What’s Next: A Year of Growth in 3DE

When I think back on my first year with 3DE, what stands out to me most is student growth.  At the beginning of the school year some students were staying home to avoid giving a presentation. By the end of the year, some of those same students were standing in front of their entire cohort as finalists in a 3DE case challenge. That kind of transformation is exactly why I believe in 3DE.

This past year was my first year as a Case Experience Director with 3DE, but it was my 13^th year in education. After eight years teaching middle school science and three years as an instructional coach, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what it meant to help students grow. However, my first year with 3DE by Junior Achievement gave me a very different perspective on what growth can look like. 

When I first joined the team, I remember asking myself, "is this too good to be true?" Here was an organization that didn’t just talk about big ideas in education; it actually put those ideas into action. 3DE gives teachers the autonomy to bring real-world learning into their classrooms in ways that make sense for their students, while also challenging students to think beyond the classroom and see themselves as problem-solvers. In Marshalltown, we are working as a team to put that vision into practice.

Image caption: I and the 3DE team at Marshalltown were so proud of all the students accomplished during their first culminating event. We had no idea how much growth we were about see in the following case challenges.

This being the first year of 3DE in Central Iowa and in Marshalltown, there was no perfect playbook. We were learning as went. We tried things, reflected, adjusted, and then tried again. I had to get really comfortable with saying, “I don’t know yet.”

That vulnerability ended up being one of the most important parts of the experience. I leaned on other Case Experience Directors and 3DE staff across the country, looking for advice and examples. I leaned on our Marshalltown School District School Implementation Manager, Karina, who became a true partner in the work.  Then, in January, Drea, our Senior Director of 3DE at JA of Central Iowa, joined us and brought a sense of structure and clarity that we really needed. Her leadership gave us a clearer path forward as we moved into the second half of the year.  She gave us more space to focus on supporting our teachers and students.

We knew we weren’t going to get everything right the first time. Instead, we focused on building a culture of continuous growth, for ourselves, for our teachers, and most importantly, our students. Slowly, we started seeing all the pieces come together.

The growth in our students was one of the most rewarding parts of the year. Early on, presenting in front of their peers could feel overwhelming. For some students, it was overwhelming enough to stay home rather than face it, but 3DE kept giving them reasons to try.

They worked through case challenges and collaborated with classmates. They wrestled with problems that didn’t have one obvious answer. They practiced communicating their ideas and learned that it was okay to take a risk, make a mistake, and try again.

By the end of the year, some of those students were presenting to the entire cohort as finalists. Not every student suddenly loved presenting. That wasn’t the goal. The goal was growth. The more they experienced case challenges, the more they had the confidence to push through something uncomfortable and realized that they could do it.

Now, as 10th graders, they’re coming back ready for their next case challenges. They’re asking questions. They’re excited to learn more. And they’re willing to take another risk. That’s a powerful place to start year two.

The students weren’t the only ones changed by the experience. There’s one Professional Learning Community (PLC) meeting from last year that I keep coming back to. It was mid-February, the point in the school year when the challenges of teaching can feel especially heavy. I expected our conversation to focus on what wasn’t working or what we needed to solve. Instead, we spent more than 30 minutes talking about how much we loved this group of students.  Teachers talked about how much they enjoyed the cohort and how much they were going to miss them when they moved on to 10th grade.

As the conversation continued, teachers shared that 3DE had re-sparked their love for teaching.  That stayed with me. Teaching is hard, and finding something that brings that sense of purpose and excitement back matters. It was a great reminder that the impact of 3DE isn’t limited to students. When teachers have opportunities to connect learning to the real world, collaborate with their colleagues, and see students engage in new ways, it can reignite something in them, too.

That afternoon, I left our PLC meeting thinking, "This is why 3DE matters."

I expected my first year as a CX to be about helping students and teachers navigate something new. I truly didn’t expect it to teach me so much about myself.

For one, I discovered just how much I enjoy working with high school students. I've spent most of my career with middle schoolers and loved that age, but 9th graders brought many of the things I loved about middle school with a little more independence.

More importantly, I was reminded that some of the most meaningful work in education happens when we’re willing to learn alongside our students. We didn’t have all the answers when we started 3DE in Marshalltown. We didn’t need to.

Curiosity, collaboration and a willingness to try drove our commitment to keep getting better. Our first year was about building a strong foundation, and now we are continuing to build upon it. The students who started this journey as 9^th graders are stepping into 10^th grade with a year of experience behind them and we get to see what’s next. That is what excites me the most about 3DE. We don’t simply prepare students for a class or even the next grade level. We’re helping them become more confident to navigate whatever comes next

The first year showed us what’s possible and now we’re ready to see how much further we can go.