Reid Saaris '04 presents The Kid Across the Hall: The Fight for Opportunity in Our Schools
Informed by extensive new data on educational opportunity in America, The Kid Across the Hall is a powerful story of learning and unlearning; of leading and learning to follow.
Click here to Register
on Third Place Books Seward Park
Saaris will be discussing his new book, The Kid Across the Hall: The Fight for Opportunity in Our Schools, a powerful story of learning and unlearning; of leading and learning to follow. This event is free and open to the public.
About The Kid Across the Hall
Growing up, Reid was confused and disturbed by the radically different opportunities his best friend received. After a childhood spent together, Jamie and Reid found themselves on opposite sides of a high school hallway that separated kids based on a misunderstanding of their supposed "potential." The gap between the two friends widened as Reid's classes enabled him to pursue an elite college degree across the country studying educational opportunity and teaching.
Then, Reid became a teacher at an under-resourced South Carolina high school where efforts to serve the incredible students were stymied by internal segregation and administrative ambivalence. He was disabused of the Hollywood myth that a good teacher could simply save the day, when each false start with his students forced him to reckon with how much he didn't know. After Reid assigned students a project to create a positive change, they pushed him to figure out how he, too, could make a bigger difference.
While an individual's efforts are no match against entrenched systems, Reid learned firsthand that a community of people powered by data can effect change. This lesson motivated him to found Equal Opportunity Schools (EOS), a nationwide nonprofit dedicated to finding the students who were overlooked, discouraged, or otherwise missing from higher-level classes.
As EOS became more successful, partnering with major philanthropies, universities, and even the White House, Reid grappled with his role as a leader. Only through the efforts of, first, his students in South Carolina, and later his team at EOS, would he come to understand, and begin to overcome, the limitations of his vision. Informed by extensive new data on educational opportunity in America, The Kid Across the Hall is a powerful story of learning and unlearning; of leading and learning to follow.
Click here to Register
on Third Place Books Seward Park
Reid Saaris presents 'The Kid Across the Hall: The Fight for Opportunity in Our Schools'
Tuesday, November 14, 2023
7:00pm - 8:00pm PT
Third Place Books
Seward Park neighborhood
5041 Wilson Ave South
Seattle, WA 98118
https://maps.app.goo.gl/enHqVQ7scDkvvyFH6
Cost: Free
Hosted by: Third Place Books - Seward Park neighborhood
We look forward to seeing you at our event!
Reid Saaris '04 is a former high school teacher, candidate for WA State Superintendent, and the founder of Equal Opportunity Schools, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that students of all backgrounds have opportunities to succeed at the highest levels. He is an Echoing Green, a Draper Richards Kaplan, and a Stanford Social Innovation Fellow, and has advised federal, state, and local leaders, teachers, philanthropies, companies, and universities on topics like justice, impact, data analysis, communications, and learning.
Click here to Register
on Third Place Books Seward Park
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