2025 showcase themes
Designing for the 2025 ShowcaseA network of peers designing schools to be places where everyone wants to be and can thrive.
design teams
2025 Showcase Themes
FOSTERING CONNECTIONS
Knowing that humans are hardwired for connection, the invitation is to design a series of experiences that enable students to feel deeply connected to the adults in the school, each other, and a shared vision of the school’s purpose.
BUILDING PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS
Knowing that finding a pathway to adult success is important to having agency, the invitation is to design a series of experiences that allow each school member to discover potential pathways and vocations beyond high school that resonate with their individual passion and future views of themselves.
Resources & Tools
Here are some resources and tools teams may find useful with their design efforts.
Designing in a Generative EcoSystem
According to the Cambridge Dictionary if something is generative it is able to produce or create something. An ecosystem is a system that environments and their organisms form through their interactions or relationships.
Every living system changes using the same dynamics, be it an individual, team, school, community, country or planet.
Relationships are all there is. Nothing living lives alone. Everything exists only as potential until it manifests in relationship.
Life changes through emergence: separate parts interact in a network of relationships. What emerges is new and different, never the sum of the parts. Adapted from Berkana Institute: A new paradigm for leading change
The Ladder of Connectedness Explained
This video explores the Ladder of Connectedness. It was created by New York Center for Interpersonal Development for students in their Summer Youth Program. NYCID believes in building community and nurturing personal growth.
Ikigai
Ikigai, pronounced “ee-kee-guy,” is a Japanese concept that unites the joy of life with a sense of purpose. The term is a combination of the Japanese words ‘iki’ (to live) and ‘gai’ (reason), which together signify “a reason to live.”
We are sharing this template as a place to begin to make a visible representation of where what you love, what comes easily to you (strength/gift) what the world needs and what you may offer that is of value integrate. Learn more about ikigai
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