The Problem
We are going to face significant challenges as a society in the coming decades- climate change, systemic racism, political polarization, economic inequality are all going to require innovative solutions and collective action. The youth of today are inheriting many of these challenges and need to be developing the skills and mindsets needed to face tough problems together with tenacity, hope and innovation. Unfortunately, far too many young people are stuck in environments that emphasize compliance, obedience and competition over empowerment, agency, action and collaboration. This leaves students under-prepared for both their future careers as well as behind the curve in their ability to make change as engaged and active citizens. Curvd Learning is working to shift the paradigm of education by bringing together students and educators to design learning opportunities that center students and empower them with the skills and mindsets to face whatever the future may hold.
Adults created the challenges that students will face in the future and yet we are often are tentative about allowing them to be part of the solution. In addition, many education initiatives that ultimately seek to be “student centered” are designed entirely by adult educators with little to no input or collaboration with young people. If we are truly going to change to a student-centered educational paradigm, we believe that students themselves are integral to this shift. Curvd Learning is dedicated to empowering a diverse community of students to work together with educators to redesign educational experiences that put students in the driver’s seat of their own education, develop their ability to embrace challenges and empower them to successfully tackle the problems of today and tomorrow.
Our Vision
We envision a world in which all students have agency, take action and collaborate to drive their own learning experiences inside and outside of the classroom as they develop the confidence and skills to handle life’s unpredictability and enter adulthood prepared to embrace difficult challenges in thoughtful and innovative ways.
Our Core Beliefs & Values
Centering Equity- We acknowledge that our educational system has historically contributed to inequality in our society by creating an unequal playing field based on race, gender, ability and other aspects of identity. We work to design solutions that center historically marginalized voices and interrupt the predictability of opportunities and outcomes based on identity factors.
Deep Belief in Young People - We embody a deep respect for young people from all backgrounds and believe in their ability to creatively tackle problems head on. We are confident that young people are capable of so much more than they are often given credit for and that our education system should be redesigned to systematically foster the agency of each and every student.
Joy is Central to Learning - We believe that education should be joyful. Centering joy in education promotes learning and prevents burnout. Students deserve a joyful learning experience that leaves them confident in their skills, connected to their teachers and classmates, and optimistic about what they can achieve.
Collaboration is Essential - We believe that problems are best solved together and that education should be a collaborative endeavor between students, families and educators. Building the collaborative skills of our young people will set them up to thrive personally, civically and professionally.
Embrace Innovation - We believe in fostering curiosity & creativity, challenging assumptions, questioning the status quo, and encouraging new ideas. Innovation is not always a straight line, designing, testing and iterating are critical to creating the future we imagine.
Our Mission
Our mission is to bring together students and educators from diverse backgrounds to collaboratively design student-driven innovations that contribute to scaling authentic student-led learning across a wide variety of educational contexts.
Short History
Curvd was officially founded in 2019 to develop and share research-backed and innovative teaching practices that foster academic success, while encouraging collaboration, adaptability and perseverance in students. As the organization continues to challenge established assumptions about learning and student capacities, Curvd is working to create opportunities for students to be true collaborators in creating and testing student-driven learning experiences. We are excited to expand our reach with the launch of our paid student fellowship program starting in the winter of 2023.
From before its inception in 2019, through the spring of 2022, the Curvd education team leveraged Tahoe Expedition Academy as a lab school to codify and test varied teaching approaches.
Our Leadership Team
Mara Morrison
Head of Curriculum Design
Mara is a Senior Instructor Manager at General Assembly where she loves supporting instructors in creating student-centered, project-based learning opportunities so that students can thrive in their careers. Previously, Mara spent 7 years at Tahoe Expedition Academy as the Program Director, Dean of Students, teacher, and mentor focused on creating student-centered learning environments for all of her students. She is instrumental in developing Curvd Learning, driven by her passion to create environments that believe in young people, value them as positive contributors and leaders, and show up for them every day. Where traditional education teaches kids in a binary way, keeping them in swim lanes, the real world doesn’t work like that. She is focused on developing the Curvd curriculum and Workshops to teach young people to swim diagonally across the pool, think outside the box and view challenges as opportunities. At home she enjoys playing games with her husband and three kids, cooking, baking anything and everything, and getting outside to hike or read by the river.
Jesse Hinueber
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT & EQUITY CONSULTANT
Jesse’s professional background is in generating education best practices through the lens of continuous improvement and leveraging equity. He has held several roles assisting non-profits with program development as well as strategies for scalability. His in-depth market research is essential to ensuring that Curvd’s educational approaches and resources are consistently relevant. He is inspired by young people from all walks of life and by the power of Curvd to unlock their potential and tap into the assets that our youth brings to the table. Jesse lives in San Francisco, California with his wife, young daughter and dog. They enjoy hiking, playing and learning outside and say that they can always be found either playing or eating.