Rigorous Engagement (original article printed in Gay Parent Magazine)
Original article featured in Gay Parent Magazine, November, 2025
As one of three collaborative directors of a small independent school, I read a lot about trends and continuums, pedagogies and philosophies. Recently, I came across a (hopefully unintentionally) racist ad on a prominent social media platform that read, “9/10 educators agree that student engagement is central to learning.”
Thankfully, many institutions and classrooms have set the new baseline for learning at Belonging and Social Emotional Learning (SEL). However, I’d wager a lot to say engagement is the most crucial aspect of learning for ALL people, regardless of age or stage. Showing up, trust and empathy, connections, fulfillment, joy—all rooted in rigorous engagement.
At Puget Sond Community School (PSCS), opportunities to engage with all students and full staff, are offered consistently; opportunities to engage in the educational process, and in the process of community-building and collaboration. Rigorous engagement is imperative for any one of us to see ourselves in our collective future; for every learner to become more self- and community-aware; to translate meaning into embodiment; to commit to a life thinking and acting critically. Collaborative, rigorous engagement can support us to educate and raise contributors to a more empathetic and just world.
School shootings and violence have become a sanctioned part of every day American life. Support systems for the most vulnerable populations are being, possibly irrevocably, dismantled. Affirmative action is now negative in action. Real history and current events must be triple checked—even our most trusted and reliable resources. The truth is being held hostage. Storytellers are sharing cautiously, and many of the colleges and universities and careers we’ve been preparing young people for are shifting right now to minimize integrity. Shifting, at best, to safeguard our educators and storytellers; at worst, in compliance with tyranny.
Public school is a bridge for many, albeit an unreliable, underfunded, retractable bridge. School choice, charters, independent institutions have not solved this crisis (PSCS included!). Can superintendents and school boards move the needle toward certainty? Do we need more capital campaigns to erect bigger school buildings and campuses? More desks and screens and hallways and hallpasses and lockers? Do we need bigger gyms and auditoriums? More exhausted and underpaid teachers, metal detectors, standardized curricula, and classist testing? School is a privilege for too many, and, when federal loans are eradicated next year, primary, secondary, and higher ed will [likely] be even more so only for those with access and wealth (and even then, less and less is assured nowadays).
Marginalized families and educators have built, and run collaboratively, small community schools for decades, both as a tool for survival, and as a means to celebrate the creativity and contribution of Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latine/x people, gender marginalized and neurodivergent folks. Communities that have had to rely on storytelling, curiosity for the natural world, and generational traditions to ensure survival, actualization, and perpetuity.
Traditional, rote, academic environments cannot meet the reality in front of most young people and early adults. The pathways and bridges before us are dissolving in our indignant tears, and the kids can see it. For those truly invested in humanity and the dignity of all people, now is time to ensure every one of us knows the truth: that we are each imperative to the whole.
Rigorous engagement roots us in community—and community will liberate us all.