🎤 Quotable Quote
“Your identity is not attached to a job. Your identity is who you are and who you want to become.”
— Kristy Volesky
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🎧 This Week’s Guest: Kristy Volesky
Kristy Volesky is not interested in tweaking education around the edges.
She wants to rethink the whole thing.
Kristy is an educator, consultant, and co author of CTE Reimagined, a book that challenges schools to stop preparing students just to finish school and start preparing them to navigate life, community, and careers that may not even exist yet.
And according to Kristy, one of the biggest problems in education today is simple:
We keep asking students to practice forever without ever letting them get in the game.
Pretend businesses.
Pretend projects.
Pretend experiences.
Meanwhile, students are craving something real.
Real people.
Real work.
Real connection.
Real purpose.
💥 Leadership Rule of the Week
Surround yourself with smart people and be willing to listen.
Kristy’s leadership philosophy is refreshingly direct.
You do not need to be the smartest person in the room.
You need to be curious enough to learn from the people around you.
Some of her biggest breakthroughs came from listening outside education, especially to economic development leaders and community partners who were facing similar problems from a completely different angle.
That willingness to listen created new possibilities and better solutions.
💡 Other Topics We Loved
• Why “finish” does not equal “ready”
• The danger of locking students into career paths too early
• Why durable skills are not “one and done” lessons
• How schools overuse pretend learning instead of meaningful experiences
• Why communities and schools should function like puzzle pieces, not silos
• The importance of creating “on ramps and off ramps” for students as they explore careers
One of the strongest ideas from the conversation?
Students should not just learn about careers.
They should interact with real adults, solve real problems, and contribute real value to their communities while they are still in school.
Kristy shared examples of communities rebuilding downtown spaces, creating public projects, and revitalizing local areas without ever thinking to involve students.
Meanwhile, schools are searching for meaningful projects.
The opportunity is sitting right in front of both groups.
📺 Learn More
🌐 https://valeskyconsulting.com
📘 CTE Reimagined and Kristy’s work based learning resources available through her website
💼 Follow Kristy on LinkedIn for practical ideas and free resources
More leadership musings
🍪 Biscuits with the Boss:
Ask your team this question:
Where are we still asking people to “practice”… instead of giving them a chance to do something real?
And the follow up:
What would change if the work actually mattered to someone outside the classroom or office?
🌎 This week in Here - There - Every F’ing where
Marnie got a chance to talk with the superintendent advisoriy boards in Talbot this week. They talked about how to "tell their story" so they can stand out in college essays and job interviews. These folks are going places! It was fun to see them test out Blue and see what their pet peeves told them about who they are becoming :)
Believe!
Nick & Marnie
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