I need your help.

As some of you may know, Geist Interactive has been very involved in the founding and support of One Spark Academy, a non-profit learning center for middle aged school kids here in Thousand Oaks CA. When my wife, Lori Peters, and I founded One Spark in the fall of 2011, we had just seven students and the strong belief that education is a human process, not an industrial one.  Now two and half years later, we are getting ready to celebrate the closing of the 2013 fall session. Since our opening, more than 75 kids have had the chance to learn with our small, holistic, human approach to education.

As FileMaker developers and computer programmers, we know the value of thinking outside the box. How much of the magic of FileMaker comes from its ability to be bent to the will of the developer?  Where would we be as a group and as a profession if we just studied for the certification test? We’d be sunk.Video thumbnail for vimeo video A Human Approach to Education - Geist Interactive

The ability to see problems as opportunities and to craft original ideas and put them to work is the most important skill you can have in today’s work place. Yet the dominant culture in education today is only interested in the standard answer to standardized tests.  It values memorization over creativity.

At One Spark Academy, we want to change that.  But doing what we do costs money, more money than we are willing to pass on to the parents of students.  We became a non-profit so that we could find alternative ways to raise the money needed to cover the gap between our costs and our registration fees.

This is why I need your help.  One Spark Academy is currently holding our end-of-year fund drive on indiegogo.com.  Please check out the campaign. If you believe in what we are doing, please consider making a tax deductible donation. Or if you don’t want to donate, but still want to help, please share the campaign on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.  Every bit of traffic we get to the campaign helps.

Over 50 years ago John F. Kennedy said:

“Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource.”  

Please help us make the most of that most precious resource.

Here is one of our videos. And don’t forget to visit our campaign at indiegogo.com.

Thank you!!!

Todd