Aaron Smith, PhD – Innovating Education for Workforce Development

In Education, GameChangers24 by Mary Kurek

“1300 hours I cringe every time I see his face or hear his voice. 

I’m Captain Josiah Rollins. A six-foot-two, fifty-year-old decorated veteran. I served two tours in Iraq, seen someone’s life pass in the blink of an eye. Today, I sit here having anxiety issues because I must interact with this moron. 

My blood pressure spikes just thinking about the moron. Sitting here with my so-called executive director of school improvement, I try to amuse myself to pass the time. 

Great. What have I done now? I’m a teacher—an administrator. I love working with young people, but I am ruled by an ignoramus who insists that we work inside a broken system. 

Executive Director Sheets sits in his tidy, little sterile office, buttons his cheap suit, and begins the dreaded conversation. The bland-colored room describes his whole demeanor—dull and boring. 

While he kills me with his lecture mode, I daydream. First, I look at the Perseverance motivational poster with three bald eagles hanging above him. I laugh internally as this man wouldn’t survive a day in my school. He has no clue about how education has evolved since he taught PE (Physical Education) back in the ‘80s. 

It’s hard for me to decide if he reminds me of a mosquito or a gnat. Both are impossibly annoying.”

Aaron speaking on having a Collaborative Responsive System where Academia to Business work together to build a better workforce, at the STEAMEx Conference in Shanghai, December 2019.

(The excerpt above is from Aaron Smith’s latest book, Blank Check, Chapter 1)  Now, here’s the intro:  “This story takes place on a fictional U.S. island, but the inspiration that evolves could help reshape public schools all over America.

After serving his country as an Army Ranger, high school principal Josiah Rollins quits in disgust over the broken educational system he can no longer serve. Little does he know this impulsive act would lead him to an unbelievable opportunity to change everything and serve his country and students in the way he always dreamed he could.”


If the above intrigues you, then, know that you are on the path to uncovering what is possible in fixing our current education missteps.

Aaron Smith sees education from the inside out and understands the value of “aiming at a target” more than committing to standardizing our youth and over-structuring their path forward.  A big believer in experiential learning, he sees the opportunity that lock-down has presented to us to make some needed changes.  Aaron brings a strong focus to business partnerships, targetted grants, and “externships” to add relevance to the process.  In his novel, Blank Check, Aaron allows us to do some think-tanking on how we might strive for a more ideal education environment.  Inspiration without boundaries helps us grow.

In this interview with Publisher, Mary Kurek, Aaron shares his viewpoints and how he works with school systems and education stakeholders to create more meaningful experiences for all.  Meet the author of Blank Check and Awakening Your Stem School, speaker, and consultant, Aaron Smith.  (18-minute video    )

 

 

The Skyline at night in Shanghai at the STEAMEx Conference in December 2019. Sharing Best Practices in STEM from across the world.

Aaron’s Contact:

Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronsmithphd/

Web site:  https://www.aaronsmithphd.com/

Facebook:  https://facebook.com/aaronsmithphd/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/aaronsmithphd/

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/aaronsmithphd/