We need to talk about purpose.

We need to talk about contribution.

We need to talk about meaning.

We need to talk about belonging to something larger than self, and feeling like what we do can change the world.

I met with a friend recently. In a lovely moment of positive-angst he asked, “Can I share my one-liner with you?” In a perfect example of the French phenomenon captured by the phrase L'esprit de l'escalier – he said, “Do you believe in science?” The point? If you do believe in science, then you need to know the science.

In the case of learning, especially in K-12 education, we can do better by our students by placing purpose, contribution, meaning, belonging to something larger than ourselves, and the belief that we can change the world at the centre of everything we do with children and students. The science says so.

Let’s look at a case study from Russell High School located outside Ottawa in Russell, Ontario. In this 7-12 school, part of the Upper Canada District School Board, students in grades 7 and 8 spend a part of each week working and learning in what is called a Specialist Program. An opportunity to turn their attention to their passions – discovered or as of yet in discovery – working with community experts to create, and think, and share. When I visited the school in March I met students designing video games, designing whole worlds for their creative writing projects, creating tie-dye t-shirts, and contributing to Thrifty Ts – an ecological social enterprise that seeks to help the community – in school and beyond – by repurposing, upcycling, thrifting, and recycling. Do you need paper products? Jacob and Paper Cutters recycle paper to create new paper products. Do you need custom fashion? Finch Clothing transforms old clothes into new designs. How about a solution to fast fashion? Zoe is a designer extraordinaire who sees in thrown-away sheets a fitted blouse for any occasion. And what of scrap material? Rose has the Quilting Project that takes leftover fabric, zippers, buttons, and turns them into sensory blankets.

So, what of purpose? The students at Russell HS lead social enterprises that create meaningful products, then direct revenue to local environmental initiatives, and charities – as learning.

And contribution? Student work is for their peers and their community beyond school. They look around and see what they make in the hands of people that live in their community. They know they are making a difference. They’ll tell you. Just listen.

Along the way, they belong to something, their learning belongs to something, larger than themselves. They say with the earnestness of youth, and the agency of global actors, that this is just a beginning. Afterall, these students are in grade 7 and 8. Empowered with skills that can take them anywhere, they believe they can do anything. The Specialist Program is a launch pad. What takes flight is possibility.

In the infinite wisdom of staircase wit, if you don’t believe in the science of purpose and contribution, meaning and belonging, and hope, you might just want to spend some time with the case study that is evolving at Russell High School, and the Specialist Program.

In this, the first of a series of podcast chapters, we speak to Dominique Bertrand, Principal of Russell High School, and hear from the teachers and students that imagine the Specialist Program into life. As you’ll hear, if you’re seeking a strategy for student engagement, you’ve found one right here.