Possible Zone

Last week, Luke Matys, School-Based Site Lead, and Michelle Goldberg, Senior Director of Program Partnerships, presented “From Challenge to Curriculum: Building Real‑World Learning with TPZ,” during 2026 in Oxen Hill, MD. Educators, career advisors, partnerships leads from school districts and nonprofit across the country heard from the The Possible Zone Team how they transformed the online KnoPro “AI in Global Health Challenge” into a ten‑week, hands‑on curriculum that engaged students in research, prototyping, and collaboration with industry mentors. Participants explored how this model could be adapted for an existing course, pathway‑aligned elective, or afterschool program. Luke and Michelle highlighted practical design choices, partnership strategies, and flexible structures that help academies build meaningful, challenge‑based learning experiences that strengthen technical skills, career readiness, and student agency. Shout out to Marc Lesser, Vice President for Research & Technology at NAF, for supporting the presentation!

Last week, as we wrapped up National Week of Making, Christopher Essex reflected on his own experiences as a student, and how these inform his work as a Lead Educator at The Possible Zone.

"... in my own process as an educator, I often look for ways for students to make personal connections to how they demonstrate their understanding of learning experiences and content. For me, the most powerful way to build connection is through the act of creation; and at TPZ we “make. We play, we learn, we make, we learn, we play, and we make some more. Here we believe that learning happens in motion, a practice in constructionism, coined by Seymour Papert, which argues that cognitive learning happens best when students create a tangible and external artifact for an authentic purpose or audience."

Read Chris' article on the Insights blog: https://tinyurl.com/TPZmaking26

Congratulations to Lara Pires Moniz and Miguel Hilario, two of The Possible Zone’s amazing seniors who also serve as their high school classes’ 2026 Valedictorians! Lara graduated from Community Academy of Science and Health; she will attend Bucknell University on a full scholarship with plans to study accounting. Miguel graduated from Fenway High School and plans to attend Boston University on a full scholarship. We are proud to have been a part of their high school journeys and look forward to all that will come!

Read about Lara, Miguel, and the other 31 Valedictorians: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bostonpublicschools/posts/?feedView=all

"Young people understand that the future requires applied, hands-on mastery. The challenge is that our systems for recording that mastery haven’t caught up," Timothy Nystrand, Senior Director of Learning Systems at The Possible Zone (TPZ), shares in "Beyond the Transcript: Why the Future Demands a New Learner Record."

Because traditional transcripts don’t capture that progression, TPZ is building a dynamic learner record grounded in 1) What students do; 2) What students say; and 3) What educators see? Read about this on the TPZ Insights blog: https://tinyurl.com/beyondthetranscript

Recently, students in our two Podcasting classes led by Tori Saia, Lead Educator, and John Mendizabal, Educator / Advisor, visited our amazing community partner, Spark FM Online, a local Black woman-owned and operated radio platform! There, our students met with staff to discuss SparkFM's approach to storytelling, community engagement, and advocacy, hosted peer-to-peer interviews to hone their communication and teamwork skills, and enjoyed extra practice on the mic in the professional-grade recording studio! SparkFM was created to empower and amplify the voices of the community. Thank you, Spark FM friends for helping to amplify our students'!

Last week, TPZ students in the Cooking for Humanity LaunchLab returned to headquarters in Needham, MA, where they learned about culinary technology and food science careers.

Students—most of whom attend —toured SharkNinja, hearing from product designers, fabrication specialists, and the Test Kitchen team. In groups, they analyzed how sugar and water ratios affect the consistency of frozen slushies, and how different cooking oils change the flavor and smell of air-fried chicken cutlets.

Cooking for Humanity students have been exploring the connections between food, culture, and community health by honing their cooking methods, modifying recipes to be healthier for clients managing chronic conditions, and compiling a cookbook of their dishes and the stories behind them.

Thank you to Yaritza Dudley and Kahmal L. London for leading this course; and thank you to Franchesca Carrington, M.Ed. (she/her) and the team at SharkNinja for sharing their expertise with our students!