YEAR: 2014

Partner

Newark Public Schools

Location

Multiple communities, including Malcolm X Shabazz High School

Context / Challenge

By the mid-2010s, traditional high schools were struggling to meet the needs of students who craved creativity, care, and relevance in their education. The system was rooted in outdated models, leaving little space for imagination, experiential learning, or student agency—a challenge acutely felt in urban districts like Newark.

Role

Worldbuilder, School Designer, and Facilitator (Dream Director) — tasked with embedding youth-led social innovation and purpose-driven learning into the core school experience.

What We Built

A series of prototypes called Possibility High Schools—visionary models of education that asked not “what should school look like?” but “what could learning feel like?” These prototypes, later featured in the book Most Likely to Succeed, reimagined high schools as ecosystems centered around creativity, experiential practice, and student-led design.

Approach / Methods

Community-based design sessions, immersive worldbuilding frameworks, and experiential education methods that positioned students not only as learners but as co-architects of their schools. This work activated students to rise to challenges, take on ambitious projects, and approach education with newfound purpose.

Impact / Outcomes

These prototypes successfully challenged conventional education models and contributed to national discourse around innovation in high schools. They served as pilot laboratories for ideas that directly informed the creation of Prototypia—an immersive learning realm built on the lessons of Possibility High Schools, proving that purpose-driven education can thrive in historically struggling environments.

Story

“Instead of asking what school should look like, we asked: what could learning feel like? The answer was giving students the power to create their own educational reality.”

Tags

Education Innovation, School Design, Worldbuilding, Youth Leadership, Experiential Learning, Systemic Change