The impetus for change is expanding into many facets of our lives. In 2015, DLR Group authored a provocation that proposed a radical integration of education into the fabric of our communities and businesses, founded on the principles of personalized and lifelong learning. This provocation was predicated on the access of every learner to a network of peers and experts in support of their goals. Today, the current trajectory of education is being altered by events both within and outside of our control. Will our reactions to these events be passive or pro-active? In this session, we'll explore what education can be in the distant future, leveraging key concepts of student agency and personalization. Join us on for this deep dive session into the possibilities of what ‘might be’ when we leverage disruptive optimism to reimagine learning for the benefit of all.

Learning Objectives:

1. Ideate the impacts of AI/technology on the future.
2. Work to define the collective role of community in a new paradigm.
3. Consider equity and justice for learners in the future.
4. Consider how the workforce will evolve to infuse academic opportunities.

Jason Lembke, AIA, Senior K-12 Education Leader, Principal, DLR Group
Jason is an instigator of innovation for design teams across the firm. As a mentor to young professionals, he provokes designers to help them arrive at original and progressive solutions that elevate education for students, teachers, and communities across the globe. Jason is a K-12 designer with expertise in the planning and design of future facing learning environments. Practicing from the firm’s Charlotte studio, he leads visioning and community engagement processes for school districts, securing funding and creating successful road maps for their future. His portfolio includes new school construction, and facility modernizations and renovations for Pre-K and K-8 schools to major high school campuses.

Tim Shimp, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Yorkville District 115
Dr. Shimp is currently the Superintendent in Yorkville CUSD 115 in Yorkville, IL. Over his 27 years as an educational leader, Dr. Shimp has been instrumental in curriculum development and instructional best practice implementation, raising student achievement outcomes, bringing greater equity, access and rigor to student learning experiences, and supporting a district culture of personalized learning.

Taryn Kinney, AIA, K-12 Education Leader, Principal, DLR Group
Taryn is a native Texan who has successfully led the strategy, visioning, planning, and design of more than two million SF of learning space nationally and internationally. She enjoys sharing knowledge from her experiences and creating connections to implement exceptional learning environments. During Taryn’s 18 years of developing facilities to support new educational models she has seen her clients face increasingly complex challenges. Taryn joins her clients in their journey to define unique responses to external and internal challenges through evidence-based practice. She incorporates current developmental research, environmental psychology, and organizational psychology to design facilities that respond to human learning and behavior.

Anton Blewett, K-12 Education Planner, Senior Associate, DLR Group
In a strained education system where innovation is often reserved for those with the means to afford it, Anton works to level the playing field on which students establish the foundations of their lives. Having been raised in Silicon Valley, Anton knows firsthand that progress can often leave the majority behind; his work in partnership with school districts seeks a genuine transformation in both spaces and methods of K-12 education. By touching on design for inclusivity and equity, Anton’s work yields community-driven schools which support social and emotional learning, as well as the health and wellbeing of our teachers.