Kentucky’s Education Moonshot
By Dr. Lu Young
In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged the US to be the first nation to land a man on the Moon, to return him safely to earth, and to do so before the end of the decade. Often referred to as the Moonshot, President Kennedy’s efforts resulted in the greatest mobilization of resources and manpower in our nation’s history. A mere eight years later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon. Thanks to the President’s big vision, dedication of resources, and unfailing confidence in the ingenuity of the American people, the Moonshot stunned the world and boosted America’s stature at home and around the globe.
Fast forward 50 years to NASA’s November 2022 launch of Artemis 1, “the first in a series of increasingly complex missions to build a long-term presence at the moon for decades to come” - igniting hope and passion in a whole new generation of Americans for space exploration and kindling renewed interest in modern-day moonshots. Artemis, aptly named after Apollo’s mythological twin sister, aims to send four astronauts around the moon on its next flight in 2024 and land humans there as early as 2025. Kentucky’s own Alora Mazarakis was an electrical engineer on Artemis 1’s launch team. I am delighted to point out that Alora is a public-school graduate of Martha Layne Collins High School in Shelby County.
So why all this moon talk? The term moonshot was originally used with the Apollo 11 lunar mission but is now commonly used to describe a lofty goal or monumental effort - an ambitious initiative which is intended to show significant results. Whether it’s the Human Genome Project, Google’s Quantum Supremacy, driverless cars, or America’s new Cancer Moonshot with the life-changing goal of reducing the cancer death rate by half within 25 years - a moonshot refers to “a new project that could have outstanding results after one intense, consistent effort. . . a giant leap – a colossal feat, . . . “
In all of these scenarios, moonshot thinking is critical from vision and ideation to implementation. Tech leaders describe moonshot thinking as a strategic approach to tackle “a huge, seemingly insurmountable problem and proposing a radical solution to that problem using disruptive technology. The idea is not to look for small, incremental improvements, but to aim for a huge improvement or, even better, solve the problem completely.” Applying moonshot thinking to solve complex challenges:
● Empowers people to look for unconventional solutions with a high probability of success.
● Enables teams to use fast-paced experimentation to continuously learn and improve.
● Assumes that everything is possible, looking beyond established ways of thinking and doing.
● Removes the fear of failure and helps teams focus on success.
Reference here: https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/moonshot
In a very real sense, Kentucky’s United We Learn initiative is our very own Moonshot. Over the course of the past two years, Commissioner Glass and his team, in partnership with the Kentucky Board of Education, have encouraged everyone engaged in the process to let go of traditional ways of thinking and, instead, embrace unconventional solutions to reimagine teaching, learning, assessment, accountability, and community engagement across the state - assuming that everything is possible - to energize the learner experience and improve learner outcomes for every Kentucky child and youth.
Several early examples of moonshot thinking that paved the way to the launch of Kentucky’s United We Learn have begun taking root starting with the Commissioner’s Listening Tour, the work of the Coalition for Advancing Education, the engagement of many districts and other early adopters in local experimentation and design, the launch of a statewide project-based learning initiative, the state board’s adoption of a Kentucky Portrait of a Learner, and efforts to bring Deeper Learning theory and practice to schools and classrooms all across the Commonwealth.
Kentucky United We Learn Council convening is a celebration of yet another major milestone on the United We Learn “moonshot journey.” It is important to plant a flag today, acknowledging our milestones because, just like the Apollo 11 space mission, a series of well-executed interim successes must occur over time before the final mission is accomplished. Long before the words “Houston, the Eagle has landed” are ever uttered, stakeholders in lots of different places have been busily tackling problems, seeking unconventional solutions, designing, prototyping, failing, and succeeding all along the way. Moonshots don’t just happen - that’s why we need you and partners like you to join our mission and take these giant steps with us.
In keeping with the lofty goals of President Kennedy’s Moonshot and those of every space mission since, Kentucky’s United We Learn vision aims to improve the human experience in bold new ways. We have set our sights on meeting the full spectrum of needs of every learner in every school in the Commonwealth - raising achievement for all learners and closing gaps among student groups while intentionally engaging communities in fulfilling the unlimited promise of public schools in their own backyards. I am confident that, with your help, we can reach and exceed that goal.
Let us echo the words of President Kennedy in 1962:
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do these other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win...” *
It all begins with one small step - let’s take that step together.
*Address at Rice University on the nation's space effort, Houston, TX September 12, 1962