September FableFriday: Audrey Spencer, UX/UI Designer

FableVision UX/UI Designer Audrey Spencer is a problem-solver at her core. As a multidisciplinary designer, Audrey has worked across many fields, including medical, game development, and VR/AR design. She has a passion for creative problem solving, thinking outside-the-box, and brings her own dash of whimsy to every project that hits her desk. 

“I love sharing my creative process with others and I’m excited to be doing that at FableVision,” says Audrey. “I’m especially having a blast on a project that we’ll reveal soon – we have an awesome team and such a great connection with the client – it’s been so rewarding to see this come to life.”

Read more to learn about Audrey’s winding journey to FableVision, how she wooed the internet with her elaborate cat drawings, and her battle with DJ Khaled.

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Audrey’s Snapchat drawings featuring Maya and Oskar

What’s your “journey to FableVision” story?
It’s been quite the journey! My degree is in industrial design, so I began my career in product design, working in healthcare designing medical devices. This was around the time when a “cool new app” called Snapchat came out, and with its clunky drawing tools, I started drawing photos of my cats, creating elaborate and harrowing scenes. Apparently the people of the internet liked them, which caught the attention of Snapchat and the media, starting me on a path of creative storytelling for brands like Microsoft, Universal, Pilot, and Snapchat. It was all pretty surreal.  

Pivoting from medical device design, I began working with startups as a one-woman design team, doing everything from industrial design, graphic design, branding, video, and marketing. I worked in a wide range of industries from Tesla coils, to robotic fishing equipment, to AR (augmented reality) hardware. It was very exciting. 

While working with an AR hardware startup, I grew close with some folks at Snap Inc. and began consulting on Snapchat’s user interface, as well as other programs in the works. One of these was Lens Studio, the AR Lens software they were developing, which sparked my interest in virtual reality and augmented reality design. 

Shortly after, I went through a Unity and XR program to broaden my skill set, through which I was introduced to FableVision!

Social media panel at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2016

How did past fields and industries you’ve worked in prepare you for FableVision and the educational industry?
My experience as a student, which was tough, prepared me the most. I’m dyslexic and I’ve always struggled with reading. I have a lot of empathy for kids who are also struggling with any type of learning disability, and I know what they’re going through. In my own life, I’ve learned that this disability can be transformed into an empathy superpower when it comes to storytelling and designing educational experiences. It’s quite rewarding to bring that perspective to the table.

What type of projects do you like to work on?
I like projects that involve humor and a bit of weirdness. I bring my own dose of quirk as it is,  so I appreciate any project that has that creative freedom. I also love a good challenge and managing a lot of moving parts – really, anything that requires problem solving is fun to me.

Group of Snapchat creators

Besides UX and UI, you’ve also developed content for brands like Microsoft and Universal. Can you tell us more about that experience?
In the early days of Snapchat, it was a Wild West for creators working with brands on the platform, and it was really difficult to gain a following with content that expired every 24 hours. 

So, when I and a small group of creators gained traction on Snapchat, brands saw this as an opportunity.  At the time, Snapchat didn’t have an ad program in place, so these brands reached out to us to create content for them.

This led to some really fun jobs, traveling across the country doing work for Microsoft, Universal, Pilot Pens, Shark, Crocs, mobile games, animal shelters, and a bunch of others.

Creating content for brands isn’t too different from what we do at FableVision Studios. The client has an idea and an audience it wants to engage, and we bring that idea to life.  

DJ Khaled

Bill Nye the Science Guy

Tell us about being a Shorty Award finalist for “Snapchatter of the Year”!
What a weird time to be alive. I was up against a few big names, one of which was DJ Khaled, who was pretty well known… and still is. I didn’t go in with any expectations of winning… and I totally didn’t win. But it was a really great award show – I got to rub elbows with Alton Brown and Bill Nye the Science Guy!

Leading up to it, we had to get votes from our audience. So, I found a video of DJ Khaled asking his followers to vote for him and I took that video, edited out where he said “Vote for DJ Khaled,” went through his video history, and basically made a video of him saying to vote for me. I still cringe when I look at it now, and it was purposefully bad, doing it all on my phone in Snapchat from the comfort of my kitchen. But everyone got a kick out of it. If anyone wants to see it, you’ll have to message me and I might show it to you.

What was your most intricate cat drawing and how long did it take?
Well, that would be the cat drawing of Maya splayed out on a bounty of gold coins, gems, and jewels, what you’d expect to find in a treasure chest. I got really into the details and it took a solid nine hours to draw. But Maya deserved it. 

When drawing on Snapchat at the time, it crashed often. And every time it crashed, I’d lose everything. Eventually, I found a way to circumvent that to be able to post things through some trickery. That gave me the freedom to take a few evenings and work on a drawing rather than all at once. Something that drew me to Snapchat was the temporary nature of the content on the platform. I could test out weird ideas, people could see them, like them or not, and then they would disappear. There was something fragile and liberating about it that I really appreciated.

More recent drawing

First Snapchat drawing

Photoshop work

How has your online art evolved?
I have always loved sharing creative ideas with others and people love cats. I’ve tried out all sorts of things with varying degrees of success. 

I've shot skits, made music videos, photoshopped cats as other animals, and started a subreddit that features animals with their faces photoshopped really really tiny.

Even so, my cat drawings have definitely gotten better. I started using a stylus instead of my finger, but if and when I lost that, I discovered that wrapping the stick part of a Q-Tip in foil makes a “decent” capacitive stylus.

What is the dynamic like between Oskar, Maya, and Louie?
I got Maya first. Quickly, I could tell she wanted another cat to play with. She’d sneak up on me, jump on me, and want to play all the time. Eventually, I found Oskar at a shelter. I tried to keep them apart as they adjusted to another animal in the space, but that was impossible. Once I introduced them, they did battle it out a bit, but they’re great friends now. They don’t cuddle like siblings, but they’ll clean each other, play, and chase each other around.

A few years ago, we got Louie. He is a very shy, skittish cat. And introducing them was a challenge: all Oskar wanted to do was chase and play, and all Louie wanted to do was run. But it’s gotten better. We’ve tried to create a safe space for him and he hangs out with us and trusts us a lot more now.  

Maya

Oskar

Louie

Audrey’s Favorites

Favorite plant? I can’t choose a favorite… but I do have five self-contained ecosystems I created: three terrariums and two “jarrariums.” It’s taken them five years to get to this point but they’re finally self-sustaining with only sunlight and a wee bit of water!

Favorite film/tv show? I am really enjoying Evil at the moment. But I always enjoy revisiting King of The Hill and Comedy Bang Bang!

Favorite game? Board: Wingspan. Video: too hard to pick just one, but Her Story, Inside, and Animal Crossing had a huge effect on me.

Favorite recent DIY? I fixed the hose spigot at my house. It had no available parts to buy in a store since it’s so old. So I made my own washers! My next thing to start is refinishing lampshades – I already bought fun fabric, fringe, and tassels.

Elle the chipmunk

Favorite place to find antiques? Estate sales. I love seeing objects in the context that they lived in, and the history surrounding them. Once I buy something, it feels like I’m giving them a new life. 

Favorite homeowner surprise? I’ve been excited about the wildlife outside and have set up cameras to capture videos of all the fun animal visitors! Recently, I’ve befriended the crows and the chipmunks. One chipmunk friend in particular jumps up into my hand when I hold out sunflower seeds.  

Favorite cat (if possible)? I get asked this a lot and I have an answer: it’s Maya. 100%.

March FableFriday: Mackenzie Bright, Production Assistant

“I can’t count how many nights I’ve spent absorbed in conversation with coworkers about games they’ve played recently or shows they’ve seen or books they’ve read,” shares Mackenzie Bright. “Or, that one memorable night where half the studio, at 9 p.m., obsessively combed the internet to source a specific item for a video shoot, and didn’t stop until we were successful. It was a great example of the team coming together to share the experience and get something done.” For Mackenzie, a production assistant at FableVision, her favorite part of being a FableVisionary is the people she is surrounded by—unique, passionate individuals who are all committed to the studio’s mission of telling “stories that matter, stories that move.” As someone with a vast array of interests and talents, it comes as no surprise that Mackenzie values the air of enthusiasm that has been cultivated at FableVision.

As a production assistant, Mackenzie manages and works with different producers to help manage a number of projects. No two days at the studio are ever the same, and Mackenzie embraces the organized chaos, effortlessly juggling different projects to produce consistently impressive results. She brings the same spirit of collaboration to her dynamic role as when she serves on the volleyball court, and the same eye for creativity as when she crafts stories in her free time. Read on for a peek into Mackenzie’s journey to FableVision, her love for educational media, and her favorite P.G. Wodehouse novel!

Tell us about your FableVision journey! What about the studio caught your eye? 
I first heard about FableVision in a Children’s Media class that I took during my senior year of college at Tufts University. That class was my first exposure to the world of children’s media and completely changed the trajectory of what I wanted from my career. When I started searching for internships, my professor Julie Dobrow recommended I look at FableVision, since they had such an excellent history. But the first thing that REALLY caught my eye about the studio? The Wall of Inspiration! When I came in for an interview and studio tour, I literally couldn’t look away. It was an incredible touch of personality that had a piece of every studio member on it, and it really helped sum up the things that make FableVisionaries special—individuality and never forgetting the things that shaped you. FableVision is undoubtedly unique because of the people I have the opportunity to work with here. Everyone at the studio is passionate about education and games, and that really shines through in the work we do.

You were a marketing intern before officially joining the team as a production assistant! What benefits did interning provide, and how have you adjusted to your current role?
Yes, I was! Interning had many benefits, not the least of which was a familiarity with the studio and the way our project flow worked. It also gave me an opportunity to become familiar with the people in the studio—ALL of the people, not just the marketing team! As a marketing intern, I was able to talk to and work with people from every other “department”, and they were always eager to answer my questions and get to know me. This made my decision to later apply as a production assistant very easy, because I already knew the work environment, and how genuine and wonderful every FableVision employee was. 

What does a typical day at FableVision look like for you? 
My days at FableVision vary pretty greatly depending on what my current project needs are. As a production assistant, I both manage my own projects and help other producers, so different projects need different things from me. Sometimes I have to dedicate full days to working on one project, and some of my tasks can vary from asset organization to VO recording and cutting. Other times, I spend a full day keeping up with management needs for a number of different projects. 

What has been your favorite project you’ve worked on during your time at FableVision? 
My favorite project at FableVision has been Civics! An American Musical, which we partnered with Maryland Public Television, Maryland Humanities, and Tufts’ CIRCLE as a part of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program. I really enjoyed the civics aspect of the project, and as I helped out, I learned a lot about U.S. history. I’m also a huge fan of musical theater, so the opportunity to create my own Hamilton-inspired musical was a blast! 

What makes you the most excited to wake up and (virtually) head to work every morning? 
I am always excited to see my coworkers! At the time I’m writing this FableFriday, we are still working from home due to the pandemic, so seeing familiar faces on video calls is always the highlight of my day. We often stick around for a little while after meetings to catch up or share opinions on TV and music, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. 

What advice would you give to students who are trying to break into the industry? 
I would tell them to try everything, especially the things they’re not sure they’ll like! Branching out can often lead you to loving things you never would have considered before. 

You grew up playing a number of sports, and were even on the Women’s Varsity Volleyball team at Tufts University! What are some of the lessons you’ve learnt as an athlete that you carry with you in your daily life? 
Teamwork and perseverance are two incredibly important things I’ve learned from sports. FableVision is a team environment at all times, and it’s crucial to be able to work cohesively with other people, especially in production where your team is relying on your communication skills. However, I’ve found that the biggest lesson I learned from being an athlete is that things go better when you love what you’re doing—when you’re enthusiastic and excited about the project you’re working on, the job you have, or the game you’re playing!

In addition to being an avid reader, you also write your own stories. Rumor has it you want to work on writing a children’s book in 2021—tell us what we can expect! 
I have always loved the world of children’s fiction, and it’s my goal to write my own books! The world of fantasy writing as a whole really shaped my own interests, and some of my favorite things to read today are still the books I first read as a kid. Children’s literature always has such a broad range of worlds to be seen, adventures to be had, lessons to be learned, and it’s important to me how crucial these books are to helping kids figure out who they are and what they stand for. Children’s books are gateways to wonder and a better understanding of the world, and I want to see what doors I can open, too!

Favorites: 

PG Wodehouse novel: Right Ho Jeeves. It was the first one I read, and it’s a classic!

TV show: Parks and Recreation.

Musician: John Williams.

Study abroad memory: Traveling to the Isle of Skye in Scotland and hiking up mountains in the rain!

Season: Fall—I love the colors and the weather.

Brunch dish: Fried-egg everything-bagel sandwich with cheese and bacon.

March FableFriday: Monica Chen, Marketing Coordinator

A dedicated and quick-witted writer, Monica Chen’s skills in marketing are undeniable. The face behind much of FableVision’s social media content and client communications, Monica is constantly changing and adapting to the demands of her role. Clients are always in good hands with Monica—a professional, yet personal, experience is guaranteed when Monica is leading the charge.

Monica juggles countless tasks throughout her days as FableVision’s Marketing Coordinator, and balances her responsibilities skillfully. A master manager of schedules, spreadsheets, and creative communications projects big and small, there is no job that Monica cannot handle.

“A lot of my focus as a writer has been on the human experience,” Monica says. “I definitely think that translates into how I approach writing marketing content for the studio because I constantly try to consider how the people we design and develop media for, not just our clients but also the audiences who will be using the product, will read the content and internalize the messaging.”

Monica is a 2018 graduate of Ithaca College with a passion for writing, music, and Chipotle. An admirer of art in all forms and a passionate storyteller, Monica blends seamlessly into FableVision’s mission of making “stories that matter, stories that move.”

Tell us about your FableJourney! How did you hear about FableVision and what brought you here?
I heard about FableVision when I was introduced to Sarah Ditkoff, FableVision’s Communications Director, by an Ithaca College (IC) alum. After emailing back and forth with Sarah a couple of times, I came in for an informational interview at the studio. During that meeting, I told Sarah a bit about my life, what I studied at IC, my previous marketing experiences, and where I was in the job search process. She gave me some more information on FableVision Studios, as well as advice for me as someone looking to enter the marketing field fresh out of college. I remember leaving that meeting and texting my best friend in the elevator before I even left the building: “This place is everything I’ve ever wanted in a job. I want to work here so bad.” At the time, there were no open positions, but a few months later Sarah emailed me about the open Marketing Coordinator position, and I immediately jumped at the opportunity to apply.

How do you approach marketing and outreach for FableVision? From your vantage point, what’s unique about our place in the industry?
When I first started working here at FableVision, I really appreciated and continue to appreciate the time and care we put into how we talk to our audiences and how we talk about our projects. When we speak with clients and prospective clients, we’re not just marketing products, but really we’re marketing the talent and skills in the studio. We’re marketing the experience of working with us and the impact that the product—whether it be a game, an app, a website, an animation, or something else—can have on the people our client wants to reach. In our outreach, we focus on the learning outcomes and the positive messages of our projects to provide helpful resources and supplementary tools to help learning spaces engage students. And because of where we are in the edtech industry, we can focus on the larger goal of fostering creativity and lifelong learning in everything we write and post.

You recently graduated from Ithaca College. Tell us a little bit about your education there!
I majored in writing and minored in integrated marketing communications and the Honors Program. Although I chose not to pursue a specific concentration within the writing major, a large part of my focus was on fiction and poetry. I had some incredible mentors in the Writing Department and, with their support, I was able to complete a lot of projects I am quite proud of, including a number of short stories, a collection of poetry, and a short novel. In my minor courses, I studied a wide range of marketing-related topics, including strategic communication, public relations, advertising, copywriting and art direction, graphic design, and generalized marketing strategy.

Outside of my courses, I also had the opportunity to participate in many extracurricular activities, student organizations, research projects, and community service activities. One of my favorite projects was the Ithaca Pan Asian American Film Festival, which I helped plan during the last three years of my undergraduate career. As part of the festival planning process, I took the film festival class. In the course, we watched and discussed Asian American films, studied the historical and social context behind Asian American representation in media, helped organize and plan festival activities, and corresponded with festival participants, filmmakers, and sponsors. One of my main roles on the marketing committee was designing our marketing materials. My first year with the festival, I just started learning graphic design in my minor, so I had to teach myself how to use Photoshop (with the help of a lot of YouTube tutorials) in order to create the posters and brochures we needed. The following two years, I designed the majority of the posters, brochures, flyers, and other marketing materials. It was a great learning opportunity for me and the skills I gained from creating those deliverables helped me a lot in my marketing and advertising courses, as well as in my internships and eventually my marketing career after graduating.

As both a practicer and consumer of art, what is your favorite art museum that you’ve been to? What is one you’re dying to visit?
For practically my whole life, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston was my favorite art museum because when I was growing up, my dad would often take me there on weekends and during school vacation. It will always have a special place in my heart; however, the Van Gogh Museum is definitely another top contender. I was able to visit the museum two years ago when I took a trip to Amsterdam during my semester abroad in Ireland. Vincent Van Gogh has been my favorite artist for years and seeing his life chronicled through his art was incredibly moving. I cried while watching a documentary showcase at the museum—the way he captured the beauty in the world around him despite his intense internal struggles has always had a big impact on my view of life and of my own art and writing.

One of the museums that has been at the top of my list to visit is MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM: teamLab Borderless in Tokyo. Digital art is definitely something I have become more interested in as I have learned more about graphic design. Also, from what I’ve seen in pictures and videos, the museum has some really captivating and beautiful exhibits.

If you had unlimited time and resources to pick up one new skill or hobby, what would it be?
I would love to learn how to make videos, including filming and editing. As someone who has spent countless hours watching videos on YouTube, I am always in awe of the creativity of a lot people on the platform. While some of the YouTubers I watch have backgrounds in media production or film, the majority of them taught themselves filming and editing tricks over time as they continued to post content, or they got help from other YouTubers. I think video is an exciting avenue for storytelling, especially with the mix of visuals and audio. I am always impressed by those who experiment with language, music, transitions, animation, effects, and so on in their videos. Video is something I’d love to explore in both a personal and professional manner.

We’ve heard you’re really into seeing live music! If you had to pick any three bands or artists, what would be your dream concert lineup to go see?
This is an incredibly difficult question, so I’m going to start off by saying that my number one dream concert lineup would probably be 5 Seconds of Summer (5SOS), Panic! at the Disco, and Queen.

I’m going to follow that statement up, however, with a list of other dream concert lineups because I’ve always been terrible at picking favorites: 5SOS, All Time Low, and blink-182. All past and current members of Celtic Thunder. Mayday Parade, Taking Back Sunday, and My Chemical Romance. Paramore, Fall Out Boy, and Panic! at the Disco. All Time Low, Marianas Trench, and 5SOS. 5SOS, Little Mix, and Panic! at the Disco. Waterparks, ONE OK ROCK, and 5SOS. With Confidence, State Champs, and 5SOS. 2NE1, Epik High, and BIGBANG. EXO, GOT7, and BTS.

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More About Monica:

Favorite Panic! at the Disco song: “Nine in the Afternoon.”
Fiction or Nonfiction? Fiction.
Sunrise or sunset? Sunset.
Early bird or night owl? Night owl.
Book or Kindle? Book.
“Modern art,” yes or no? YES.
Favorite genre of music? Pop punk.
Best Boston sport? Hockey, of course (I grew up playing ice hockey)—go Bruins!
Chipotle order: White rice, black beans, chicken, mild and medium salsa, corn, cheese, guacamole, and lettuce. I also like to add the Chipotle and regular Tabasco sauces on top. I would eat this every day for every meal if I could.

January FableFriday: Sarah Ditkoff, Communications Director

Sarah Ditkoff is fearless in her willingness to drive change. She’s naturally iterative,  experimenting with new ideas, platforms, and technologies, and understands how to “fail fast” and move on. As the head of marketing and key member of the proposals team, Sarah knows FableVision’s portfolio and in-house talent inside out and back again, and her deep knowledge of the company is matched only by her passion for the studio’s mission. Her eloquence and flair for language shines in every communication, written and spoken, and her voice has become synonymous with FableVision’s.

Ascending the studio leadership ladder to her current role as Communications Director, Sarah has built a seamless bridge between the marketing and sales departments—the engines of FableVision Studios. In addition to managing the direction of the marketing department and the highly competitive marketing internship program that she has carefully grown and cultivated over the years, Sarah is part of two different teams that help shape the culture and strategy of the company, and strives to present and consider a diversity of viewpoints to ensure that everyone—from staff to clients—is heard.

“I’m an open ear and an objective point of view—both for our production team, and for the client. Part of my job is to help ensure a project’s success at every stage: from proposal, to production, to launch—and beyond,” shares Sarah. “I hold my own work and the work of my team to a high standard. FableVision is a special place and each encounter a person has with our studio should have that ‘special’ quality that’s in our brand’s backbone.”

This month, we’re kicking off the New Year with a feature on one of FableVision’s leaders. Step into Sarah’s shoes to learn more about her leadership style, her tenacity to think strategically and on her feet, and the array of talent she brings to every project her hand touches. From creative insight to a strong head for business to superb interpersonal skills, see how Sarah does it all. 

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With over five years at FableVision Studios working alongside the various departments, how has the marketing department evolved during your time at FableVision?
We have a small team that handles the strategy and implementation of the studio’s marketing and communications efforts. With a group that nimble, it’s to be expected that our marketing efforts mature and evolve based on whose hand is touching which campaign and platform.

Sarah and Mitul at FableVision's 20th Anniversary Party

FableVision’s Communications Strategist, Mitul Daiyan, has brought a great sense of order to our marketing efforts by creating a more formal way of tracking long-term and short-term campaigns. Under her eye, we monitor, interpret, and report back on what’s working and what could be better next time. This helps us shape our efforts in thinking about how each campaign funnels into FableVision’s larger story and mission.

We’ve also been lucky to have creative, passionate, ambitious marketing interns during my time here. Their talents diversify our team’s skillset and we love to have voices come in with new ideas that are both innovative and actionable.

In what ways does your position as Communications Director expand on your previous role? How does a more external approach to communications influence your relationship with clients?
We use the word “communications” broadly at FableVision. On the marketing side of my role, I direct the studio’s communications efforts for the services side of our business. That covers everything from social media and campaign strategy to submitting conference session proposals for thought leadership opportunities. I’m also the primary marketing contact for our clients, and consult with them to identify opportunities to amplify their marketing and outreach efforts through studio channels.

On the business development side of my role, I work to streamline the proposal to production process. If you’re a client and you communicated with me during the proposal phase, I’ll be with you at the project kickoff to ensure that all the knowledge I have about your project’s goals are transferred to the team that will actually be doing the development work. You’ll also hear my voice on big deliverable calls. In addition to having the project’s producer as your day-to-day contact, I’m always available to the client for praise or concerns.

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How do you juggle being part of both the marketing and business development / proposal team at FableVision? Is there any insight to be found in having a hand in both departments?
As with many small companies, there’s a lot of crossover between departments. To do my job, I need to be especially fluent in our portfolio, which gives me a unique vault of knowledge to pull from when I’m communicating with potential clients and in thinking about content, scope, or audience overlaps when I’m putting together proposals.

Every client gets personalized attention and everything we make is custom-created to match their vision—but it helps to have some touchstones in mind, especially in those early discovery phases and conversations.

Sarah with Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Vega at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC

If you had the opportunity to work with any client on any project what would it be?
I recently vacationed in DC and was reminded by how much I love that city as a place of learning, history, and knowledge. I’d love to continue to do work with the Smithsonian, and maybe one day with the Newseum.

I’ve always had a soft spot for museums. Informal learning spaces are so valuable—no matter who you are or which walk of life you come from, those doors are open to you.

You mentioned that you’re always thinking about what’s next. What would you like to see over the next few years from FableVision?
We could always use more kindness in the world. I’d like our portfolio to continue to contain projects that have themes of inclusivity, empathy, and diversity. Additionally, it will be important to do work that promotes growth mindset and teaches all learners critical thinking skills so that people understand not just what to think, but how to think. We strive to fuel others to do their part in moving the world to a better place.

Sarah with FableVision's former Executive Producer, Karen Bresnahan

You’ve impressively risen through the ranks in a matter of a few years. What advice would you give to other hardworking women like yourself?
One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was, “no one is going to take you seriously if you don’t take yourself seriously.” Believe in the validity of your own unique voice. You are valuable. You are talented. There is room for you at the table. Stay focused. Pick your battles. Be kind to yourself. Do the work.

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Sarah’s Favorites:

Favorite personality to follow on social media: Simone Giertz

Favorite cooks: Ladies know what’s up. I will forever love:

• Ina Garten
• Nigella Lawson
• Sarah Carey from Everyday Food
• Julia Turshen
• Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen
• Joanne Chang

Also if you’re not watching A Chef’s Life on PBS featuring Vivian Howard, you are seriously missing out.

Favorite calligraphy resource: Calligrafile, founded by my favorite calligrapher, Molly Suber Thorpe. I was able to take a class with her last year at GrayMist Studio in Cambridge, which was so incredibly cool.

Favorite books: This is a terribly unfair question. How about a current favorite author? Roxane Gay killed it in 2017 (and earlier than that, but she had such a good year last year). My favorite “coffee table book” from last year is In The Company of Women by Grace Bonney of Design*Sponge, which I read cover to cover.

Favorite podcast: Current listens include More Perfect, How I Built This, Death, Sex & Money, and Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Favorite pun: I ate too much Middle Eastern food. Now I falafel.

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October FableFriday: Chris Jackson, Chief Communications Officer, Big Picture Learning

When it comes to putting the “big,” in Big Picture Learning, Chief Communications Officer Chris Jackson believes that the message speaks for itself: “sometimes it can be as easy as pointing a camera and hearing our students tell the story of their own experience.”

For over 20 years, Big Picture Learning (BPL) has worked to reimagine the way students learn. Through BPL design elements, students are encouraged to create their own learning path, collaborating in small advisor-led learning communities and working with mentors at community-based internships. The yield is an inspired approach to learning that drives students towards achieving their own vision of success.

“Take Taliq, who recently spoke at the Business Innovation Factory’s annual storytelling summit. Or Rhianna, who tells her Big Picture story not through words, but through music,” Chris muses. “Take any Big Picture student and one will quickly see how an individualized approach to teaching and learning not only helps learners thrive, but also makes my job as a Communications Officer as easy as giving these students a platform to inspire.”

One of BPL’s biggest advocates, Chris embodies its mission of curiosity, vision, and drive. We caught up with him to learn more about his journey towards innovative education, his contagious love of learning, and his must-read list!

Big Picture Learning was established in 1995 with the sole mission of putting students directly at the center of their own learning. Tell us more about how BPL seeks to accomplish this goal.
It’s simpler than you might expect: ask students what they’re interested in learning about, then teach them that. Students aren’t used to being asked what they want to learn – or having their own personal interests and ambitions embraced by educators – so there’s a level of trust building that is necessary at the beginning. But once students realize that they are surrounded by peers, advisors, and a community that loves and supports them, their world opens up. They see that learning can happen anywhere, at any place, at any time. They find that they can more truly navigate their own path, not only through school but through life.

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There are over 65 Big Picture network schools in the United States and around the world. What is the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center (“The Met”) and how is it unique?
The Met was the first Big Picture Learning school, before there was a Big Picture Learning! Over 20 years ago, the state of Rhode Island tasked Elliot Washor and Dennis Littky with coming up with a bold new school design that, in its very existence, would require a reexamining of the education system. From that work, the Met was born. The Met is a campus of six high schools across the state of Rhode Island, though most of them are in a central location in Providence. Known as much for its open architecture as it is for its innovative approach to learning (for instance, students spend two days of each week not at school but at internships in the community) it’s hard to truly describe the Met in words! That’s why we welcome visitors to the Met several times a year to see the school for themselves. Readers of this blog are welcome to attend!

How did BPL come to cross paths with FableVision Studios?
We’ve been fans of Peter and Paul Reynolds’ for some time. I actually first saw Paul speak at a conference when I was working for Reading Is Fundamental and regularly read Peter’s books to my children during nighttime storytelling. But it was one of our founders, Elliot Washor, who struck up a friendship with Peter and Paul not too long ago. FableVision’s work speaks for itself, but for Big Picture Learning, relationships matter most. The FableVision team took the time to get to know us (even visited the Met and met with students and advisors!). When it was clear that FableVision’s team shared our values when it comes to creativity and education, the rest was essentially a no-brainer.

How does BPL provide students with structure in such a highly personalized environment?
There’s a common misconception that letting students direct their own learning leads away from structure and toward chaos. Student-centered learning can’t proceed without a path. It’s just that in our schools, students design that path with guidance from their advisors, their parents, and their peers. By creating and directing their own paths – via a personalized learning plan – students have ownership in the learning process, and are much more able to learn from failures and champion their own successes. There are boundaries, for sure, but they’re not the artificial kind like, say, a school bell or homeroom period.

Tell us about how ImBlaze helps educators and administers enable the place-based learning from internships that BPL so believes in.
Big Picture Learning knows the importance of getting students out into the community to learn from mentors and experts. During our two decades of existence, technology has advanced in such a way creating those connections is much easier. Imagine a time in, say, 1997, when BPL advisors had to track internship opportunities through post-it notes stuck to their computer screens. Ten years later they’d moved to excel spreadsheets. We now have ImBlaze, a mobile app created by Big Picture Learning, that helps students and advisors intuitively search for internships in their local communities. And, as with other initiatives, we have FableVision to thank for helping bring the story of ImBlaze to life through animation!

BPL recently announced the new Harbor Freight Fellows Initiative (HFFI) in an effort to broaden our collective understanding of what it takes to properly invest in skilled trades education. What’s the genesis story of this new program?
The genesis goes right back to student interests. The presumed track for many high school students post-gradation is that they’ll proceed right onto college, most of them in pursuit of a liberal arts or business degree. That’s a valued extension of learning, and was the path I myself followed. But it’s not necessarily the path all students long for.

The focus of the Harbor Freight Fellows Initiative is to raise up the trades path as a lofty educational aspiration, one which is perfectly in-line with the interests and passions of many students, not just Big Picture students. We want to ensure that students who pursue trades-based paths following high school have the resources and relationships that will inspire them to continue following their passions. We’ve produced an animation with FableVision, Navigating Our Way, that eloquently explains this through the story of two lifelong friends, Sylvie and Seymour, who follow separate paths (college and the trades). Watch the video here.  

Students from BPL meeting with Sir Ken Robinson

BPL hosts a Leadership Conference and the Big Bang Conference every year. What is special about these conferences?
We design our conferences to mimic our educational practices. Attendees participate in our convenings as part of an advisory – a group that they return to multiple times throughout the conference to reframe and expand upon their learning. Further, a core component of our conferences is that attendees “leave to learn.” In our network schools, you’ll find that much of the learning happens outside of the walls of the classroom.  To mirror this, an entire day of our conferences is spent in the community, learning from organizations within the host city.  Of course, most important for us is that students are at the center of our conferences; not just in theory, but in practice. For us, it is essential that students themselves play a key role; not just as attendees, but as designers, presenters, and leaders. Over the last two years close to 100 students from across the Big Picture network have been present at Big Bang – our international conference on student-centered learning.

If you could do it over and be a BPL student, how would you structure your education?
I think less about what I would be like as a BPL student as I do about what it would be like to be a teacher in a BPL school. I have a teaching degree that I’ve never used because my student-teaching experience was uninspiring. As a result, I’ve followed other paths through life. But if I had known that schools like those in the Big Picture Learning network had existed, I suspect I would have remained in the teaching profession. I must say, I’m grateful that my path through life has still wound its way back toward progressive, inspiring, and imaginative schools. I regret that I don’t have the opportunity to work with students every day, but I am pleased that I’m part of a national conversation about what education can and should look like moving forward.

It’s no secret that you’re a big fan of books and stories, can you share any reads that we should catch up on?
What a terrific question! Let’s start way back and move up to the present:

• My all time favorite book is In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. Many people think of Where the Wild Things Are when they think of Sendak, but I remember being struck by the absurdity of In the Night Kitchen at an early age. It’s a book so important to me that I have a print commemorating it on my office wall!
• For fiction, the book I could never put down was The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.
• I’m a sucker for American historical nonfiction and have been plodding my way through the biographies of each United States president. I’m currently up to Martin Van Buren (so naturally, I’m taking a break!).
• I love a good graphic novel. Check out Unflattening by Nick Sousanis for an academic deconstruction of graphic novels told, naturally, in graphic novel form!
• Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t strongly recommend The Big Picture and Leaving to Learn from my education idols and Big Picture Learning founders Dennis Littky and Elliot Washor!