My buddy Dana — the same wonderful human who started my healing fundraiser when I was struggling through chemo — is organizing a life-changing service trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, with a group of her high school Spanish students. And they need your help!

In June, Dana and a couple of chaperones (hopefully including myself!) will lead a delegation of future leaders to spend ten days volunteering with Oaxaca Streetchildren, a grassroots nonprofit that educates, feeds and cares for over 650 children, most of whom live in extreme poverty in this struggling area of Mexico.

When the pandemic hit in the spring semester of 2020, our Academy was uniquely situated to prosper and thrive (all things considered). As a small school with an amazing team, we had already demonstrated the institutional grit and agility to weather unexpected phenomena. In recent years, we endured together the wildfires, floods, and outages that seem so endemic to modern life.

I don’t know that I decided to become a teacher so much as I was born one. What inspired me to deepen my teaching, though, was becoming a father. As my innate provider mechanism kicked in, I began looking for opportunities to serve in a meaningful way while also being the best father I could be. Teaching and parenting are such wonderfully complementary occupations!

This fall at Quest Forward Academy Santa Rosa, Exploration Phase students have spent the bulk of their English and Social Science classes exploring themes related to the natural world. These classes included a diverse array of topics, from westward expansion and indigenous land management to the literature of Jack London and the contemporary film Gattaca. Like other Quest Forward classrooms, students applied their knowledge with relevant and remarkable hands-on experiences.