An elementary school in Victoria British Columbia was looking for a way to inspire its staff to create unforgettable learning experiences for students. Based on the book, How to be a Good Ancestor, teachers started the day by creating a gift for a member of a future generation to think about how they themselves could be good ancestors. They followed this by inviting 15 students to be the subjects of empathy, interviews, where they probed into what kinds of learning experiences were most meaningful as well as delving into how they feel about school.

With this empathy data in mind, teachers, counselors, and education assistants defined the problems they heard the students discuss, then ideated solutions in the form of lessons, units, and projects. The results of their work will be showcase at a celebration of learning in the upcoming spring.