The path for Synthesis opened up six years ago when Elon Musk walked into parent-teacher conference night…
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
Buckle up. It’s story time 🚀
👇🏼👇🏼👇🏼
1/ He asked Josh Dahn, who taught his kids at the time, if he would be interested in starting a small lab school at @SpaceX.
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
Why would Elon Musk want to start a school in the first place?
We know that:
a. He is extremely busy
b. He can afford any school he wants
2/ Elon noticed that regular schools weren't doing a good job preparing kids for the real world.
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
So he recruited Josh, who agreed there were better ways to do this, to build a school and rethink education from first principles.
But what principles?
3/ In an 2015 interview, Elon shared two core principles that would guide his new school:
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
1. Ditch the assembly line model —
no grade levels
2. Problem-focused, not tool-focused pic.twitter.com/CrJTK8Ln17
4/ Rationale behind these two principles:
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
• Age segregation doesn't work because kids have different aptitudes and interests that vary across time.
• Learning to use tools is pointless and boring unless those tools help you solve a real problem.
5/ Elon also noticed about his own kids:
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
“I don't have to encourage them to play video games. To the degree that you can make learning like a game, the better”
Kids are hard-wired to learn through play.
“The more we can gamify the process of learning, the better”🤸🏼♀️🎮 pic.twitter.com/4lIq7aob4y
6/ Based on these principles, Josh created Ad Astra: an innovative lab school in the shadow of the SpaceX rocket factory🚀
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
A few years later, @chrismanfrank went down to SpaceX to tour Ad Astra.
He was blown away by the school, particularly with a class called Synthesis…
7/ The magic of Ad Astra was Synthesis:
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
a class built around complex team games.
Students work through case studies, simulations, and game-based challenges that are simple to understand…
...but WILDLY complex and unique by design.
Above all, they’re a hell of a lot of fun ⚡️
8/ Synthesis embodied the principles that Elon and Josh agreed upon.
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
"I had never seen a group of students so energized and invested in their learning, but it gave me a pit in my stomach. I knew I couldn't give my own kids anything like this” @chrismanfrank
Or could he? 🤔
9/ Fast forward a few years, now Josh and Chrisman are scaling the magic of Synthesis, starting with an enrichment club for kids 8-14 all over the world 🌎
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
And that’s just the beginning..@synthesischool is building a community of kids who want to make a ding in the universe ☄️
10/ Imagine a virtual playground where kids get to make tough decisions and develop the instincts, cognitive tools, and collaboration skills to deal with complexity
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
...all while having a BLAST.
Because learning can and *should* feel like playing a fun game 🤸🏼♀️
11/ The future belongs to those who dare to think differently and solve problems in novel ways✨@synthesischool wants to equip kids with the toolkit for this future, but in a fun way that doesn’t feel like school.
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
This is one of the many reasons why I'm thrilled to announce...
"It was not with the expectation of great success that I started Tesla or SpaceX. It's just that I thought they were important enough to do anyway" @elonmusk
— Ana Lorena Fabrega (@anafabrega11) December 11, 2020
Do we have all the answers?
Nobody does
Are we certain it will work?
Nothing is certain
Is it worth a shot?
You bet 🚀
