Time Well Spent

Katy BurkeUncategorized

Selfie of Katy with her daughter with some homemade donuts and a special-looking drink on the table

I have to be honest. There was a period when my kids were younger that I just didn’t feel like playing with them, ever. I was going through big ordeals in my life and the thought of making slime or playing Barbies didn’t appeal to me in the slightest. In fact, it felt downright torturous, and every time I promised … Read More

The Conveyor Belt to Success

Katy BurkeUncategorized

factory with boxes coming off of conveyor belts

Around this time of year twenty-three years ago, I was a senior in high school fretting about applying to college. The whole process was intimidating, but what plagued me the most was that I didn’t know what I wanted to study. I didn’t know that because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, and I didn’t … Read More

The Myth of Teenage Rebellion

Katy BurkeUncategorized

On the last day before summer break a PLC teen wrote: "I can write whatever I want here because its too late in the year for them to kick me out." And then continues with non-curse words: Heck, Golly, Darn, Gee, Fudge, Dang.

One hundred years ago, teenagers didn’t exist. There wasn’t a dearth of thirteen- to nineteen-year-olds of course, but, generally, they were called “children” or “adults.” Today, “adolescence” is its own animal.

A Question of Motivation

Katy BurkeUncategorized

View up the side of a cliff in the Adirondacks, NY

The Story In this post, we return to our fabled twin teenagers, Kelly and Collin. These two have much in common—same age, same upbringing, shared friends, shared good looks, even a shared problem: getting their first jobs, a teenage rite of passage. However, in the past few weeks, their parents realized that the teens’ shared problem stems from different roots, … Read More

Just Try Harder Differently

Katy BurkeUncategorized

Teenager with long red hair face down in a yellow beanbag chair

Imagine this. Two teens. A brother and sister, Irish twins (Happy St. Paddy’s Day, by the way), Kelly and Colin, both of whom would benefit from more independence and responsibility. Their parents want them to get part-time jobs, and they do too, at least they say so. But neither one has taken any real steps toward that end. It’s been … Read More

Jumping Off A Cliff! But, Not Really…

Joel HammonUncategorized

Sitting on top of a mountain, looking out and taking in the view

Princeton Learning Cooperative has been supporting young people and their families to be in charge of their life and education for the past 8 years. We’ve seen that providing a flexible, interest-based education in a welcoming community with caring adults can be a LIFE-CHANGING idea for young people. In order to get this flexibility to really do what is in … Read More

Move Over, Rigor

Katy BurkeUncategorized

Vigor vs Rigor - sprout coming up out of crack in asphalt

Years ago, a good friend of mine said something that just stuck with me.  “I could care less about rigor”—surprising words from an honors-level high school teacher. “What I care about is vigor.” I realized that she had assumed a completely new intention for challenging students in their learning. Rather than trying to get them to work hard at hard … Read More

Making Your Way

Katy BurkeUncategorized

The Learning Cooperatives are founded on the concept of making a life for yourself…living your dreams, not someone else’s. But in a culture chockful of prescribed paths and prepackaged dreams, how can we do that? It is probably more of an art than a science, but after listening to the stories of people who are living out their dreams, I’ve … Read More