaker 6 Also, one big thing to highlight about what One Stone looks like in a day to day, is to really notice that everything we do here is super interdisciplinary. So like Ella was saying, she's in this experience about systems, and that can look like education systems. That can look like waste systems. That can look like anything you want it to look like. And in that way, it really molds together so many different areas.

Speaker 5 One of the coolest things about our current schedule is that it's super customizable. So you can tie everything you're doing in the day together into one thing you're interested in. So, like, a lot of the things I'm working on right now focus around sustainability and, like, studying climate change and stuff like that, whereas, like, Reya is doing a lot of stuff for, like, her individual passions.

Speaker 4 And I think our experiences are a really great example of what a One Stone is and us being student led. At the beginning of the year, we spent about a week brainstorming and creating these experiences that we're gonna do for eight weeks in the fall. And our group created systems, so everyone is diving into a system that they're interested in. Raya is doing education. I'm doing government. Ella is doing kind of a mix of everything. So it's just it's a really cool way for us to be able to dive into our passions, but also have, you know, a good

Speaker 5 Like, structure behind it, I would say. Like, you get to dive into your passions in a way that makes it super great for your learning experience in total so you gain not just an understanding of the thing that you're passionate about researching, but we're also learning how to, like, critically read, math, like, all these things that are components of your big project.

Speaker 3 And something else that's fit into our schedule is if you are intending to graduate soon and you're applying to colleges and things like that, there is space in the schedule for you to be doing that and working with that and working with our college counselor and things like that. So OneStone really strives for students to be college ready, career ready, and life ready, which I think is really cool because if you don't if you're not applying to college, you have the space to be exploring your future career and getting internships and getting your foot in the door in those opportunities.

Speaker 1 Wow. Yeah. Where to start? I have so many questions. Let's start at the the very beginning of this. I'm not sure how long all of you have been going to One Stone, but what is that like when you first step into the environment and you're placed in a position of power? You're someone who actually can design their own learning experience. What's it like adapting to that? What were your first projects like or your first designs like? What what was what what were you doing? I'm in my third year here at One Stone,

Speaker 6 and I have another year left. Two years ago, I transitioned from a traditional public school to OneStone. And the transition from going to a place that is solely dependent on grades as your main form of validation to going to some somewhere that really sees you as a person and, like, holistically as a person and a learner was really insane. And it took me a while to get used to it. But, like, the overwhelming amount of support at One Stone really makes it easier

Speaker 3 and just knowing that everyone is in this for you as well. Yeah. I have a quick thing. I just wanna say, like, right when you asked what did it feel like, I was like imagining

Speaker 4 me in my first year, which was last year, walking in, and it just feels like a big hug. Yeah. You know, they're putting, like, they respect you. They trust you. They're here to support you. Everyone just wants you to be you, and it just feels like a big hug coming into this building and this community. Yeah. I had a little bit of a different experience. I grew up around 1 Stone, and I had a sibling that was here for a couple years. So I kinda knew the lingo. I kinda knew the space a little bit. But I was still super intimidated and, like, I did not feel like I would belong here. Like, I always saw One Stone as this super cool thing that I was not a part of and that I couldn't be a part of because I was just, you know, own internal voice in my head telling me that. But when I came to One Stone, it was like, you are meant to be here. If you wanna be here, you can be here. You can get as much out of One Stone as you put into One Stone, and it was really just like this breath of fresh air. Like, I have control of my education, and I can do great things.

Speaker 5 Yeah. For me, I kind of had the same experience as Lila did. I'm in my second year at One Stone, and grades back at the public school I went to before were how I kind of got all of my validation and how I measured my self worth. So coming into One Stone, I was super excited for all of, like, the community involvement and opportunities that we would have, but very apprehensive of having that, like, validation and kind of safety net stripped away from me. And I really, really struggled with that in my first year. And over and over again, my mentors and coaches have told me that there is kind of a point in each student's One Stone journey where they get it, and they, like, understand kind of what we like to think of the magic behind One Stone. And I think that really happened for me this year. And there were a couple moments last year that really contributed that, like when I had a project that was a science experiment that really didn't work, and I was so scared because I was like, my project didn't work. I don't really have any data to complete a data table with. My teacher's gonna be really upset with me. It's it's gonna, like, ruin my first year at One Stone. I'm gonna be destroyed. And my teacher was like, woah. It didn't work. That's so cool. Why didn't it work? And I was like, you're excited about this? And those moments have really helped me, like, adjust to this new space, and it's just super different for everyone. Like, there are people who come into One Stone and are immediately, like, they belong here, and it's their space. And then there are some of us who maybe take a little longer, but I think or at least I hope that everybody leaves One Stone kind of having had that moment of, like, wow. Like, this is what One Stone is, and this is what it means, and this is what it feels like to truly be at One Stone. I mean, what a powerful experience. The fact that all of you are relating so much to community,

Speaker 1 I think, really says something about the the vibe, if you will, of the space and and how awesome that is. Let's talk about physical space. So you have this environment where you're coming in, you're developing these projects. It sounds like some of the projects are are shared amongst other folks in the in the group, but you're all taking your own spin on it. What is the actual space like? Are we, like, all in a giant room together, all doing our own thing? Or the you know?

Speaker 6 OneStone currently has two spaces. The one that we're in right now is a converted warehouse, and it's essentially one big open space. We happen to be right now in a production studio. So this is, like, for music, podcasting, all of that stuff. And you might be able to faintly hear behind us the enthusiastic yells of everyone else in the great room as we like to call it. And yeah. So we don't have classrooms. We maybe only have, like, five closed off spaces in the whole space, and that contributes a lot to the way that our learning feels. And sometimes it can be insanely chaotic, but most of the time, it's really amazing to see what everyone is doing in this one space and without wall. Yeah.

Speaker 5 One of those kind of like it's like one big room, like Lila said, the gray room, with a couple smaller rooms off of to the sides that are like conference rooms or the studio and stuff. But really, we don't have, like, doors. So it's a super kinda new way of being in a space and learning because there's not that much separation between you and everything else going on. And I also think that that's a really big thing that we have to get used to because it's like there's a lot of background noise and stuff, but aft like, after a while, I feel like it really becomes this, like, hotbed of creativity where you're like, oh, I can hear everybody else having these good ideas. Like Yeah. Now I have good ideas too because I can hear them all, like Yeah. Excited and, like, curious. And there's opportunities.

Speaker 3 So, like, our actual building is located in Downtown Boise. So there's that opportunity to go work in a coffee shop like our systems experience we went the other day and worked in the coffee shop for an hour and forty five minutes. And we're right by a park, and we go to the park all the time. So there are those

Speaker 4 that opportunity just like where we're located, where we get to kind of disperse and go to different places in DC. Yeah. I was wondering there's a lot of opportunity in the building. Like, we have we're now we're in Ripple Studios, so it's a music studio. And then we also have our foundry, which is our maker space. We have stuff like CNC machine, laser, printer, stuff like that. And then we also have our commercial kitchen, which is open to students during the day. And, yeah, a lot of cool stuff comes out of this building.

Speaker 2 And I would add into that, you know, this idea of of designing for connection to community is is part of that physical space too. So it's part of your how we engage. But that physical space is one that, as you mentioned, you know, there you're in a recording studio, and that recording studio is open to anybody in the community students in in in the region to be able to use. And so if we think about how do we make this a space that is community connected and community driven, part of that has to do with having, you know, something like a recording studio there or the commercial kitchen that you mentioned. We've had small businesses who are testing new products. They need a space where they can prepare that in order to just kinda take it to market, and we've invited them into our commercial kitchen. So it really becomes this communal space. That leads into a question I have about the difference between these different types of experiences that you have and and how they relate together.

Speaker 1 So you have, you have deep dives, you have immersions. I think there's also a couple other ones. Does someone wanna walk me through what these different things are? A couple would be an understatement.

Speaker 4 Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, one of the biggest adjustments to one is understanding the lingo.

Speaker 5 Our vocabulary is always changing. So, like, they were called immersions, then they were called Experiential learning opportunities. Now they're explorations. Like,

Speaker 4 after my first year, was sitting down with one of our coaches and he was just like, forget everything about your first year. And that was just like, woah. But then I came in the next year and I was like, oh, okay. So now we're doing this. This is super cool, but also I'm lost. Yeah. So, like, currently, we have our explorations,

Speaker 5 which are like kind of what I like to think of the big chunk of my schedule that I get to kind of pick. And so there are these guided experiences that you do with coaches where there's kind of a broad topic, and then you dive into your own individual projects apart from that. So, like, me, Ian, and Rhea are all in analyzing systems. So we each are picking a system that we're breaking down and then either modeling visually or, like, remaking. And just by the end of these explorations, the thing that they kinda all share in common is that you produce a final artifact, which is like a project that sums up all of the work you've done in those, like, however many weeks that you were in that exploration for. Yeah.

Speaker 4 And then we have immersions, which are a three week long experience where you're doing just that all day every day. Then we have some smaller things. We have, like, community read,

Speaker 3 which is there's, like, it's, like, 12 different options of books that have either student leads or coach leads, and you can pick which book sounds most interesting, the most appealing. And then for the next, like, eight weeks, however long it is, you just dive into that book and you read it and you talk about it. It's like a little book club. We have workshops and sprints. So those are a writing workshop and a math sprint. So the math looks different this year. There's a lot of people doing independent math, which it can be, you know, Khan Academy. It can be IDLA, which is like an online math platform. It could just be working through a textbook like Ian is just going through a textbook. And then there's also things offered by coaches, which they range from, you know, solving equations to advanced applied calculus or algebra and things like that. And then writing workshops also differ from, like, scientific writing to fictional storytelling, and you get to pick for everything. I think that's one of the coolest parts of One Stone is you have these chunks that are kind of set out for you, but within them, you have so much choice of what they look like, what you're doing, what time you're doing them.

Speaker 2 I would throw in that part of the reason for this change that you're hearing about, while it can be confusing, it's tied to what, members of this group said at the very beginning that one stone is the belief in the power of students and making students better leaders and the world a better place. And if that is the core, then everything else around it can change, and we are, you know, used to that culture of pivoting and iterating to continue to try and get closer to that mission. So, you know, that's why our students can be okay with the fact that semester by semester things look so different because we're keeping our mission and vision right in the forefront as we change everything else around it to continue to get closer. Yeah. One Stone Lab fifty one hasn't had a schedule that's looked the same two years in a row. Like, it's always changing. And

Speaker 4 one of the things that we really value as students is, like, embracing that ambiguity and coming to school every day, maybe not knowing what we're gonna be doing, but, like,

Speaker 1 diving deep into it and getting as much out of it as Just a couple, like, quick logistic questions just to frame this for the audience. The first would be, so when you're choosing a schedule for your classes, I'm assuming that's it's almost like a college type environment where it's like, this class is offered at this time, this time, this time, I choose one of those three, or is it up to you to set like, is it entirely flexible?

Speaker 6 For our explorations, we actually spend a good chunk of time, like, creating those. And then they get compiled and kind of synthesized. And then yeah. You're right. Like, we we kind of pick how they fit into our schedule. So, like, math workshops,

Speaker 5 like, some will only be offered at certain times. So if you're like, oh, I really need to take this, then you'll be taking that and you'll kind of mold your schedule around. Yeah. So I like to think of it as kind of pick, like, one thing that you really, really want or maybe two things, maybe one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and then you mold the rest of the blocks of your schedule to fit those two things.

Speaker 3 And then there's also that ownership of it and the accountability of, like, okay. I know that this semester I need to take a math sprint and a writing workshop. And even though, you know, this sewing exploration sounds really fun, I think that this takes priority over that for me personally. And having that, like, management to be like, okay. I'm gonna take that another semester, and right now, I'm gonna do this math writing.

Speaker 2 And some of that work, you know, comes into play is both what you're describing, I think, is fantastic. You have the ownership, and it's also a shared conversation with a mentor and and sort of, you know, bouncing ideas off each other and somebody who can look at short term versus long term, exploring that. And then, you know, something that we might address later in the call or maybe right now is exploring our living in beta wayfinding program that students are engaged in. So really, you know, looking at interest inventory and then starting to look at what those things could look like if you dove into them more deeply and starting to uncover some passions and connections between them, and then how you can explore those through the offerings that are either available already at Watson or through creating some of the things that you don't see that you feel like should be there. To add on to the question about just describing this idea of living in beta,

Speaker 1 you had also mentioned crafting the experiences before you sign up to take them. Can you walk through as well how does that all connect together? Like, you as individuals crafting your own experiences, or are you all doing that as a group and then it's being offered and you're choosing from that? What does that look like, and how does that connect to your your interest at large?

Speaker 4 This was something new we tried this year. And to be honest, it was a little bit rocky at times. Like, you have a 105 people with all different interests, and you somehow have to come up with, like, six or seven different things for all of us. So it was a little bit hard, but we spent about three or four days. Like, we did a lot of different, like, brainstorming activities, and, like, we interviewed someone and, like, created an experience for them just to, like, get creative juices flowing. And then we all decided what kind of time we wanted to do things. And then we met with all those people and sort of came up with what experience we would be doing and how that would look. Yeah. So the sequence of that was kind of

Speaker 3 making our tea popper, which is a part of living in beta, and it's basically just a mind map, brain dump, whatever you wanna call it, of you and your passions and interests. And you would take that and you would partner up with someone, and then you would design for each other. And then you would take some time to look over what they designed for you and kinda edit it a little to make it your ideal experience. And then we broke into those groups based on the time slots we would be doing our exploration and then brought all of our ideas to, like, a broad topic.

Speaker 5 And I know for, like, our group specifically, we took a minute and looked back at some of the things other people had written and that when we were in our time slot, and that was really what kind of created this systems exploration that we're in because we saw someone else's, like, experience that they designed for someone exploration. Excuse me. Someone else's exploration that they designed for someone, and we were like, woah. Analyzing systems sounds really fun and, like, it could incorporate a really wide, like, range of passions. And we found a coach who was super happy to do that with us. And then we kind of pitched that to our group, and a lot of people were like, that sounds great. So that was kind of how that exploration,

Speaker 1 like, came to fruition. And I feel like that's kind of the similar process that a lot of other groups experienced as well. I mean, that that's that's what our nonprofit focuses on. So you're definitely, like, in our world, systems based thinking is, like, the whole the whole concept behind it. Yeah. I I I loved all of this. Rhea, earlier you were saying you were talking about how you didn't take sewing, for example, as one of the explorations because you wanted to focus more on like the math. Is that part of that wayfinding process that you know that I'm gonna need to know math in my future, so therefore I need to take this class? What is your, like, rationale for taking one class over another class?

Speaker 3 Yeah. So I think that one for me because that was something that I actually was, like, going through. I was like, there is a sewing one going on right now. And I was like, oh, that would be so cool. But I was also like, kinda wanna focus on math. And so that decision for me was based on the math that was being offered. It was the advanced applied algebra. And I had just taken almost, like, prerequisite for that the previous year. And I was like, I love the coach this is with, and I learned so well, and I really enjoy doing math when I'm doing math with this coach. So I want to do that not just because I think I'll need it in my future because who knows if I will, but because I really enjoy it. And then I also talked with the coach that was offering the sewing exploration. And I was like, could I do this with you after the school day or in another semester? And she was super understanding and she was like, yeah. I think I'll offer something like this at the next semester or another year that you're here, so there will be opportunity for you to be doing this. So it was more of just like, what do I want to be doing this semester with that time block? And it was kinda based off my passions and it just went with math.

Speaker 1 It sounds like because of the opportunities that you've all been provided, it sounds obvious, but it actually is quite innovative that you have the opportunity to think about these things. Like, you're stopping and thinking about this is why I'm taking this class. This is why it matters to me. This is something I might use or might not use, but you're satisfied with that ambiguity. I think for a lot of folks, they want the answer right then and there on whether or not this class is useful or not useful. Put me through it and go on this zombification process where I'm gonna go to college or career or whatever using these tools because they've been set up for me and that's the pathway that I'm on. But because of the the more meta narrative of what's going on at Lab fifty one, you all are understanding how to act within that that questionable, never knowing what's gonna happen environment. That's such a unique experience. I don't know if I've ever spoken to the young folks that can articulate it like that, because they these kind of schools don't aren't are not that normal.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Chris, know, it's interesting that you know, in your example there, you know, the answer that somebody wants when they, you know, take the required class or choose between these things, of course, that's that's a it's a false answer anyway. Right? The the it's an assurance that this is valuable because we said so. And we, you know, as those of us who've gone through high school and then, you know, potentially college and beyond realize that, oh, just because this was a requirement at some point in the past, it had no bearing on whether or not it would be valuable in the future that we could not predict in the kind of work that we would be doing. And so this idea that, you know, students are embracing ambiguity and recognizing that they want to develop a toolbox that can be applied in a in a variety of ways or something just as basic as what Ray's describing there is, like, responding to your internal, you know, instinct to, you know, follow your curiosity. And my curiosity is about this particular thing. It it it it strikes me that, you know, you're right, and you're saying that you've never we don't hear about this much. Right? It seems so rare. And yet in some ways, all we're describing is every human being's natural instinct towards curiosity and then following up on that, which we all do when we're very young and then sometimes get unfortunately conditioned away from that. When you're talking about embracing ambiguity here at One Stone, I mean, really,

Speaker 6 that's just what you're doing in life. Like, especially outside of school. Like, that's constantly what you're doing. You never know a concrete answer for, like, oh, I don't know. Some random scenario like, oh, I don't know if I should go get coffee today. Like, no one's gonna tell you, like, yes. Go get coffee today. And so you're right. Like, it seems so obvious, and yet it's something that's so overlooked in most systems. I love that idea too. And it it's something, Jesse, that you mentioned and really

Speaker 1 both of you are are getting at. When you're trying to design for the future, you'll often be incorrect. As in, there was a big push in the last, god, at this point, twenty years to do coding in school. There's like code.org initiatives and focusing on code, and that's great. It's great if you wanna focus on code in school, but the the idea behind that was have every single kid take a coding class so they get jobs in STEM. But the issue is going to be, obviously, if every single kid learns how to code, that's gonna lead to a a lot of problems down the road. And they're not necessarily interested in coding, and they're not necessarily gonna relate those school those skills that they learned in school to what they're gonna do after school, etcetera, etcetera. In your environment, all of the decisions are being made year to year. They're not being made top down. But it is interesting segue that you have a student led board where decisions are being made because they're being made primarily by young people. Let's talk about that because that's also hyper unique. The student led board,

Speaker 6 what do you all do? What is the student board? What is it? Yeah. It's actually written into our bylaws that we have to have at least two thirds of the board of directors be high school students. And so that's something that's so foundational in what the board is. And it's not just like a student council. Like, no. This is a nonprofit board of directors, and it's real. And a lot of what we do is super, like, high level like, looking at what the organization needs not today, but what will make us sustainable for five years, ten years in the future. What about the next generation of students that come to OneStone? And so, like, the the decision to make OneStone tuition based was made by the board of directors and was made by two thirds students. And same with everything that we're doing.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And I think another thing is right now, actually, the board, it must be two third students, but I'm pretty sure right now it's more like three fourth students. And it's not just students that go to Lab 51. We have students from other schools, other high schools, public schools that are part of things like Project Good, which is our student led experiential service program, which is an after school thing. So anyone in the Treasure Valley can come and join, and there's kids who are super involved with that and they love ones doing. They believe in the mission, And they get invited to the board of directors and they're on there. People super involved with, like, Two Birds and who are there at every Two Birds meeting and are making, you know, ads, commercials, documentaries, whatever it is with Two Birds. They're on the board. So it's really it's so cool. And I didn't really know this until I was on the board that there were students outside of lab fifty one who I didn't see every day that loved One Stone as much as I did. And being able to talk with them and hear their experiences of being in our community, but also still being in that more traditional environment has been, like, such a interesting duality. And just, like I don't know. It's been amazing. I have I've really loved that part of being on the board.

Speaker 5 Yeah. And just kind of to take it in a different direction, like, being on the board as a student has felt so incredibly empowering because it's just this, like, it's a real board. It does anything like a nonprofit board for any other nonprofit organization would do, and, like, I'm a high school student on the board. And, like, I can introduce myself. I can be like, hi. I'm Ella. I'm a board member at Stone. Like, it's it's insane. And the opportunities that, like, we get to do because of, like, the things not just the board. The things that happen at One Stone are so incredible. And I just, like, have felt so empowered. And I feel like a lot of people feel the same way. Like, just that you feel so lifted up by being included on such, like, a big scale and big level of this organization.

Speaker 6 Yeah. And a lot of what we do is, like, reviewing the audit and, like, reviewing our executive director's compensation and, like, all of that stuff. And it's just it's crazy to think about, like, oh my god. Like, I'm 16, and I'm reviewing audits for a non review. Like, that just doesn't make any sense. And it's still something that I'm, like, trying to wrap my head around. And it's also so interesting to contrast that with what most people see, like, a student board as. Like, take a student council at a traditional school. Like, they're maybe planning the prom. Yeah. Like, that's probably their biggest duty. Like, I just I just think that's really fascinating. And I feel like, especially, like, everybody's,

Speaker 5 like, perception of a high school student is kind of, like, your classic teenager who they portray in the movies, who's maybe kind of a slob, who doesn't really feel super passionate about school. And then we kinda take that definition and, like, flip it on its head, and we're, like, we kind of run our organization, like, hand in hand with our administrators and coaches and everybody. And we are excited about it, and we just take charge fearlessly. And I think that's a really cool thing that OneStone cultivates for anyone who kinda comes in contact with it. Yeah.

Speaker 4 We're all in a community read. We're reading the power moments right now. Really good book. But one of the main points of, like, how can you make a moment? Like, what is a moment? And one of the things is breaking the script. And I believe that One Stone totally breaks the script, like, shatters expectations, and we are like when I think of a school, One Stone is probably, like, one of the last things I would think of Yeah. Before I came here, but it's it's truly incredible. I wanna just amplify

Speaker 1 exactly what we're talking about here because it's it's mind blowing. So Ella, you hint at like, you know, you're you're doing compensation for example or you're you're doing you know, you're doing actual things that actual nonprofits do. You're hiring and firing teachers or mentors. You're quite literally on the call, we have Jesse who's the director of strategic partnerships. He is almost a subordinate, at least to the collective of you. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I work for them. That's just such a unique thing because I think a lot of places will pitch that as part of their branding or or will talk about the idea of student voice and student empowerment. But this is a speaking of systems, this is a structural systemic thing that is integrated into the the foundation of it itself.

Speaker 5 Would you attribute your success to the fact that students are the ones making the decisions? I don't know. I feel like it's really a combination of things. Like, of course, like, students making so many decisions, like, makes it super possible for all other students to feel really empowered and lifted up and, like, they can really join in in that effort and kind of, like, build our army of good for good. But, also, I feel like having coaches and administrators who really believe in you and who let you know that they believe in you and that they trust you is also huge. Because, I mean, we all kind of have grown up in this environment where it's like teachers are here above you and students are, like, learning from teachers. But at once, it's the idea of, like, learning together. And that's not just with coaches. That's with, like, Jesse. Like, we're learning with Jesse, and we're learning with, like, the, like, director of our school, Teresa. Like, it's just super cool. And I don't know how else to describe it. It's just amazing because I feel like it's not just other students lifting you up, it's everybody. It's a whole community effort.

Speaker 3 Yeah. And I think OneStone has been helping me learn from others that aren't in a school environment. So, like, for example, when I'm thinking of the board, I'm thinking of our adult board members who have been on multiple other nonprofit boards and have worked in so many different organizations. And so they bring so much knowledge to the board. And even just, like, the way they phrase things and what they say, I'm like, oh, I can use that. Like, that's that's what people talk. I'm like, I I get it now. And so and then even just in any opportunity, I you know, one stone is fostering a love for learning, and that love for learning goes way beyond our building. And so this, like, isn't at all answering the question you asked. But, like, I learn everywhere now. You know? Like, I'm walking down the green belt, and I see a plant, and I'm like, ah, yes. Tree of heaven. Like, I get, like, I'm just always learning and I love it and I love having this mindset now of just this love for learning is just you know what? I love it. And

Speaker 5 one thing I I really like like to kinda go off what Reyes said, I feel like One Stone, like, creates lifelong learners, which I feel like is something that gets lost in translation a lot of the time. But here, we really strive to kind of empower everyone to follow their curiosity past high school, past college, like, throughout the rest of your life. Like, you never stop learning and you never stop growing. And, like, the growth mindset that you gain at One Stone is huge. Like, failure is a totally different concept here than it is in traditional school. Yeah. Because, like, we embrace it and we love it and it's this insane growth opportunity, kinda like this metamorphosis like moment. And I just think that that's super cool and kinda goes hand in hand with love of learning and being a lifelong learner and having this growth mindset. And

Speaker 4 we're all in Pathfinders, which is, like, our admissions program. And one of a part of that is giving tours to potential students and their families. And one of my favorite things about it is seeing, like, how excited their parents or guardian is. Like, they are just as excited about being in this space and seeing what we're doing as the kids are. I hear a lot of, like, I wish I had this when I was a kid, and it's just it makes my heart so happy to see that, like, this is so much bigger than just us as students. Like, this is something that could be beneficial for everybody. And just to clarify that point there. Right? So our students are are the ones who are

Speaker 2 making the decisions about, you know, admissions, the whole application process. They do that in conjunction with the leaders of the school who are also adults, but it is the students leading the way, all along. And then they have such a sense of buy in of, you know, the the creation of this community as well and how that process works. So, yeah, I mean, your your original question, I think I I think as you were answering the question, Rhea, because I think it was about, you know, what leads to one stone's success. And and some of that has to do with just when you break down that sort of, you know, box that that was education. Once you crack that open, then suddenly we see, well, education is everywhere. The, you know, empowerment and learning is is is everywhere, and it doesn't look like one thing, and you're all describing parts of that. So students, you know, leading their own learning, that sounds radical, but again, going back to what we're trying before, that actually is very natural. Right? You're just now taking advantage of that opportunity.

Speaker 1 Hey. Thanks for listening to our podcast so far. We know you've probably heard this before, but it generally does make a huge difference if you could like this podcast on your favorite provider and leave a review. This helps even more folks listen to great conversations like this one. Further, if you wanna access free resources to build a human centered education system, check out our research, handbooks, writings, and additional podcasts at humanrestorationproject.org. Now back to the show. On the one hand, it makes me very sad, but on the other hand, makes me very hopeful that this is such a transformational, learning experience for you all when you just change the underlying systems and structures of how school works. This is not meant to discredit any of you, but it's not like you all are the most amazing students that ever existed and you're it's not that. It's just the fact that you're young people that are given the power and privilege and ability to be yourselves and and have a say in what you do in a meaningful way. As a result, you're able to flourish. I think about that at scale, if you could see that across the entire country or across the entire world, how that would transform society at large to have systems that way. In in terms of how you work as a nonprofit, obviously, you're expanding upon your programs and offering this to your community. Do you ever think about outreach to to other schools, traditional schools, or even just expanding your model in general? This is actually so funny because yesterday,

Speaker 6 we all the four of us met with Jesse to talk about an opportunity that we're really excited about about possibly partnering with another school to focus on sustainability practices and design thinking. So to answer your question, yes. We're always working with other schools. In my current design lab project where I practice design thinking, I'm currently working with many schools in Canada to kinda develop a mental health initiative for teenagers. So, yes, we're always always working with

Speaker 2 other schools and trying to get our mission. And then at an organizational level, yes, in addition to what the students are engaging in, we, in the last two years, have started to partner with other schools and organizations sharing aspects of our models. So in particular, our living in beta program that we've talked about, we now offer a certification in becoming a wayfinding mentor, in using this, living in beta program, and we've been sharing that, training program with educators and teachers for you know, and homeschool, you know, parents for those who want to, you know, engage in in student led learning. We've been doing that with those around the country and with different cohorts around the world. We also are sharing our human centered design for student driven learning. So our particular approach to human centered design, we offer certification in that program as well. We've been doing that for another, you know, a year here. And then another major aspect of OneStone that is now being shared around the country is our growth framework. And so this is something that contains both our bold learning objectives. That's our unique profile of a graduate, which contains thirty two twenty first century skills or durable skills ranging from mindfulness to humility to, you know, passion. Our our our so our bold learning objectives, which we affectionately call the blob. And and all of our students, rather than having grades, they set goals in and self assess and receive assessment in their growth in those 32 learning objectives that are in our blob. And then we've, alongside that, created something we call the growth transcript, which allows different weights to be applied to those assessments and for various people to input those assessments, whether that's teachers or an internship lead or, you know, a boss at work and the students themselves, of course, and it aggregates those and then presents growth in every one of those areas ranging from sort of, you know, just developing in the area to all the way to mastering. There are now several schools that are piloting the use of this growth framework in their organizations, and we call them schools that are powered by One Stone. And, pretty happy about the fact that we've also just this summer received a grant from the National Science Foundation to build out this growth framework platform in an app that will be really accessible for others around the country. Congrats. That's incredible.

Speaker 1 I don't like dealing in the business of caveats because I feel like the conversations always end up being pointless because you get into like, but what about college admissions? What about testing? What about standards? All of these what about type questions, which at the end of the day, you all are showing what happens. You don't need to explain yourselves theoretically on why these things matter because you yourselves are living examples of how it works. However, I'm sure you all have data in terms of the folks that would would listen to this and say, you know, are they going to college? Are they successful after this? Or are they just

Speaker 2 wandering off of the world with no guidance? What does that what does the post school experience look like? Yeah. I'll jump in here, but feel free. I know some of you have siblings who are, you know, have gone through OneSnow and and can can speak to this as well. Yeah. That you know, it's a great question because, you know, it's for their first class, that was the number one question that all parents had. Right? The first we opened the doors and said, oh, this sounds amazing. I don't wanna close any doors for my students down the line. And, what's gonna happen here with this growth transcript and no grades? You we know, believe in it. We asked for a lot of trust with our community, and we had a lot of data and research to back up what we're doing. But once that first class graduated and we saw that they were getting into every school they wanted to get into, and now that we're, you know, four classes through and we've been accepted into, you know, over a 120 colleges and universities ranging from the UC system to elite art schools to, you know, Middlebury, you you name it, that we know that this is not only something that works in terms of college admission, but then the success that students are having once they're in college, being able to draw from the toolkit that you're getting glimpses of when you talk to these students here, the ability to know how to navigate ambiguity, to learn when you need to learn, to, you know, handle failure and to embrace it. All those things are leading to tremendous success in college or in career where students are already some of them are choosing to jump there. But, yeah, just you we have on our website, but a list of all of the schools and, you know, it's one thing to step back. For many of your listeners know this already that OneSound is in the first place that's offering a nontraditional transcript to colleges. This is no longer so boundary breaking breaking to to send students forward without a GPA or a letter grade. That colleges are asking for some, you know, clarity on on how your system works, what you're assessing, show us some rigor and some consistency, and we absolutely do that, and they are embracing. And then they're coming back the next year and singing, please have more of your students apply. Yeah. And actually, I can add a little bit of a personal tidbit to this. So my brother was in the first graduating class at One Stone Left One,

Speaker 6 and he got into a pretty prestigious liberal arts college in Washington on a scholarship. And he is doing amazing there. He's about to graduate. And just seeing how successful he was in college was just so inspirational for me because I've talked to so many people who've been through the traditional public excuse me, traditional public school system and are now, like, really struggling in college because they don't understand how to ask for help from their professors or they don't understand how to advocate for themselves and get the classes that they need. And so that's something that I think one student will never struggle with. So, yeah, we just

Speaker 3 yeah. Yeah. Another Yeah. Another little thing on that is my brother graduated just this past summer. And so he's in his first semester at, a local college right now. And having that transition from, like there's a transition from a traditional environment into one stone, but there's also that reverse when you go into college of coming from an untraditional spot to a traditional schooling system again. And he was really worried about how he would do, but this toolbox for life is what is, like, pushing him through. He's like, you know, math, it's really tough. It's never been my thing. But I hear him still using words like, but I have grit, but I'm working on my management skills. Things that are on our blog that we make goals in consistently over our time at One Stone. He like, they're still part of his vocabulary, and they're still how he is succeeding is with those things that we are learning here and exploring.

Speaker 4 And we have a great college counselor here. You know, we have, like, college essay writing nights, so we definitely have people here that can help us get to where we want to be. And you mentioned testing. Like, last week, we all took a PSAT and, you know, so we have We killed it. Yeah. We killed it. Have we have resources and we have, like, the structure to be able to, like, do all these things and also succeed in college.

Speaker 1 I think what's most self evident is that toolbox that you all are carrying with you makes you not, for lack of a better way of saying it, lose your humanity. You care about other people. You care about learning. It's not just about college and career readiness, although that might be something that's important. At the end of the day, what matters the most is that you care about other people, that you're part of a community, that you're able to speak up and use your voice. That's such a powerful tool for a 100, a 10,000 people that all do that. It can make a lot of transformational change at large scale. With all that said, what suggestions would you have for teachers who teach at a more traditional environment or maybe even one that's little bit more progressive, but not as progressive as this, who are doing this kind of work, they're hearing you all like, yes, this is so awesome. What could they do within a classroom environment that could at least start to tackle this?

Speaker 6 I I was actually recently asked this question because I was on a panel for some schools across the Northwest. And a a public school teacher asked me this, and I was stumped. I was pretty stumped. I was like, a lot of what makes OneStone special is, like we were talking about before, how student leadership is built into the foundation of our organization. But there are so many things that you can take from OneStone that I think can really enhance your students' learning. And I think my biggest suggestion would be to meet your students where they're at and to really get to know them as a person and not just who you see in class every day. And that's I think that's the biggest thing that really transformed my experience here and gave me a lot of empowerment and ownership in what I was

Speaker 3 I think, like, my advice would be going back to what Ian said earlier about breaking the script. I think sometimes people get really comfortable and they feel really safe in a schedule and in something that dictates what you're doing and when. But that kinda when I was in a more traditional setting, that made me feel like the schedule was more important than I was and that they would rather keep to the schedule than, you know, talk about something for five minutes over. And so I think breaking the script and if something isn't working or the students just aren't into it that day, saying, whatever. Like, okay. It's not working. Let's not do this day. Like, let's do something else. What do you guys think is gonna help you? Do you wanna go outside? And just having that fluid mindset and that growth mindset to just be like, okay. And, like, I'm gonna meet my students where they're at. And if they're not at, let's write an essay for an hour today, then we won't write an essay for an hour today because their success and happiness and love for learning is more important than the schedule.

Speaker 6 Yeah. Yeah. I don't think in my, what was that, fifteen years of public education, I don't think I ever had one teacher genuinely ask me how I was doing.

Speaker 3 And, like, oh, like, that's rough.

Speaker 6 At least once a day we have a call. That's just who we are and, like, care to listen. And so even just, like, little things like like pulling someone aside and, like, actually asking them, like, what do you think about what we're doing today? Or, like, how are you doing? Like, that does make a difference.

Speaker 5 And I was on the same panel Lila was on, and I was asked the exact same question too. And I said that I think it's really important for every teacher to really drive home the fact that failure isn't negative and failure isn't final because that was something that coming to one side was the biggest shift for me was so much of my success in traditional school was, like, hinged on that, like, if you are successful, you're going to go far. And if you fail once, like, that's end of the road. Like, no more. But as soon as I came to One Stone and people were like, failure is a growth experience. It sounds kinda cheesy, but it changed the whole way I looked at the world because I was like, you're so right. Like, this is incredible. And I feel like if I had had a teacher sit me down in public school when I maybe didn't do as well as I'd hoped I would on an assignment and be like, it's okay. This is gonna help you grow, and here's why, I would be like, woah. I can apply this to everything else. So I feel like something small that every single teacher can do in their classroom is really enforce the fact that failure is good and that you should always be working to cultivate this growth mindset.

Speaker 4 I'd say something every classroom could do. We do portfolios. So at the end of every semester, we just take everything we've done and put it into a Google Sites presentation, and we present it to a our mentor and our parents, and we get we know we just have, like, a conversation about, like, what we did this semester, how we felt about it, what we learned, how we grew, how we failed. And it's just I think that is something every school could do. It's like a parent teacher conference on steroids. And it was honestly, it's just incredible. And I think that it's something that every classroom could do, and it would be really impactful. I wanna acknowledge that,

Speaker 2 you know, teachers in in all sorts of situations, in traditional spaces or or progressive spaces, genuinely, if it doesn't even come across, I think almost all of them genuinely, you know, care about the students they're working with and their success. A lot of times, we get caught up in other people's definitions of success, though. And the in in the efforts to try to be rigorous and have students get to a particular place, we lose track of of the individual, you know, power of those students and and the creativity and the curiosity. And something that I've found to be, you know, a wonderful question is to ask myself, what decisions am I making for these students that they could be making for themselves? So so asking that question and then acting on it in ways that are reasonable within your space and then continuing to seed power because it isn't about the teacher. That that was, you know, adjustment for for me moving into this space even after being in some fairly progressive educational space before this to to really step back and and, you know, look at that sign when you walk in the building that says we believe in the power of students. To act on that means to, you know, reduce my ego, to be vulnerable as you're describing, you know, to make mistakes and own those mistakes and to say, I don't have to be the expert on everything. All I can really do with you is show you how I pursue things that I don't know the answer to and how to be, you know, acting on my curiosity alongside you. Ian, Rhea, Lila, and Ella, and Jesse, thank you so much for joining us today. Is there anything else that you'd wanna add before we sign off? Any final thoughts?

Speaker 3 I love OneStone.

Speaker 6 I agree. I agree. OneStone is the best place ever. Thank you for doing this.

Speaker 1 Thank you again for listening to Human Restoration Projects podcast. I hope this conversation leaves you inspired and right at push the progressive envelope of education. You can learn more about progressive education, support our cause, and stay tuned to this podcast and other updates on our website at humanrestorationproject.org.