In the ever-evolving landscape of education, collaboration and innovation are key to creating impactful learning experiences. My professional journey over the last ten years has been profoundly influenced by my partnership with the futurist Richard Tavener, founder of Fused Learning and GiFT California. Our shared passion for creative learning experiences and commitment to fostering a world of hope and thriving success for students have led to numerous successful projects that have enriched the educational experiences of students and educators alike.

I first met Richard Tavener while I was serving as the Director of Learning at RAFT (Resource Area For Teaching), where Richard and I we collaborated as advisory panel members to the Region 5 STEAM Steering Committee. It is imporant to mention here, that all of the credit for The Region 5 STEAM Steering Committee’s work and existence goes to Mara Wold, Region 5 Extended Learning director and her team especially, Letty Gomez-Gong. I do not intend to state that our work here encompasses the entirety of these amazing programs either, but simply to state that this was the work that created the foundation for my longtime  collaborations and friendship with Richard and his family.

While these educators too often receive little or no training in education practice or content, this initiative empowered afterschool and summer school drop in program staff with the skills and knowledge needed to deliver high-quality STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education. We worked together with the steering committee team and several dozen staff from the region’s extended learning programs to develop a free training program for after-school and extended day learning staff throughout the Bay Area region and beyond.

We participated together in bi-monthly meetings and collaborations to help design the trainings as well as co-leading the monthly and multi-year cohort training sessions, bringing the best of all of our organization’s ideas, staff and resources to the table for the region. By working with these cohorts of staff from afterschool, or summer progam staff year over year, we saw great progress in the represented program’s access to STEAM learning throughout their programs. And the staff were highly engaged as we co-held the roles of decision-making, leadership and learning.

I think this mutual dedication and motivation that Richard and I shared enabled us to create a great deal of trust and I began to see him as someone who I could count on to help me brainstorm a big idea or organize a large project or event. Richard became one of the people I am eager to collaborate with on any project because I know the project goals will always come first and the creative boundaries would be endlessly wide.

As I advanced in my career, taking on roles such as Director of STEAM and Director of the MCAET TV studio, Richard and I were fortunate to continue to find opportunity to collaborate as he has remained a close partner with Region 5 and the Monterey County of Education. While I was at MCOE, we produced a game-show style learning experience for student teams that challenged students in Monterey County students to rapidly prototype engineering solutions to help them imagine sustainable futures in various scenarios. We filmed four episodes before production was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While I hoped to see the project become an original series for MCAET, it was lost in the pandemic churn and turnover. However the project has been revived as a live game show experience for afterschool programs like the Boys and Girls Club around south Santa Clara county.

Innovating for Better Online Experiences During the Pandemic Shutdown

Despite the setback, Richard pivoted to focus on the online live experience space and continued to innovate with live virtual experiences during the shutdown. At this time I was also grinding through the design process of creating engaging online video collaborative learning experiences for students stuck at home during the summer with Project Ember. I engaged with Richard sevel times to compare notes and share ideas, and he often brought me onto his larger projects to help re-create the gravity of large events in a zoom space.

As the world shifted dramatically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape of education and professional development had to adapt rapidly. During this challenging time, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Richard and Fused Learning, leveraging skills from my first career in visual design and video production to create innovative solutions for “large scale” virtual events. This included crafting promotional videos according to specs and design requirements across several brands or guests as well as co-producing live broadcasts that resembled the in person entertainment that guests expect from the events. We created a comedy “quiz show” for vendors to showcase themselves, concerts, and stand-up comedy shows, all aimed at enhancing the online environment and fostering feeling of community and connection their members needed especially during the shut down.

One of the most significant projects I worked on with Fused Learning was the 2021 Beyond School Hours Conference. This national educators’ conference, traditionally hosting over 1,000 attendees, had to be quickly transformed into a virtual format that provided a the same rich interactions, networking, sales leads, and badly desired community to its attendees. Our goal was to ensure that the online experience provided the same, if not greater, value as the in-person event. This was an exciting yet daunting challenge that required creativity and technical expertise.

To replicate the energy and engagement of a live conference, I helped produce several edited videos for the opening party. These videos were designed to create the feel of a live event, featuring key personalities in fun and engaging segments. With a visual design forward approach I created several pre-produced works that included well known leaders and attendees dancing with the “Live band” hired to preform both at the show and through a pre-recorded concert in their private studio. This approach helped set the tone for the conference, making attendees feel energized, connected and immersed in community from despite not being able to be together.

A highlight of the project was creating a series of videos for Malcolm Mitchell, an award recipient for his Read with Malcolm program. These videos celebrated his achievements and provided inspiring content for the conference attendees. Working on these videos was particularly rewarding as they highlighted the impact of literacy and education, resonating deeply with the conference’s mission.

To address the absence of traditional exhibitor tabling, Richard developed several innovative solutions to connect event goers and sponsors including a comedy game show featuring sponsors called Exhibitor Squares! This innovative approach allowed exhibitors to engage with the audience in a fun and memorable way, ensuring they still had a prominent presence at the conference. The game show format added an element of entertainment while providing virtual attendees and sponsor reps with a connecting ice-breaker for networking and a hilarious shared experience.

Looking Forward

As we move forward, the success from these experiences  continue to inform my work. The ability to adapt and innovate in the face of unprecedented challenges has reinforced the importance of flexibility and creativity in learning design and production. I look forward to continuing to create impactful and engaging experiences for educators and learners alike, whether in-person or online.