America is losing half its future innovators by failing to cultivate the pipeline of girls and women entering STEM. Role modeling and hands-on innovation experiences must begin by age 4 and be sustained without interruption. By the time a woman walks onto a college campus, the window for identity formation has largely closed.
Read MorePrecollege Education
We Can't Afford to Lose Half Our Innovators (K12 Digest) →
Planning a pitch, including a company app vibed-coded in Claude
10 Ways AI Is Transforming Our Entrepreneurship Program (and DECA Prep!)
From generating practice DECA exams and evaluating student role plays to creating dynamic RPGs and prototyping model products for innovation plans, we’re leaning into AI — both for today's classroom and tomorrow's careers.
Read MoreThe Meadows School DECA Chapter competing at SCDC (State Career Development Conference), 2026.
Turns Out, The Entrepreneurial Kids Were Here All Along
They were always here – the kid who doodles logos in her notebook, the one who wants to know how the pitch lands and how the money works – and in two years, DECA has given them their people, their place, and a ticket to compete against 22,000 peers at the International Career Development Conference in Atlanta.
Read MoreIn guiding students to become both constructive collaborators and resilient competitors, we help them build powerful skills to thrive in the next phase of their academic and professional careers – and become leaders on the world stage.
Teamwork and Trophies: The Evergreen Value of Student Competitions
Teaching our youth that they will experience both wins and losses – and how to take the next step following either outcome – is one of the most important lessons we can impart to them. And mentoring students to work effectively in team configurations is one of the most evergreen, and difficult, lessons we can share in steering the outcomes of competition toward wins.
Read MoreIn a year when most schools were closed, our seniors — and our entire school community — worked together to live our school values: in spite of challenges, we supported one another to teach and learn in-person, pivoting in rational, informed ways, one day at a time.
COVID-Era Graduates Learned Big Life Lessons
What a strange year this has been for our graduating students. COVID was certainly their "senior surprise" — but other challenges materialized as well. Their grit in powering through it and asking for social and emotional support when needed yielded realistic strategies they’ll tap when life presents new obstacles and crises.
Read MoreThis school year is about can, not can’t. Though instruments are masked, our students still make music!
Masked Instruments Still Make Sweet Music
How do you maintain COVID-19 mitigation protocols when making music — an art form that requires exhaling breath forcefully to play wind instruments? You get creative, like our Adelson Arts Chair, David Philippus, who discovered that everyday objects can effectively block air flow.
Read MoreDiplomacy, policy, and governance today requires understanding the intricacies of national origins.
Alternative History as a Route to History
Diplomacy, policy, and governance today requires understanding the intricacies of national origins. What would a nation look like if the relative influence of its founders — or the actions of pivotal leaders along the way — varied from the course of events we recognize as history? High school students tackle a PBL addressing this theme applied to Modern Israel.
Read MoreGet kids investigating real questions that arise day-to-day — that’s authentic science in action!
Silence the Volcano this Science Fair
Science fairs and expos provide exciting opportunities for kids to work as scientists. Stop rehashing overused projects, like “Model Volcano,” and follow these tips to help your kid develop a project based on his or her own authentic question.
Read MoreThe fab four (clockwise from left): App Lab (Code.org), A-Frame (CodeHS), MakeCode for micro:bit, and Scratch (MIT) provide fun, free platforms to get kids coding!
Four, Free, Fabulous, Fun Ways to Get Kids Coding
Parents want schools to offer computer science, but most don’t. Here are four, fabulous, free, fun ways to get your kid, tween, or teen coding!
Read MoreChuteless Skydiver? Artist? Tech Guru? Kid personalities inform how to best teach them coding.
Seven Personalities of Young Coders - And How to Teach Them
Knowing the personalities of your young coders — from the chuteless skydiver to the angst-ridden artist — is the first step toward creating positive instructional experiences in computer science.
Read MoreSeniors giving their culminating Egg Crash Helmet presentation.
Egg-Citing Crash Helmet Design
Conducting their problem-solving in an applied context showed students that computing a final velocity or a “delta t” is not the end of a problem, but the beginning of a solution – the solution to protecting heads from crash injuries.
Read MoreNo Civics, No Civilization
The decline of civics education, coupled with the ability of unchecked social media communications to make every voice count – regardless of whether that voice is researched and reasoned or not — is undermining our democracy.
Read MoreSchools, Showcase Your Teachers
Human capital matters. Showcase your teachers to parents, and potential parents, frequently.
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