Listeners, earlier this year I participated in a virtual event called Eye on Student Protagonism, hosted by education author and consultant, Jennifer D. Klein. The format was simple. Invite young people to showcase their school projects, surround them with interested adults primed to listen, ask questions and offer insights. During this event Jennifer’s two student presenters were from a program called Gone Boarding, founded in a high school in the great state of Michigan. One of those students was a young woman named Harper Klassen. As I learned about, and from Harper I totally lost my educator mind. I felt like I had torn open a chocolate bar and discovered one of the five Willy Wonka Golden Tickets, the chocolate factory was Gone Boarding and Harper was Willy Wonka. At the end of the session I learned that Harper was about to graduate and had been accepted at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, which is in my home state. Her goal is to study business and bring Gone Boarding to the islands. Be still my educator heart. So what is Gone Boarding? Gone Boarding is a wildly engaging, project-based, student-centered program where young people design, build, brand, market and ride boards: skateboards, surfboards, snowboards and more, while learning the stuff schools often struggle to make real: science, math, design, entrepreneurship, communication, craftsmanship, confidence and teamwork. Founded by educator Bill Curtis, who noticed that some students valued snowboarding more than school itself, Gone Boarding flips the usual script. Instead of asking students to leave their interests, cares and passions at the door, it builds school around them. Students don't just complete assignments and take tests. They create products, present to companies, meet industry partners, test their own designs and discover that learning can be life-useful, unforgettable and very, very real. What began as an experiment in one Michigan high school has now expanded into more than a dozen states, with schools across the country adapting the model to their own communities and local board sports. In a world where educators spend endless hours debating student engagement, Gone Boarding has become one of the most intriguing examples of what can happen when schools start with passion, purpose and real work. More importantly, it offers a glimpse of what becomes possible when schools help young people develop the confidence to believe that their dreams are not too big. Bill Curtis wrote the following about Harper Klassen for this episode. “Harper Klassen is passionately pursuing her dreams! She embraced every opportunity Gone Boarding presented to her. She spent hours in the shop creating all types of boards and never missed an opportunity to get out and shred on the boards she made. When it comes to networking, Harper connected so naturally with all of our brand partners and continues to do so. Upon graduating from high school in Michigan, she is pursuing her dreams by attending the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa to study business. Our "shredder of the year" is going to do big things and we are so proud of her!” As always, this show’s audio engineer is the talented Evan Kurohara. My thanks to our creative consultant, Mel Ching, and to Lynn Cvengros, who first introduced me to Gone Boarding and Bill Curtis. If you have questions or insights, email me at [email protected].