Shifting to an H3 Mindset Starts With Believing in the Power of Students

America’s education system was a groundbreaking effort to help a growing nation thrive in the 19th century. Now, 200 years later, the world has changed; the horizon looks drastically different. Collectively, we need to redesign our education system to enable all of our children — and, by extension, our nation — to thrive today and tomorrow. “Horizon Three” or “H3” names the future-ready system we need, one that is grounded in equity serving learners’ individual strengths and needs as well as the common good. This series provides a glimpse of where H3 is already being designed and built. It also includes provocations about how we might fundamentally reimagine learning for the future ahead. You can learn more about the horizons framing here.

By Chad Carlson

May 7, 2024  | One Stone’s board meetings are like those of most organizations – typical topics include program updates, current development efforts, strategy and operations, and problem-solving around the annual budget including challenging assumptions about initiatives related to revenue generation. The May 7, 2024 meeting was no exception.

But One Stone, a student- directed non-profit and independent lab school in Boise, is also deeply atypical. Our board chair is always a student and the board is always composed of at least ⅔ students. In this case, as 15 people – ten high school-aged board members, four adult board members, and the organization’s Executive Director chatted, Lyla (‘24), the then 17-year-old Board Chair declared,  “We’ve got a lot to cover today folks, let’s get started. I now call this meeting to order.”

The meeting proceeded apace through agenda items until Kellen (‘24), a fourth year student (16) asked, “When will our scaling initiatives begin to break even? How much longer should we expect to continue to put resources towards these efforts before they become a viable source of revenue?” 

This was a tough question. I know, because it was directed at me – the leader of those scaling efforts. The Board was holding me, a lab school co-founder and President of One Stone Ventures, accountable for our progress, or, in this case, lack thereof. The fact that the question was raised by a student board member, not an adult, didn’t surprise me in the least. Some of the toughest questions come from our student board members. 

At One Stone, we’ve taken a bold step in redefining the role that students play in reimagining education: our governing board is one such example. And their involvement isn’t merely a symbolic gesture of what should be, but a vivid example of what can happen when we genuinely believe in the power of students. They become more than participants—they drive the process. 

Our students take charge and are empowered to lead at every level. From designing the school’s daily schedule and co-creating learning experiences to developing practices related to culture, students shape nearly every process. If it requires organization, leadership, or execution, students play an important role and are actively involved. Are the processes and outcomes always perfect? No. Is it messy? Of course it is. Is it a critically important aspect of what we do? Absolutely.

Recent discussions about H3 systems have included powerful notions of systems change, rooted in concrete examples of the ecosystems, models, tools, and practices we can utilize to help us make the leap from our antiquated educational paradigm designed for a different time, to one that can meet the needs of every student today. These incredibly helpful resources are supporting schools to implement real change; however, these changes will not be transformational or sustainable if we don’t genuinely challenge our underlying assumptions about our students, what they are capable of, and the role we believe they should play in rethinking the American system of education. 

To date, students are often left behind or forgotten altogether when the adults get together to plan, design, and revision. Far too often, the very people we are designing for are noticeably absent. And perhaps therein lies the problem. If we are designing for, and not with our students, can we really expect to make meaningful change? And, can we really expect students to “buy-in” to a new system that doesn’t reflect their voice, empower them as co-creators, or relate to their lives in any meaningful way? As we work together to build the necessary components of a future ready H3 learning ecosystem, student voice and empowerment must be central principles of that design. By empowering students, we can build a system that instills trust, relevance, ownership and most importantly, confidence.

Will Students Rise to the Occasion? 

Genuine empowerment means so much more than student engagement which is all too often measured in a culture and climate survey twice a year. Genuine empowerment requires a mindset shift that sees students as authentic innovators capable of driving their own learning. It requires that we include our students as real partners in the design of new systems, not just as a symbolic act of inclusion. 

For many, this idea might seem like a bridge too far. Are students really capable of contributing to this degree? Can we really expect them to make important contributions to things like the curriculum or school policy?

I was recently reminded of these doubts when our current Board Chair, fourth year student Nora Smart, was tapped for advice at a recent conference we attended. The question she was asked went something like, “why do so many students only half-heartedly engage when given the chance?” The teacher who had asked this question gave examples of the ways in which her students don’t engage with the same level of seriousness she would expect when provided with the opportunity to have voice in decisions about their learning and about their school. She explained that they often give “silly” or “unrealistic” suggestions that poked fun at the process and seemed to go nowhere. Nora responded with a simple but clear message that really struck a chord, “students will step-up if they feel like their input is genuinely valued. But a lot of times that’s not the case. A lot of times they’re included in things that aren’t really important. They know when their involvement isn’t taken seriously. And they will step up when it is.” 

One Stone’s Executive Director, Celeste Bolin, took it a step further and explained the damage that these types of tokenistic approaches have on student empowerment, “It undermines the whole thing. If you say you believe in the power of students, that students have voice and choice, and you don’t put the actions behind your words, you will completely erode the trust of your students. It’s imperative that we give them our trust and we give them our belief.” 

So what does empowerment look like through the eyes of students at a student-driven school? How does believing in the power of students actually play out? I recently spent a couple of days at One Stone, talking to students and observing experiences and here is what I heard and what I saw.

My Grade is Not My Worth

Students thrive when their learning is meaningful and driven by relevance and purpose. When we set out to design One Stone, we understood this and doubled down on our belief that students will actually learn better if what they are doing is motivated by relevance and not reward. To achieve this goal, we focus our efforts on providing opportunities for students to practice durable skills in real world contexts doing things they see as important. Things that break their heart, inspire them to act, and are relevant to their life experience. 

We empower them to practice skills like empathy, communication, collaboration, and critical thinking. They explore aspects of traditional subjects as they pertain to their projects. Through it all, we coach them to become goal setters and provide regular and timely feedback without the fear of judgement or failure. Failure is not viewed as an end-point, but an opportunity for students to learn, grow, and iterate. Student growth is measured on a gradeless learner record, the Growth Transcript, that students use to track their growth in skills – not subjects – over time. Students play an integral role in self-assessment and determining where they are on the transcript’s growth progression. It’s an incredibly empowering paradigm that students see as meaningful and relevant and has given them tremendous ownership over their learning.

Nonetheless, for many of our students, a gradeless learning environment takes quite a bit of getting used to. Third year student Mackenzie King shared her experience in what she called “the One Stone learning curve.” Prior to coming to One Stone, Mackenzie had always gotten validation from her grades. If she didn’t get all A’s, she would “freak out” and essentially consider that a fail. Stepping away from grades and from the currency that gave her her sense of “worth” was challenging for Mackenzie. In her first semester at the lab school, questions like, “How do I know I’m learning? How will I get into college? What will I do with my future?” reverberated through her thoughts. 

Getting used to this new approach took Mackenzie a while. But the impact of this approach was transformative. “Looking back on my first year, I realize that I learned so many new skills during that time that will take me way farther in life than simply getting an A in Math. Today, I can say that I now know how to learn. I feel like I can go into any field that I want because I know how to learn. Instead of just memorizing a bunch of facts, I’m developing skills. I know that learning is more about knowing how to lead, how to collaborate, or be empathetic. I feel like I’m ready to go out into the world and do whatever I want.”

When Mackenzie talks about knowing how to learn, she’s referring to knowing how to set goals for learning, engage in authentic reflection, seek feedback, and learn from her successes and mistakes. This process has completely transformed Mackenzie’s relationship with academics. “I know now that my grade is not my worth. Who I am, what I can do, and the good that I do is my worth. I can do so much more beyond a grade. Being able to learn and do things and not do stuff just for the A has allowed me to learn past all of that. I now get my validation from taking pride in the real-world skills that I have learned, the people I have affected through my work, and the good that I have done for others.”

Empowering Exploration

With One Stone’s focus on growth, not grades,  we set out to create a learning environment where students were empowered to see learning as an opportunity to explore their interests and pursue their curiosities. And this is where things get a bit messy. Upon visiting One Stone, you will see that a week in the life of a student is anything but typical. Each student’s schedule is uniquely their own, and no two days look the same. 

As Marley, a fourth-year student, puts it, “A day at One Stone can be whatever you make of it.” Note the ownership and agency in Marley’s remark. This flexibility – and ownership – is reflected in the daily schedule – which might look different for every student – and is co-designed by students and coaches and includes a variety of foundational learning experiences:

• Design Labs: A collaboration between students and community partners, using human-centered design to tackle real-world problems found in the Boise community. Students develop durable skills and explore a variety of academic topics through these deep real-world learning experiences.
• Experiences: Interdisciplinary, project-based courses that emphasize experiential and place-based learning. Experiences offer a much more focused approach to the development of academic skills and are practiced in real-world contexts.
• Workshops: Focused sessions to develop specific disciplinary skills, such as writing, mathematics, research, or reading.
• Community Read: A reading program where students engage in Socratic discussions on self-selected texts spanning diverse text-types, genres, and perspectives.
• Flex Lab: The majority of a day, offered once a week, dedicated to personalized, interest-driven learning, where students pursue passions aligned with their goals and development.
• Wayfinding: A mentorship program that helps students deepen their understanding of their values, purpose, and sense of self while working with mentors to find ways to connect their learning to real-world opportunities and experiences.
• Summer Experience – One Stone’s internship and professional experience program, which is somewhat of a misnomer, as students engage in internships and apprenticeships year round.
• Project Good – One Stone’s flagship program, a student-led and directed experiential service program that provides opportunities for students to “do good” through working alongside community members to address local issues that matter.

This unique structure was a world away from what Marley was used to. As a burgeoning young musician, he was thrilled to have unlimited access to One Stone’s Ripple Studio and talented sound engineering coach, Jun Campion. But still, he struggled at first as whispers of doubt crept through his thoughts. Was he learning enough math? What about science? Aren’t these the classes you need to be in everyday? Was he missing out? Now, almost four years later as a senior, Marley believes that no, he hasn’t missed out on anything. In fact, throughout his four years at One Stone, he has had a myriad of deep learning experiences that has allowed him “to apply his learning and retain a lot more information” than had he taken a more traditional path. He’s even had the opportunity to work alongside professors from Boise State University who have offered semester-long experiences at the school. 

For Marley, however, perhaps his most pivotal moment at One Stone came via an experiential course titled, You the Creator. This experience was an open-ended passion-based experience that gave Marley the opportunity to create anything he wanted, with no limits other than his own imagination and his ability to figure out what he needed to learn along the way.

Marley decided to create a full-length LP album.“It was a game-changer,” he recalls. “It was the first time I actually created something I was proud of. This experience allowed me to fully align my learning with who I am and what I want to be.” That experience, as Marley puts it, “flipped a switch” in him. He began to take pride in his work, pouring care and intention into every detail. He learned not just the technical skills to produce music but also how to think creatively, adapt to challenges, and persevere through ambiguity. He also learned to own his work. Living the widely used One Stone refrain, that you “get out of it what you put in,” Marley knew that his success, or failure, fell squarely on his shoulders.

Now in his final year at One Stone, Marley has grown into an artist and a creator. More importantly, he knows “who he is and what he wants.” He wants the freedom to create, the freedom to explore topics of interest and curiosity – in all disciplines – and he wants to continue to learn and grow in an environment where he is trusted to do real work that has real impact. Marley admits that this freedom comes with its own challenges. “It’s a lot of responsibility, and honestly, I feel this self-imposed pressure to succeed and to do good. But it’s a good pressure. It’s made me more ambitious, more confident.” For Marley, One Stone has been more than a school. It’s been a proving ground for his passions and a launchpad for his dreams. “Music brought me here, but what I’ve gained is so much bigger. I’ve learned to see challenges as opportunities, to trust myself, and to trust others. And now I feel like there’s nothing I can’t do.”

Finding Meaning Through Exploration

For Ella, also a fourth-year student, learning before One Stone felt disconnected from the world she cared about. Subjects like atomic numbers and rote memorization didn’t seem to connect to her life or passions. She was particularly frustrated by the absence of opportunities to explore her interest in environmental studies. She wanted to understand how to address issues like climate change and habitat loss but found no outlet for that curiosity in her traditional school. That changed when Ella joined One Stone.

At One Stone, Ella loaded up on learning experiences that allowed her to focus on anything related to environmental science. This quickly led her to connect with the Idaho Conservation League and dive into youth activism, where she teamed up with her mentor on efforts aimed at breaching the four lower dams of Idaho’s Snake River to restore wild salmon habitats. Ella wrote letters, sent emails, and made phone calls to elected officials, stakeholders, decision-makers, and influencers. 

This experience inspired Ella. She felt empowered by the adults who believed in her and it showed her the impact she could have when her learning was tied to relevant and meaningful real-world issues – ones that she was passionate about. One Stone’s focus on durable skills gave Ella the freedom to set her own personal goals for growth and focus on developing the skills that felt relevant to achieving her goals. She began to see a path forward where her interests and abilities could align with meaningful action.

By her second year, Ella began exploring a possible future in law, particularly in human rights and environmental justice. Unsure if this was the right direction, she self-designed a personalized career exploration experience during the summer. Whereas many students engage in internships and passion projects during this time, Ella decided she wanted to learn more about the world of careers before acting on any of them. So, she conducted interviews with over 20 professionals to learn what their work really involved and whether there was something out there that might resonate with her. While an enlightening experience, it left her with more questions than answers.

Provided the freedom to explore that One Stone offers, Ella signed up for a learning experience called Wilderness First Aid (WFA), which she describes as transformative. It blended her love of the environment with problem-solving, creativity, teamwork and the opportunity to help others. It sparked an entirely new interest in her that opened the door to ideas and opportunities she had never considered before, from shadowing a Yellowstone Search and Rescue team, to studying Emergency Medical Response at a local career and professional studies center.

Through her time at One Stone, Ella’s approach to learning and life has shifted dramatically. She has come to embrace the unknown and find value in the process of exploration. Each project and experience has pushed her to think differently about her role in the world and what she might accomplish. Now in her final year at One Stone, Ella is excited to be working on her EMT license and is heading down a career pathway that will eventually earn her a degree in medical sciences. One Stone’s emphasis on empowerment, autonomy, and real-world connections has equipped her not only to follow her passions but also to find purpose in ambiguity.

You’re Never Ready Until You Begin

During my discussions with students, the theme that continually made its way into our conversations is the sense of confidence that students get from their coaches and mentors’ continued belief in what they could achieve. Marley shared an example of when his design lab coach used his social capital in the Boise art community to help them get approval to build an interactive art installation for Boise’s Treefort Music Festival. “Sam gave us the reins of the project. We did it entirely on our own. He had a lot at stake – mainly his reputation. He’s super involved in the festival. If we screwed up it would have reflected poorly on him and the school.” Marley explained that real-world learning, “feels good….it feels empowering. It encourages me to have ambition – I believe I can change the world.” He went on to further say that, “These types of experiences are great for less motivated students because they feel like they are doing something that matters.” 

One Stone’s purpose statement is: we believe in the power of students. Nora, reflecting on this statement, explained that the personalized support and validation that students receive from their mentors and coaches help build their confidence, not just as students, but as people. For Nora, their investment in her personal growth has been transformative.” Working with coaches who really care about who you are, who care about and are interested in your story, and see you as a whole person, rather than just as a student, that just gives me a peace of mind that I’m a good person… I think people can say that they believe in students to do stuff in the future, but at One Stone this means the belief in the power of students to do great things right now rather than, oh, one day you’re gonna do great things. What we’re pushing is that these skills and mindsets can be learned right now, and that means that students can do amazing things right now.”

Elements of H3 Empowerment (Trust, Belonging, Ownership, and Confidence)

At the end of my week chatting with students, I found several common themes that brought student empowerment to life.

• Empowerment Goes Beyond Engagement: Empowerment requires a mindset shift that views students as collaborators and co-creators. When students are empowered to be active designers of their learning, they take ownership, develop agency, and grow confident.
• Real World Learning Begets Relevance: Students thrive when they see the relevance of their work and feel motivated, validated, and capable of making meaningful contributions to their community. Each student I met talked about the importance – to them – of doing something good with their learning and the fulfillment they feel by making the world a better place. 
• Agency Fosters Ownership: Students are capable and should be given opportunities to drive their learning. While there will be a learning curve and things will inevitably get messy, students take greater ownership over things that are important to them. When students own the process, they take pride in their learning.
• Personalization Sparks Exploration and Builds Confidence: Flexible learning structures that encourage exploration foster creativity, adaptability, and resilience. Investing deeply in students’ growth as individuals helps students develop self-belief and ambition.

An H3 Systems Requires Reimagining the Role of Students

Reimagining education begins with reimagining what we believe about students. H3 learning environments show us what’s possible when we stop designing systems for students and start designing systems with them. These stories show that when students are trusted as decision-makers, innovators, and co-creators of their learning, they rise to the challenge. They gain the confidence to explore, the skills to adapt, and the mindset to lead—both in school and beyond.And while these are just a few examples of how believing in the power of students can transform the learner experience, over the past two decades One Stone has empowered hundreds of students in both its lab school and after-school programs, and each has a unique story of growth, impact, and possibility to share.

But the path forward isn’t without challenges. Creating truly student-driven systems demands a shift in adult mindsets, from viewing students as passive participants to recognizing them as capable contributors. It requires educators and leaders to embrace uncertainty and relinquish control, allowing students to shape their own learning and to learn from both successes and failures.

The promise of H3 learning environments is not just in what they prepare students to do in the future but in what they empower them to do today. By believing in the power of students, we can create schools that are not only more equitable and innovative but also more reflective of the world we want to build—a world where every student is valued, every voice is heard, and every potential is realized. Now is the time to embrace this shift and trust students to lead us into a better tomorrow.

Chad Carlson is the One Stone Ventures President + Cofounder

This blog series is sponsored by LearnerStudio, a non-profit organization accelerating progress towards a future of learning where young people are inspired and prepared to thrive in the Age of AI – as individuals, in careers, in their communities and our democracy. Curation of this series is led by Sujata Bhatt, founder of Incubate Learning, which is focused on reconnecting humans to their love of learning and creating.

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