Symantec, the a global technology company, has named Hardy Farrow, 11th grade teacher at Power Center High School, as one of the five winners in its 12th annual Symantec Innovation in Teaching Awards, which recognize outstanding Teach For America teachers who demonstrate original thinking and teamwork while increasing student achievement.
Symantec said that “Hardy created the Let’s Innovate through Education (LITE) program to empower students to develop their own businesses or nonprofits. Participation in the program helped Hardy’s students grow from five percent proficient to 75 percent proficient in government in a matter of nine weeks.”
According to Mr. Farrow, the program was sparked by his civic pride when only five of his 55 students said they liked their hometown.
Here’s how he explained it on the Teach For America blog:
“Education doesn’t stop with 100% proficiency on end-of-course exams. Education requires empowering your students to invest in their community so that we can make it the place they want it to be.
“Considering this broader purpose pushed me to think beyond the confines of my classroom to the project that has helped give my students voice and agency.
“On the first week of school, I asked my 55 students about their assessment of Memphis. I would guess that only about five students admitted to liking Memphis. I found this quite alarming. I’ve always prided myself on being an active member of my community, and I took this statistic personally. I decided that I want to change the way my students thought about their community by giving them the chance to pursue their passions while also improving Memphis. I decided to name this project, “Let’s Innovate Through Education.”
“Students created businesses/non-profits that improved their respective communities. The ideas ranged from autism centers to music studios to healthy food awareness campaigns. Over the course of 13 weeks, my students competed against each other by designing budgets, marketing strategies, and five-year timelines.
“I wanted my kids to start developing their own ideas rather than have a teacher walk them step-by-step through every concept. The toughest thing for any first-year teacher is to let go of control. It’s scary. But a funny thing happened when I put my students in charge of their learning. By the end of the 13 weeks, I had taken my students from being less than 10% proficient to over 75% proficient in government/economics. My students started to trust me as a teacher because I trusted them as leaders through their projects.
“Whether it was the 21-page proposal that one of my finalists turned in or the 100-person event that will happen on April 14th to celebrate the accomplishments of my finalists, these students have proven they are capable of incredible leadership. If we truly want to become better teachers, we have to start giving our kids the chance to BE leaders. Teaching isn’t about translating a skill to a student. It’s about the student learning how to translate the skill and then teach the next generation.
“Every teacher has a different approach to gaining the respect of his or her students. For me, it took realizing that I had as much to learn from them as they did from me. If we truly want to be transformational, we have to strive to create a culture of innovation that will foster in our communities for generations to come. While it’s extremely tough to take that first step and allow students to innovate, I encourage every teacher to allow your students to empower themselves.”
The project was made possible, in large part, by the Memphis business community, said Becky O’Neill, TFA regional communications head. Mr. Farrow had the support of the Lipscomb Pitts Breakfast Club, StartCo and Diversified Trust in getting the project off the ground and relied on many local business leaders to serve as mentors for students. Through the Symantec Award, he’ll receive a $2,500 cash prize, including $1,500 to help him expand LITE in the coming school year.
