Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Maker Education Forum: Julian Waters”.
And up next we have a young maker. He is from virginia he’s a senior in high school. Not only is he a student he’s an educator and he’s an innovator, give a warm new york welcome to julian waters good afternoon, everyone uh, my name is julian waters. Um, i’m i’m i’m currently uh a high school senior at western albemarle high school in crozet, virginia uh. I’Ve lived in alberta county for my entire life.
In fact, i’ve never even moved houses. I’Ve watched as old families have left the neighborhood and new families have moved in attracted by the strength of our school district. It’S the same school district that i grew up in in the same school district that i am in now, but albertal county’s public school system has changed drastically since i first entered school as a student in k-5, i grew up in an era that saw us transition From state-mandated standardized paper tests to state mandated standardized computer tests, so it’s obviously standard one to standard two and throughout my education, i’ve very clearly seen the the standardized system that current educational regulations force, students into the same learning environment and the same curriculum for every student Must mean the same education experience right wrong and that’s why we’re all here? There’S no need to talk at nauseam about why the system doesn’t work for every student. We all know it.
Instead, the productive conversation now is about how schools are and have been, trying to fix this issue, and that also is why we’re all here today and that’s why i want to share this story, not just mine, but albemarle counties before i go on. I just. Let me take a moment to tell you about myself and what i’m interested in so my personal hobby for nearly four years now has been model airplanes and drones, and when i’m not working on school work or on extracurriculars, i am building designing flying and yes crashing Them now my love for aviation has led to me building and designing my own airplane traveling for about 12 hours every year, with my dad to visit a week-long flying event in ohio and starting a drone club at my high school, and now it all begins to Come together so, just two years ago, as a sophomore in high school, i tried to start a drone club and the idea was shot down even such a short time ago. There were not yet the people or the mindsets in place that allowed me to explore what i was interested in, whose job it was to go out of their way to work with students like me to explore their crazy ideas and make it a reality. Now. Two short years later, i stand before you, the president of my drone and model aviation club and a student advisor to albemarle county public schools. Now, in those two years, what changed the people, but not just the people. The mindset had changed as well.
The set of rules that i had to play by were changed: it’s the administrators and the teachers who can have the biggest direct impact on students more so than painting the halls, a different color or modernizing the furniture. Although those are great as well. Don’T don’t stop that it’s those faculty members who are willing to go the extra mile who can help students latch on to their crazy idea and fly with it and make it a reality? And by introducing these mentors and this kind of mentorship mentality into public schools across the district, albemarle county had intentionally or unintentionally, made the single biggest impact on my student career. Ever it’s the principal who’s willing to work with students on a crazy drone club or the teacher who challenges students to pursue their passions and their ideas or the librarian who walks up to students and asks.
Do you want to make something that helps to foster the kind of creativity and passion-driven student projects that are now becoming a reality across albemarle county, and it’s not just that? It’S it’s the passion that the educators have as well the passion that the educators have to work with students, not just the passion that the students have to work with the educators. It goes both ways and by introducing these sorts of educators and administrators. By introducing this mindset of mentorship, the desires of students are more accurate, more accurately reflected in the physical learning environment around them. Two years ago, my school had a storage room, and two years later, my school is a maker space where students are 3d printing and laser cutting.
Two years ago, my school at a faculty lounge and two years later, my school is a sound studio. Where there’s an audio design class and students making their own music – and these are the kind of changes that can stem directly from student voices being heard and invested in and by having the right people in place, the right, educators, the right administrators, maybe even the right Lunch person, it’s so much easier to understand what students are passionate about and how to encourage students to break the mold of standardized education and do something amazing with their ideas. These educators and these amazing new ideas and mindsets have transformed albemarle, county public schools into a school system where anything is possible and where students not only experience their own education but help to make it, and so many in our society are quick to criticize the system That public school students learn under, but equally strong in number, are those who strive actively to change it by promoting student voice, self-directed learning and passion-centered projects in school we’re making a lasting difference for students in their secondary schooling and well into their future. Together, we can make the education of tomorrow. Thank you all for investing in the future of education for investing in students. Thank you all for your time.
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