Education
Great minds lead to great solutions. Our education section features solutions and innovations directed at strengthening educational systems around the world.
Check out these posters to imagine alternatives to heavy policing
If you experience intimate partner violence, your only option for immediate help may be to call the police, even though an arrest may not do enough to get you out of your dangerous situation and keep you safe in the future. What if instead you could text a number and meet with a trauma-informed Read More...
This artist sculpted a “Coral Greenhouse” and sunk it to the seabed
A British artist by the name of Jason deCaires Taylor is using his love for sculpting to support the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. What the artist has done is create what he calls a "Coral Greenhouse", which has been sunken to the seabed so its cement and steel frame can be a habitat for marine Read More...
How a 10-year-old girl sent thousands of art kits to kids in foster care
A young girl with a big heart has found just the way to cheer up other kids stuck at home during the pandemic. Chelsea Phaire, a 10-year-old from Danbury, Connecticut, has sent more than 1,500 children in homeless shelters and foster care homes art kits to give them something uplifting to do when Read More...
New Jersey now mandates climate change education in schools
With powerful storms impacting its coastline and algal blooms affecting its lakes, New Jersey is already quite familiar with the damaging effects of climate change. Now, K-12 students will familiarize themselves further with the urgent need to curb climate change as the state becomes the first in Read More...
This man started a father & daughter coding startup after being in prison
Antoine Patton had a difficult childhood. He got his first full time "dead end" job when he was just 14 years old. He became a father when he was still a teenager. And a few years later he was committing crimes. But Patton sought inspiration in the darkest place — prison — which he describes as Read More...
University of California says pencils down to SAT and ACT tests
High school students across the US aren’t taking standardized SAT and ACT tests this year due to COVID-19 shutdowns, but students applying to the University of California (UC) in the future will never have to take the tests at all. The UC system voted unanimously to phase out ACT and SAT test Read More...
Educating kids: Sesame Street addresses racism in 60-minute TV special
There are a few topics that are difficult to explain to children. When it comes to racism, Sesame Street is here to lend a helping hand. On Saturday, June 6, 2020, the kids' television show Sesame Street teamed up with CNN to broadcast a 60-minute special titled “Coming Together: Standing Up Read More...
Earth School aims to keep kids connected to nature while stuck at home
With 1.5 billion children out of school right now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, many parents are scrambling to figure out how to continue their education. Some schools have provided guidance, but it's nowhere near what children usually receive in classrooms. And the Internet is so full of Read More...
Understanding whiteness: The first step to ending racial discrimination
The Optimist Daily is first and foremost a platform dedicated to solutions and the people behind them. But this week it has become more blatant than ever that there is a problem in our country in dire need of a solution—and this time it is us who need to be the ones coming up with the Read More...
How teachers can revitalize themselves after this difficult school year
As the school year comes to a close, many educators are realizing that it’s hard to find focus and stay passionate in times of disaster and uncertainty. The speed of school closures and the rapid move to distance learning allowed little time for proper planning and training. Educators weren’t Read More...