The student experience

Has your learning ever impacted how a business runs? It does every day at Embark

So, what does learning at Embark look like? Let’s start with a story.

“How can we reduce the environmental and social impact of our shops?” The managers of Pinwheel Coffee asked this to Embark students early in the school year. And, they spent the next two months answering it. Students started with an environmental audit of the shops. They identified issues like plastic and paper use, rubber and metal waste, production of coffee, tea, and milk, and materials that bikes and components are made of, among other things. 

In many places, the learning would stop there but at Embark we strive to go deeper. Guided by the educators, students explored their chosen issue. In science, they tackled topics such as properties of matter, chemical change, and erosion. In social studies, they identified countries where key products are grown, mined, or produced. They researched government structures and policies related to their issue to understand the impact.

What really sets Embark apart is that the learning and work has real meaning and impact.  Students used their research to create formal presentations to the shop managers. Once accepted, students got to actually implement their recommendations in the shops. Students wrote the text and designed posters to inform Pinwheel patrons about why almond milk now costs extra. They worked with the local government and nonprofits to create a rubber recycling program for used bike tubes. In short, they made real change happen.

Embark is not just academics…

We are deeply invested in the entirety of students and believe they are more than just receptacles to be filled with knowledge and skills. Each student who walks through our door is recognized as a unique human with their own social-emotional wellbeing, hopes, and backstory. Our job as educators is to nurture the development of the entire adolescent.

Embark challenges students (and the adults who work with them) to show up as their complete and authentic selves each day.  In this way, we work together as a learning community to become more aware of our individual and community identities. Embark does not shy away from challenging topics like systemic racism. Instead, it teaches about them so that students can have a better understanding of the world and their place in it.