What if school didn't just prepare students for the future?
What if it invited students to build it?
Give your students a reason to care about the places they already call home.
The Ripple Project helps students develop the agency to notice, connect, and build—transforming learning into meaningful participation in their own communities.
your students CAN easily become systems-thinkers. designers. community leaders. visionaries.
And it all starts with a fun deck of cards.
is your curriculum losing its meaning?
AI will completely change what learning will look like over the next few years, but one thing is for sure: what we need more than ever are creative, empowered, collaborative students who believe they don’t have to wait until they have graduated to completely transform their place.
if we don’t change, we risk:
Students losing general interest in learning
teachers losing sight of their own purpose
empty school buildings
low community engagement for events
failure to meet real world learning needs
if we don’t teach students how to critically think, identify and leverage assets, creatively design in systems, and interact with the real world, we risk losing humans who act like humans.
If you like to assign relevant, project-based assessments, this is for you.
Educators, this is also for you if any of the following apply:
Your lesson plans have become less relevant
Students are somewhat disengaged
You want a class activity with no screens
You need a fresh idea for teaching problem-solving or research
You feel like you want to do more, but you don’t have the energy.
You want your students to collaborate more in low stake environments.
You want your students to experiment more with problem-solving and systems-based design
You need a new brainstorming activity for research projects.
You want to see your students take what you teach and apply it to immediate community-based action
CLASSES THAT ARE A GOOD FIT FOR THE EDSHED DECK:
HIGH SCHOOL:
English teachers
social studies
language
civics
economics
research seminars
COLLEGE:
Research courses
Systems-design
Economics
Design innovation teams
but of course, many many more!
We are educators too.
Created by High School English Teachers and Community Innovators with decades of experience in the classroom (and still teaching!),
In our own classrooms and through training thousands of other teachers over the past 10 years, we created a tangible tool that prioritizes the most important thing in education today:
Empowering the student to believe they are a capable, creative human, with endless possibilities ahead, and giving them the tools to start building the communities they want to live in, now (not after they graduate).
Dr. Lucas, Superintendent
The Edshed project has provided a valuable, rewarding, and real-world learning opportunity for students. Initiatives that have originated from this project have had a significant impact on the school and provide an authentic and engaging experience for the students. As a principal, I had the opportunity to interact with many students on their projects and their passion and enthusiasm to create meaningful change in their school and community was inspiring!
Edshed: where school work becomes community work.
this is place-based education
Get the deck
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Let’s get back to community.
“Edshed” is a movement towards place-based learning. It’s about letting our learning pour from our classrooms into our communities, impact our place, and in turn- nourish us.
It’s a balanced, regenerative cycle.
“I’m tired of waiting for the system to change.”
Let’s be honest:
Most schools today operate like extractive systems.
Students, teachers, and staff alike are stuck in routines that deplete their energy and power.
We train students to acquire and regurgitate content in a world where knowledge is no longer scarce.
The result? Classrooms that feel like machines. Teachers reduced to delivery systems. Students reduced to compliance.
And you’re trapped in this system that barely rewards you for going through the motions.
Teaching should fill up your cup. Learning should do the same for your students.
our current system rarely does both. usually does neither.
We are leaving so much on the table. And no, it shouldn’t be our responsibility, but I’m tired of waiting.
That’s why we built EdShed: tools, frameworks, and a movement of teachers who are already teaching differently, transforming school work into community work, one classroom at a time.
English class is the trojan horse
On the surface, you’re covering standards:
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Listening
Research
Administrators nod. Parents approve. The system is satisfied.
But here’s the truth: inside that Trojan horse is something bigger.
Students aren’t just reading texts. They’re reading systems and communities.
They’re not just writing essays. They’re writing stories, proposals, and reflections that spark change.
They’re not just speaking to meet a rubric. They’re using their voices in public, community-facing ways.
They’re not just listening for details. They’re listening for patterns, perspectives, and possibility.
They’re not just doing research. They’re practicing asset-based action research that connects school to real life.
On paper, it looks like you’re teaching English.
In practice, you’re teaching agency, systems, and meaning.
A revolution of meaningful, purpose-driven education starts in your classroom.
You didn’t get into teaching to watch kids play the academic game. You got in to help them see differently. Do differently. To watch them live better lives.
You don’t have to hope that the content you’re teaching makes a difference for them down the road. You can guide them to use your class to make a difference- all with less prep on your end and higher reward for you, for the students, for the entire community on the backend.
Become teacher of the year
with less prep, real impact
We can’t wait on the system to change.
I’ve tried changing the system from the top down.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to wait another 5, 10 years… for a good idea to filter down through the district bureaucracy.
I realized that the reason we got into this as teachers is because we thought we would have some power to change some lives. And guess what: WE DO. WE ALL DO. We just need to know where to start.
High School English seems to be about as natural a place as any for a regenerative revolution. Us English teachers- we’re philosophers, architects, systems thinkers, storytellers, dreamers.
We can easily imagine the new story of a better life unfolding for our students- in all of its glorious imagery and power.
We do not teach students what to think.
We are teaching students how to think critically and creatively. NOT for the purpose of getting into college, but to empower them to start building a better world as early as your next lesson.
EdShed is the step by step process for how to do that, using your English class as the Trojan horse to a revolution that strengthens ourselves, our schools, and our communities.
The Plan
Step 1 – Start Small:
Get the card deck. Use it for one lesson. No permission slip required.
Step 2 – Go Deeper:
Grab the Year-Long Unit. Everything you need to jailbreak research instruction.
Step 3 – Join the Movement:
Find the others. The Underground is the community of teachers rewriting the system from inside the machine.
The Plan:
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Exquisite services
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Inside
our world
At our core, we believe in the transformative power of education to shape futures and inspire change. Here, you'll find a community dedicated to supporting each learner’s journey, ensuring every step is guided by passion, encouragement, and genuine care.
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