The traditional education system has long been associated with the idea of preparing students for the future. However, with the pace of technological advancements and automation, it is evident that the current education system is not adequately preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.
At VALE (Venture Academy of Leadership and Entrepreneurship), we believe in redefining alternative education to equip students with the necessary skills and tools to succeed in a rapidly evolving world. Rather than focusing on at-risk students, we redefined the term to include all students who are at risk of being unprepared for their post-secondary path and, therefore, not world-ready! Our innovative approach to education is centered on unleashing the potential of every student by providing a non-traditional approach, meaningful learning experiences, and problem-based learning opportunities that transcend traditional content areas. Our goal is to prepare students to become entrepreneurial change-makers, well-equipped for any post-secondary pathway.
We proudly present our VALE Mindset, mission, and vision, which reflect our values and goals as we prepare students for a globally competitive future.
VALE's life work will be measured through its learning commitments. Commitments ensure:
VALE is a “small by design” school built on the bedrock of Belonging and Innovation with the mission of preparing our students to be entrepreneurial change makers who are world ready.
At VALE, students engage in problem-based learning (PBL) experiences that transcend traditional content areas. Our focus is on empowering students to design, create, and test real solutions to the global challenges we face. Students have daily opportunities to apply their knowledge and understanding to authentic work-based learning environments while pursuing mentorship and apprenticeship opportunities in the local community.
VALE students will have the opportunity to receive dual enrollment credit for their Leadership and Entrepreneurship pathway from a prestigious university.
Our Learning Experience Facilitators work collaboratively to design meaningful learning that transcends traditional content areas. We believe that relationships are at the core of effective instruction, and our staff embodies and entrepreneurial spirit of curiosity and lifelong learning. Our focus is on empowering educators to design innovative and engaging trans-disciplinary learning experiences that meet the unique needs of each student.
My yearning and sense of adventure came knocking in college. After feeling forced to change the major I had spent my entire life preparing for, I was fed up, angry, and hungry for meaning. What better way to do some soul searching than strapping a backpack on my back and with two days' notice heading on an adventure of a lifetime? Headed to Ketchikan, Alaska with a crate of tattered books sitting beside me, I picked up Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman.
“Something else gets under your skin, keeps you working days and nights at the sacrifice of your sleeping and eating and attention to your family and friends, something beyond the love of puzzle solving. And that other force is the anticipation of understanding something about the world that no one has ever understood before you.” (Lightman)
As I reflected on my own education, I realized that while I had a handful of favorite teachers, I had never really been seen. I had rarely felt a spark. The only time I felt curious and passionate was on the back of a horse, my safe space after a long school day. I could tell you at 14 if a horse was lame, if they needed their teeth floated, or if they were showing symptoms of the silent killer, colic. But no one at school ever saw that side of me, the fiery confidence, the fierce curiosity and desire to understand. I spent my school career invisible to most around me. And in that moment, somewhere in the Oregon wilderness… clarity. I never wanted anyone else to spend their entire education planning and dreaming for something only to be told by a stranger that they weren’t smart enough, strong enough, or ready. I was handed some flint.
I believe that outrage and passion are fraternal twins. They can look alike. They can be productive. Knowing one may help understand the other and its nuances, the small freckle no one but mom and dad may notice. Most would argue that outrage is destructive and emotive with a negative connotation. Destructive is not always bad. A devastating wildfire often leads to growth and regeneration.
When outrage is combined with passion, what CAN be, it is be a force to be reckoned with. I think it might even be love. A good fire needs oxygen; room to breathe.
All of the scientists I've known have at least one more quality in common: they do what they do because they love it, and because they cannot imagine doing anything else. In a sense, this is the real reason a scientist does science. Because the scientist must. Such a compulsion is both blessing and burden. A blessing because the creative life, in any endeavor, is a gift filled with beauty and not given to everyone, a burden because the call is unrelenting and can drown out the rest of life. (Lightman)
VALE is love. VALE is a compulsion and a blessing. And its call is unrelenting. I opened my eyes on that backpacking trip to Alaska. I started collecting treasures, both literal and metaphorical. I then collected people who also passionately believed that education had to change. I read books about trailblazers, dreamers and doers. I worked for bosses who were change makers and visionaries. I traveled and watched… children when they did what they loved, teachers who thought outside the box, schools with the optimism and willingness to try new things. I put each treasure in my pocket, saving each one for the day it could all come together and create something beautiful. The kindling of VALE was born.
VALE is not for the faint of heart. It is a soft, brave space for those who also feel outrage or passion or a little bit of both that education can and should change in order to better meet the needs and wants of our students. As you navigate your important role at VALE, I ask you to remember this story and picture the students in front of you, yearning to be seen, hoping to find purpose, dreaming about “what if” and as you work, in everything you do, do so with love. Love is fuel.
You have my love, my awe, my trust, and my heart. Thank you for seeing me, the value of VALE and for your optimism for education’s future. YOU are the spark- I cannot do this without you.
