ASKING QUESTIONS, EXPLORING OPTIONS, CHANGING THE IMPACT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION.

Making a Difference

Ready. Set. Action!

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A Senior Exhibition Update.

As I hurtled into May, everything seemed to be happening at once. The senior class was writing and presenting speeches, senior ex groups were creating powerpoints and most importantly groups were setting out on Social Action.

Social Action is a large component of the Senior Exhibition process. Because we have spent so much time researching social issues, our teachers challenge us to take what we have learned from that research and try and make an impact on our chosen issue. We are tasked with designing and implementing the project from start to finish, a monumental mission!

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Making a Difference

A Community Outreach Trip to Latin America.

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As some of you, blog readers, may know, I attend a service learning-based high school….a school dedicated to volunteering and community outreach. We have a weekly service learning program which puts every student out into the community to volunteer. While we have made a tremendous impact locally, the work of Quest Early College High School students reaches beyond even international borders.

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Making a Difference

Caring is Not Enough. Empathy as an Hors d’oeuvre to Social Action.

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As a teacher of Social Action and director of Service Learning, I find myself often charged with “getting kids to care.”  Isn’t this the constant predicament of most educators?

In truth, I have developed a whole career around crafting curriculum, activities, professional development seminars, and local and global service opportunities to answer this charge.  Though I have failed with some frequency, I am proud of this work; creating a culture of compassion within a system of competition has been and continues to be a pseudo-subversive revolution.

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Making a Difference

Bottoms Up: Utilizing Social Action to Inspire at the Source

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There is really no avoiding the grandiose, often idealistic, language associated with the connected fields of education and social action.  I do not believe these lofty aims are simply the machinations of politicians and fundraisers; rather (for the most part), they are the noble intentions of individuals exercising in a post-industrial construct.  I have fallen prey to my own lofty, heroic ideals on numerous occasions, and can still sense their siren’s call when standing in front of a classroom full of students, or auditorium full of educators.  Unlike many who proffer plans on how to “change the world,” I have had the beautifully brutal experience of seeing my most well-intentioned plans crumble in a red cloud of African dust.

After living with a group of orphans in Thoera, Mozambique, a tiny village near the Zambezi River, I found myself in the most epic heroic narrative of my life. (more…)

Innovation, Making a Difference

Cognitive Sprawl: A learning landscape of expansion without intention

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This is my maiden entry in the Rice blogosphere, but I have stalked the REEP Blog for a couple months now.  My name is Kap McWhorter and I have sojourned in education for the better part of the last decade.  I have held administration and teaching positions in both private and public schools.  I have been everything from the Campus Pastor/High School Religion teacher at a small private school to my current position with Humble ISD as Small Learning Communities Coordinator.  Smattered amidst these varied experiences are extended periods of work in the non-profit sector and global relief organizations.  These seemingly incongruous experiences have found harmony in my current work in directing Finding Heroes, a non-profit organization committed to providing meaningful learning experiences by connecting students and educators to the needs of their local and global communities. (more…)