XQ Phoenix Rising Competes for $10 Million Prize

XQ America: The Super School Project, a nationwide movement to “rethink and reimagine high school”, spearheaded by Russlyn Ali, Chief Executive Officer of XQ Institute, and Laurene Powell Jobs, president of Emerson Collective (and widow of Steve Jobs), is underway! (See the XQ Super School Project at www.xqsuperschool.org).

Building on the notions of bold and audacious projects pioneered by Peter Diamandis and XPRIZE competitions (see  https://scitechinstitute.orgwww.xprize.org/about/what-is-an-xprize) the XQ Super School competition incentivizes high school reform with a $50 Million prize. On Aug. 4, 2016, XQ America will award five to 10 winning design teams up to $10 million each to fund their High School designs and transform our industrial era educational system into education systems that empower young people and their communities.

XQ Phoenix Rising (PHxQ) is among 350 innovative high school models chosen from nearly 700 entrants. What sets Phoenix Rising apart from the competition is its skunkworks educational design. Skilled teaching teams partner with student cohorts and use design thinking, the Socratic method, and integrated learning to provide real world solutions for business and government. Supported by staff, students brainstorm solutions, work in project teams, and produce prototypes and white papers to be implemented by the organizations who hire the school skunkworks as consultants. In this way, each and every student participates in an internship, receives guidance and mentoring, develops critical thinking, and obtains invaluable job skills all while learning the standards they need for post-secondary education and long-term career success. (See many more details at www.risingaz.com.)

The Phoenix Rising team was formed in October 2015 by Wendy Bias and became a national, grassroots movement. The team includes members and support from UCLA Extension, LAUSD, Phoenix College, Rio Salado Community College and others. After reviewing the skunkworks plan proposed by the Phoenix Rising team, Arizona State University (ranked the #1 most innovative school by U.S. News & World Report, 2016) agreed to sponsor the charter for Phoenix Rising when selected as an XQ Super School winner. ASU’s own charter school, ASU Preparatory Academy, achieved a 100% graduation rate in 2016.

Although the initial site of the Phoenix Rising school is set to open in Phoenix, AZ, the Rising Education model is flexible and applicable to a wide range of communities.  Team members around the globe support the movement to “Rethink High School” and anticipate national expansion opportunities of innovative educational models for 21^st century students, their families and communities.

Show your support and join the conversation to #RethinkHighSchool by following @XQPhoenixRising on Twitter and Instagram and PhoenixRisingAZ on Facebook and Snapchat.