This week, I had a chance to peek into classrooms at our newest campus, CAST Imagine. 

We are only in the second week of school, but students are already collaborating on projects, exploring the outdoors (first thing, when it’s still bearable outside), and building their own journal observations. Two of the lead teachers at the campus have worked in education, in many capacities, for years, and talk about how this opportunity to create a new school has re-energized them.

You can see that spark in the smiles of teachers and students.

Education is such an incredible profession, as there is an opportunity to shape and lift up the future. But sometimes there are obstacles, whether they are failed HVAC systems, leaking buildings, construction delays, inadequate teacher pay, or long hours that sap the energy of educators.

At CAST we struggle to remove as many of these barriers as we can, and to be good partners to the public school districts that we collaborate with. Internally, we spend time discussing how we elevate the importance of teachers as frontline workers for the future, and how we create spaces that nurture and value them. We have been talking about the notion of rejuvenation for longtime teachers and how we can contribute to it.

If you are a teacher, or know a teacher, please help inform this conversation! Anastasia Perez, our Educator Experience Manager, is CAST’s lead thinker in this work.

And if you ever need a pick-me-up, find an excuse to visit CAST Imagine, as there is nothing more inspiring than seeing this middle school take root and grow.

Jeanne Russell

Executive Director

CAST Schools