Gary Marx
21 Trends...Getting and Staying In Touch – Creating a Future
We know the challenge: Getting and staying ahead of the curve in a fast-changing world. Perspective is essential: Schools are where physical and social infrastructure meet. As building professionals and educators, we're challenged to create a healthy, safe, adaptable, resilient and sustainable learning environment. Futurist, author and education leader Gary Marx, in his latest book,
Twenty-One Trends for the 21st Century...Out of the Trenches and into the Future, challenges us to stay in touch with forces that have profound implications for everything we do. Those political, economic, social, technological, demographic and environmental trends are an elephant in the room, so big that we sometimes don't see them. Together, they are creating a perfect storm that can either create havoc or generate the energy we need to help us more clearly see what we do in context. That's essential if we hope to inspire attitudes that help us reach new altitudes and create an even better future.
"An interesting thing happened on the way to achieving our goals. The world changed!"
Gary Marx, CAE, APR, is a noted author, futurist, education and leadership counsel, social observer, public intellectual, seasoned executive, and international speaker. He is president of the Center for Public Outreach, with headquarters in Vienna, Virginia. Marx has been called an "intellectual entrepreneur, who is always pursuing ideas," and a "deep generalist."
As a futurist, Marx has directed a number of futures studies and is author or co-author of numerous books and articles. His book,
Twenty-One Trends for the 21st Century, shares techniques for envisioning alternative futures, stimulating discussion and decisions about "what we should become" in light of a 24/7/365 world in constant motion.
His international assignments have taken him from the northern Andean region of Peru and desert areas of Jordan to the Pacific coast of Russia, communities across Senegal, numerous cities and towns in several parts of Argentina, and speaking platforms and conference rooms across Europe and Asia. Marx frequently works with students who are developing civic education projects to improve life in their communities and countries.
Prior to starting his own firm, Marx spent nearly 20 years as a senior executive for the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). He was a television and radio "on-air" broadcaster and station owner before moving into education. He served as a school administrator for Westside Community Schools in Omaha, Nebraska and the Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado. Marx returned to Jefferson County to advise on strategy in the wake of the 1999 tragedy at Columbine High School.
For many years, Marx has served as a source for local, national, and international news media on issues affecting education and society, appearing on numerous television shows. His leadership has extended to media education, and he has been both a founder and member of significant groups that have advised producers and networks on children's television and other educational programming. Marx has been a member of the PBS Education Advisory Board, NBC's "The More You Know" Advisory Board, and the Emmy Awards Selection Committee. For nearly two decades, Marx served as emcee/announcer for the Presidential Scholars annual gala program at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C.
Kim Bearden
Kim Bearden – Ron Clark Academy co-founder, bestselling author of
Crash Course: Life Lessons My Students Taught Me, executive director and language arts teacher – is an award-winning educator of almost thirty years. Her unique combination of innovation, discipline, and creativity ensures that every student is engaged in the learning process!
Bearden has received numerous awards for her creative and dynamic teaching styles. She was chosen from over 70,000 nominations to be honored as the Disney American Teacher Awards Outstanding Middle School Humanities Teacher. The Milken Family Foundation selected her as one of 155 teachers from across the nation to receive the Award for Excellence in Education, and she was the chosen from among 7000 teachers as Teacher of the Year in Cobb County, Georgia.
Known for her creativity, Bearden passionately teaches curriculum in innovative and inspiring ways. Her classrooms are often transformed into a beach, Mt. Olympus, a poetry coffeehouse or a mountain retreat. Her students have experienced thunderstorms, an Italian restaurant, a hospital emergency room, a colonial village, and life on a fictitious planet without ever leaving the classroom! She has held a Fashion Extravaganza to teach descriptive writing and has created Survivor tribal challenges and the All-Star Punctuation Bowl to teach grammar. Her students consistently score among the highest in the state on standardized tests. Most importantly, she has proven that the required curriculum can be taught in a way that reinforces academic rigor while making learning an adventure.