Q2L has been open for three weeks and the energy and excitement of the students and teachers is simply contagious. We thought it fitting to highlight one member of the Q2L team responsible for the success of these first weeks of school. Please meet Elisa Aragon, Executive Director of School.

Elisa brings twenty-four years of experience with the New York City Department of Education to her role as Executive Director of School, having received her principal certification in 1997. Originally from Maryland, Elisa moved to “the big city” after her sophomore year at the University of Maryland (Go Terps!) and graduated from City College of New York with a Bachelor of Science degree, Magna cum laude. Elisa started teaching in the New York Public Schools in 1984 at Park West High School and then transitioned to the CMSP Model School, teaching 7th and 8th grade Humanities. She believes that all these teaching experiences prepared her for the extraordinarily challenging work of teaching in the alternative high schools. Teaching the five subjects of the GED she worked in the basement of homeless shelters, working tirelessly to effect the cycle of poverty for the young mothers who were her students, and their babies, who are our future. “I learned the life changing lesson of resilience through watching my students tenaciously grow far beyond societal expectations, and even surpassing their own expectations.”

After obtaining a Master of Science in Education from Hunter College with a 4.0 average, Elisa continued her post-graduate studies at Fordham University, achieving a Professional Diploma in Education and earning her SAS. Elisa continued her work in the alternative high school district in the role of Assistant Principal Administration. For eight year Elisa focused her passion and talents as an instructional leader, supporting and honing the skills of classroom teachers who were teaching the most at-risk population of students in NYC. In June 2008 Elisa was selected to participate in the elite New York City Leadership Academy, the centerpiece of Chancellor Klein’s mission of transformation for our public education system. Elisa provided administrative support during the September 2008 roll out of the innovative NYC iSchool in Soho, a selective 9 – 12 fully integrating 21st century technology in a progressive model of interdisciplinary, real-world, problem-based instruction. Elisa left her administrative position at the highly successful and respected High School of Telecommunication Arts to accept a leadership position as principal with Quest to Learn. Her dynamic leadership style, experience and deep knowledge of instruction make her a perfect fit with the goals and mission of our school.

Each week the curriculum team at Q2L puts out The Relay, a email newsletter that shares with parents the goings on in school that week. Below are excerpts from The Relay for the first three amazing weeks of Q2L's launch.

WEEK 1
September 9, 2009, was a very special day for Quest to Learn (Q2L) and its founding partner the Institute of Play! We opened Q2L's doors and the students came streaming in. They carried backpacks, summer projects, supply bags and hopes for what the first day of school would hold. Although there were many new faces, there were familiar ones as well, as Q2L welcomed many alumnae from the Institute of Play's Gaming SMALLab and Mobile Quest projects.

Q2L opened with a special curriculum designed to welcome the students to their new school and learning community. "Circle Up," "Break it Down," and "The Settlers" were the themes used to welcome the students and introduce them to the goals and guiding principles of the day. During these first three days, games, learning activities, domain classes and advisories were targeted to help students explore team-work, respect and discover the quirks and characteristics of the individuals who make up their new community.

The self-named "q-dents" created a Q2L team charter, a "smartool" to help learn one another's names and developed a very personal understanding of how individuals are components of systems and that systems have many interesting, interdependent components. The first three days ended with a bang, with students eating cake, trying on their new Q2L t-shirts in a celebration of their new school and its first week.

WEEK 2
It has been an exciting first full week of school at Q2L! Students continued to meet with their Home Base advisors daily, and we had morning meeting on Monday and Friday. During Monday’s morning meeting one of our students introduced the idea of a Q2L YouTube channel, and there was an overwhelming response from students – so much so that we are putting together a lunchtime club on two different days so that we can accommodate the large number of students who are interested. During Friday’s morning meeting we began our practice of a weekly silent meeting, which is a time for our community to come together and engage in self-reflection.

Students also spent their first full week in their domain classes, where their teachers introduced them to their first trimester’s missions. To read a summary from each teacher of what students have been working on for weeks two and three, click here.

September 9, 2009
Quest to Learn Opens!
The Institute of Play is delighted to announce the opening of Quest to Learn, the new NYC public school that uses game-inspired methods to teach both traditional and critical 21st century skills and literacies. Q2L opens as a result of a truly collaborative effort on the part of its awesome School Design Team, the Institute of Play's very own super hero Katie Salen, Q2L's energetic founding faculty, staff and game designers, its supportive key partners—including New Visions for Public Schools, The New School and the Pearson Foundation—not to mention the students, parents, volunteers and thought-partners who have helped bring our burgeoning learning community to fruition. Welcome Q2L parents and students, we can't wait to work with you in Mission Lab and to grow our school together in the months and years ahead!

YouMedia @ CPL is an innovative, 21st Century learning space, housed inside the Harold Washington Library, the main branch in Chicago's Public Library system. YouMedia @ CPL was designed to inspire collaboration and creativity by connecting young adults, books, media and institutions from around the city in one dynamic space. Read More

To extend this collaborative spirit beyond the library walls, the Chicago Public Library has been collaborating with the Digital Youth Network, led by Nichole Pinkard and Akili Lee in Chicago, and the Institute of Play in designing the YouMedia social network, an online site where students can create, display, and exchange ideas about their work with peers and adult mentors.

Click here to see some photos of the opening night of YouMedia.