Learning Strategies

Just completed another successful Career Day at Weston High School. We started with keynote speakers: Barry and Eliot of Jordan’s Furniture — actually only Eliot, as Barry didn’t show up — or maybe it was Eliot who didn’t show up — it’s hard to keep them straight — anyway, the first keynote speaker was Eliot (or Barry, as the case may be), and the second was comedian Jim Mendrinos. Both were quite good, aimed their presentations appropriately at their audience, and made compatible points, though with very different vehicles.

After the keynotes we had four consecutive breakout sessions, split among an amazing range of speakers — probably close to 200 by my estimate, and representing about as wide a range of careers as you could imagine. I was assigned to sessions with Internet pioneer Wes Kussmaul, realtor Amy Mizner, and drummer Chris Ravelli, all of whom were interesting speakers. Because there were so many speakers, it was possible to have intimate sessions with ten or twelve students in each. All the presenters gave glimpses into careers, necessarily disparate but with some common themes. From talking with other teachers and with students, it’s clear that the most common theme was that doing what you love is more important than making lots of money, a message worth hearing in wealthy Weston.

Labels: teaching and learning, Weston