Ryan O’Meara, Assistant Principal of Princess Anne High School
What is your why for participating?
I have a passion for wanting to push beyond the limits of where we are because the world is ever-changing. We need to make sure we are trying to help students to meet that. If we’re not being innovative, we’re not going to get there. The mindset piece was attractive to me because mindset effects the work significantly. Anything we can do to push and promote ways towards a mindset that’s more innovative appeals to me.
How did you hear about this work?
I think it came out from a memo I read. I can overextend myself for sure, but these kinds of things are also mentally stimulating. Personally, I need to [do things like this] to keep sustaining my motivation. But the over-extension piece was concerning, especially in the beginning [of this process, I worried] is this one too many things? [By the end] I decided I can’t afford not to do this. It definitely shifted for me to: I really have to do it.
What do you find meaningful about this work?
I think the ideas that what we’re coming up with and the amount of support and the open-endedness that anything is possible. The way it’s taken shape, we can go in endless number of directions [with our prototypes] and the support that comes behind that. We keep thinking of different things. It was really exciting when our teachers said they would like more time [to be innovative] and also...they wanted a beehive. That idea wasn’t laughed at it! It was supported really quickly and that was really exciting to see it take shape. From this, we’re going to learn bigger things and lessons that we’re going to apply on a systemic level.
Is this work different from what you expected?
Yes. I didn’t know what to expect coming in; I didn’t have a firm expectation. I was a little frustrated at the beginning of the process. When I think of the word innovation, I think new and different and never tried before, and it felt like some of the stuff was just similar approaches with an extension, but then it started to move in a different direction and gather some momentum to do something a little bit different.
The work has reinforced or highlighted some things. One of the things we started to do was, Virginia Beach’s school system has the Graduate Profile. I really like that [our group] took a ground-level approach to asking teachers: if you want to prepare students to meet this ideal what would you need to learn? What would you need to have? What would you need to do? They are the ones that have the great ideas because they are working with students. People can always use more time, that’s one answer that keeps coming out from these questions. How can we foster that with people so they are able to do different things. [These conversations] have enhanced my knowledge and reinforced it.
This work is also a little bit messy. I could describe our prototype and make it sound awesome, which it is. But if I explain it, it might mask the fact that we asked for time for teachers to collaborate and they are still experiencing apprehension because there’s a high-stakes test and they are worried about taking it. For two of the teachers, this is their first experience with an interdisciplinary approach to this extent, and they are a little scared and excited about it. It’s interesting to watch...the work is messy and if it doesn’t go well we’ll learn just as much or more from that.
What’s your biggest learning?
The prototype is ongoing. The bee supplies are on their way, and the teachers are in the middle of the interdisciplinary project. So it’s not finished yet, so I can’t say everything we’ve learned. What I hope to learn from it, is that I recognize going forward, or next year, or in five years, 10 years, budget constraints are always going to be an issue. Time is going to be an issue. So what are the small little things that we can still leverage to make innovation happen? Where can we pull those levers? Where are the small places? What did we learn about that? What can we do -- not about the funding -- what can we do to foster innovation in the future? That’s my lens: What are the insights we’re gaining about this?
Are there any improvements to the process you would recommend?
At first, Todd Kern, from 2Rev, kept saying this is a faith-based approach. And it really did come together. Rachel [Lopkin] has been fantastic. She has really helped guide our group without it being her ideas, she’s guiding it and synthesizing what to talk about.
I think the way it’s gone — oddly enough, over the whole course of the year, it still feels a little fast. Some people think it’s too fast and some people not fast enough. I am one of those people that I really believe meaningful mindset shifts take time. I can see it spread out over two years rather than one. I think 2Rev has done a nice job in leading it.
How does your learning and prototype relate to building more innovative, integrative communities?
The prototype we have is focused on a global issue. We want our kids to be globally connected. Before starting this, I didn’t know that bees are in danger of dying out. We want students to feel connected to something like that. We’re collaborating with community resources, like local beekeepers to expand [on this project]. The learning goes outside the classroom because now there’s a bee club that they want to sustain. Teachers, stakeholders, and students are all working together. That to me in education [is something] we don’t do enough of. This is just a small prototype. I think this work is helping push in the direction of seeing the interconnections in the resources in the community to help us teach.
Has your definition of innovation shifted?
We are not the first to do project-based learning. We are not the first to do interdisciplinary. We are not the first to know we need more time. So I am nagged by this feeling, is this really innovative? What are the lessons we’re learning that are totally different? The lessons learned from these small prototypes might not be truly innovative because they are pushing existing concepts, but what lessons can we learn that we need to use going forward? I don’t know if we do enough of combining all the different resources in the community, can we push the boundaries of that, and work like [this] will help us get there.