I ask my students and my team every day to “get uncomfortable to get comfortable.” In order to move forward in life, you have to be willing to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone (“get uncomfortable”) to begin to feel comfortable with new ways of working or learning to do things differently. Today, I am practicing that by writing this blog post. And I will be asking you to do the same as well (read until the end). Our education system seems to be at a crossroads. If you are a parent, a teacher, a board member, a business owner, a student, or anyone involved in working in or around our schools today, you are probably aware of this. It is hard to ignore. It seems to be in the papers every week. The system is facing changes and challenges. Different factions have different ideas about what is working and what is broken and how to upgrade our existing system. It may take years to resolve things–to reinvent what and how we teach the next generation of students. The thing is, we may not have years.
I am neither a politician, nor a school teacher, nor a superintendent. I am a concerned parent and businessperson, a parent that decided three years ago to take action as a businessperson to help be part of the solution, to support the students who are struggling to learn and may not be getting the support they need in their schools. I took my personal parenting journey, my talent in leading businesses, and my experience in teaching technology for over 25 years and put it to work. I gathered the right people and partnered with the right organizations. We’ve brought in 21st century ideas, thinking and research to build a not-for-profit company that creates powerful learning experiences. We teach students industry-specific skills that increase their career opportunities and help them to be competitive in a changing global employment landscape.
One of the most important impacts you can make in a child's life is providing them an education. If you want to solve world hunger, if you want to solve violence in your community, if you want to solve our energy challenges (I could go on and on) the answer is and always will be education. Educate children, provide them with critical thinking skills and they will solve world hunger. Educate children on the impact of violence in their communities and they will grow up to build more peaceful communities. Educate children to become scientists, technologists, engineers, artists and mathematicians and they will create a more self-sustaining future.
Here is where I get uncomfortable. Our organization wants to change as many futures as possible but we cannot do it alone. We need YOUR help. I am asking for your support so we can create a domino effect that will change our children’s future for the better.
This past Tuesday was Giving Tuesday. Sadly, we did not have a very successful fundraising campaign. So in the spirit of all of us getting uncomfortable, I am asking for a do-over. I am asking you to help us reach our $250,000 goal so that our organization can continue our work and change the face of education for the next generation and for generations to come. I am asking you to stretch yourself and give what you can to make a difference in our children’s education. I am asking you to make a donation--no matter how small--and then to ask your friends and family members to do the same.
If you want to help educate our children for the 21st century, please share this blog with everyone and anyone to spread the word. Let's take this cause viral and help change the future for our children and for their children’s children. We can make a difference and we can make a better future. We just need to get a little uncomfortable.