142. Total Student Engagement Through the LENS of Rebecca Parks

Listeners, imagine a student who always loved school—not just for the grades or the gold stars, but for the challenge, the structure, the sense of accomplishment. A student who moved frequently as a kid, not worried about making friends, but determined to succeed academically. A student who “played school well,” but, looking back, remembers teachers more than lessons, relationships more than curriculum. That student was Rebecca Parks. Rebecca doesn’t just believe in education—she lives it. From a K-12 experience that set the stage for her passion to teach to the defining “failure moments” that forged her resilience in college, Rebecca’s journey has been one of learning, leading, and, most of all, reimagining what’s possible. And at the heart of her mission? A bold idea: that learning should be rooted in place, connected to the real world, and designed to spark curiosity and wonder. Her dissertation, The Impact of a Place-Based Environment on Elementary Students, is a call to action. It examines the power of place-based learning, where students don’t just sit at desks but engage with the world around them. She explored the country’s most innovative schools—Teton Science Schools in Wyoming, the Zoo Academy in Nebraska, Missouri’s WOLF Academy and many more—places where learning is hands-on, immersive, and deeply connected to the community. But she didn’t stop at research. As principal of Southview Elementary in southern Missouri, Rebecca led a school that became a state-recognized model for collaboration and professional learning. And in 2019, she took her vision even further, launching LENS—Learning and Exploring through Nature and Science—a groundbreaking school within a school, where a select group of third and fourth graders engaged in a non-traditional, science, nature-focused and archeology oriented curriculum while still meeting state standards. Her story is about breaking free from the factory model of education, embracing curiosity, and fostering a culture of learning that is real, meaningful, and alive. Today, we step into that story with her. So get ready; this is more than a conversation. It’s an invitation to rethink what’s possible in education. An invitation to consider what school could be, and what could be school. As always our episodes are edited by sound engineer, Evan Kurohara. Our theme music comes from the catalog of master pianist, Michael Sloan.