The world is changing and will continue to change exponentially. Technology has revolutionized communication, culture, and they dynamics of society. A community is no longer restricted to the area and people that directly surround an individual but can be considered the entire world.

So how does this affect education?

“…society is on an exponential change curve. The evolution of society–and thus our youth–is accelerating substantially faster than the evolution of school. In our ever-evolving, globally-connected world, students must learn to innovate by nature to adapt in unpredictable situations…” said Daniel Whitt, one of Madison City School’s leaders in academic innovation.

So what is Madison City doing to keep up with the times and prepare its students for the ever-changing world? Well, we have already experienced some big changes recently.

“The best thing about being educated in Madison City Schools is that compared to other places, there is a wider range of decisions that can be made regarding the classes you want to take…” said Xander Voigt.

Some of these changes include the institution of Patriot Path at Bob Jones High School, STEM and elective classes now available for junior high students, elementary electives, and the spreading of digital portfolios across all grade levels. These changes are being made to  connect students’ and educators’ minds to innovation and provide a taste of what school could be like with some well overdue change.

The biggest change is yet to come. Madison City Schools innovators, led by Mollie Bounds and Daniel Whitt, are leading teams of teachers to “…empower and support educators to take the “jump” and innovate in their classroom in areas such as project based learning, integrating meaningful technology, promoting global citizenship, and accomplishment-based assessment.” They call these teams Forward Teams.

“There is not one person in the education world that would say we all don’t need to move forward and adapt to the cultural and societal needs of today and tomorrow. Forward Teams are our response,” said  Mollie Bounds.

They hope that these forward teams, made up of approximately 65 teachers from all grade levels, will enable the teachers to “…empower our youth to grow, communicate, and learn in a way congruent to who they truly are at their root: global citizens connected to the world as pioneering digital natives,” said Daniel Whitt.

Mollie Bounds added, “Students will be involved in learning experiences that promote empathy, interest, and all the 21st century skills that the modern and future world will demand of them such as creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking.”

Both stated that these teams will “liberate” teachers “to take some prudent risks to provide these learning experiences for their students and themselves.”

These Forward Teams are split into elementary teachers and secondary teachers due to the explosion of volunteers to join. The elementary teachers had their first meeting on Friday, October 14. One teacher, Mrs. Tessa Hernandez, gives her thoughts on the Forward teams:

“Being a part of Forward allows the imagination to not only exist but to bloom in the teacher and with the students.  It cultivates a depth of knowledge about education and allows me the opportunity to collaborate with peers to enhance the quality of instruction and what it actually means to learn or be educated.”

Secondary teachers from Bob Jones, James Clemens, Discovery, and Liberty will come together for their first meeting within the next month. From there, specific classrooms will begin the ripple effect of the Forward Teams.

Daniel Whitt concluded, “Once the first stage is complete, Mollie Bounds and I will be leading the charge to individually support each member of the team to help accomplish the dreams of each individual.”