Why we, a Black civil rights leader and White philanthropist, are on a mission to transform education
Fox News
Both of us, Bob Woodson and Joe Ricketts, wondered when we were young about the value of our school days. We share a common goal when it comes to education. We aim to transform it.
The sooner students see living examples of what is possible even in the most dire circumstances, the earlier those possibilities begin to shape their choices and help them make the most of their educational opportunities.
This is why now, after having taken very different life paths, we find ourselves, a White entrepreneurial philanthropist, and a Black civil rights leader, pursuing a common goal to transform education.
The first challenge any educator faces is to engage his students; if students aren’t engaged, they’re not learning. As countless documentaries, textbooks, and lectures have shown, it is too easy to produce educational materials that excite their creators and fulfill every learning standard, but fail to engage young people–and worse yet, that fail to provide a basis for long-term success as learners or as professionals.