Help Students Reconnect, Reflect and Reimagine School

As we head back into school buildings after 16 months of pandemic-induced disruption, how will you center your students’ voices and experiences as they reconnect with school? KQED’s newest Youth Media Challenge Rethink School With MindShift asks students to reflect on their experience and then create an audio or video commentary on the question: 

Now that things are getting back to “normal,” should they? What do you want to change (or stay the same) about school? 

For Rachel Collay, a high school English teacher in Mesa, Arizona, the time is right for students to reflect and share what the past year has taught them.  

“As we start this school year, I want to really engage in a conversation (vocal, artistic, written, etc) with students to decide how we transition from our reality last year to a reimagining of what the future can be,” Collay said. “For years, we knew that we needed to reimagine education for a new century, and this school year is the perfect time to innovate with students leading the way.”

We’re excited to partner with MindShift, KQED’s award-winning future of learning podcast. 

Ki Sung, senior editor of MindShift, thinks this challenge is vital right now.

“Students are more than capable of reimagining the school experience after everything they went through because of the pandemic. We must listen to our students and do our best to meet their needs.”

Join us! 

Submissions are open through June 2022. All student submissions are published to the showcase, and student pieces received before October 15 will be considered for broadcast on the MindShift podcast in November! Use our standards-aligned curriculum to guide students from brainstorming to submission.