Welcome to d’Skills Dispatch, rebels, where every Friday we share how + why to build Impact Portfolios that will give you an unfair advantage in life. Starting in high school.

This is an experimental, free LinkedIn newsletter for high schoolers, gap year students, and (epic) parents with a different mind.

(yep, you're the weird person because most people don't like them 🤢)

Things I got told this past week 👇👇

"your work is insulting"

"wow, this was SO helpful.... seriously thank you sooo much"

"now where is that block button..."

So now that you know the writer of this dispatch is a rebel who's good at stirring up hives of tarantulas (wouldn't that be freaky), let's get going.

Proceed with caution.

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Ya'll told me you want to hear about impact-first learning 👇👇

I REALLY adore this topic... because it's completely 1000% the OPPOSITE of how school teaches but also 1000% how people actually learn.

Maybe we should start with a definition (or maybe you can read minds... 😉)

Impact-First Learning:

(we created this term, but tell me this shouldn't be in Merriam-Webster asap...?! 👊😎

Impact-First Learning is an educational approach where students begin with a clear, tangible goal or outcome they want to achieve. Instead of starting with broad subject knowledge and figuring out its applications later, students dive right into a project or challenge, picking up the necessary skills and knowledge along the way. It's about flipping the script: Start with the 'why' and 'what,' then figure out the 'how.' This approach emphasizes real-world application, hands-on experiences, and learning that has immediate relevance and meaning, and capitalizes on the resources in the digital world.

Aurora (15) and Anna's (17) Google Chrome Extension project is the PERFECT example.

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Built In 30 Days???

This summer, we hosted a 30-day GPT Innovator's Cup.

Students were challenged to build a business using ChatGPT in just 30 days.

We didn't know what would happen.

Our 1st place winners were Anna Mitchell and Aurora Straight -- two high schoolers living in 2 different states, 2 different timezones, and who had never met each other before the challenge.

Their challenge?

Build a Google Chrome Extension in 30 days. But don't stop there.

Launch a merch line, build social media partnerships, and build something that can continue growing 👾

And guess what?

They did it 🥳

Against all odds?

How? They started with IMPACT

Let's go through it.

Aurora had tried to learn Python for years and hadn't successfully done so 😵😵.

She tried Python for Dummies.

She's tried taking classes.

But she struggled to get to a finished final product....

Until she started with IMPACT.

😎👊😎👊😎👊

Here was the Impact-First Learning plan:

Define an audacious goal: Build a Chrome extension in 30 days

Leverage ALL the resources available -- including ChatGPT, AI tools, and YouTube for learning.
Work backward and fill in knowledge gaps along the way!

And it worked.

Aurora said she had to problem-shoot numerous times, re-start 7-8 times, and felt like giving up at points.

But she got to the end.

In school, we're typically not taught this way. We usually start with a "topic" instead of an "impact" and wonder why it's hard to learn.

Next week, we'll discuss The School in the Cloud and why this model is so interesting for learning in the 21st century...

So if you also want to start a business in your teens... OR learn something new...

Start with the IMPACT you're trying to reach, and fill in your knowledge gaps along the way! 😎

I promise it'll be easier. You'll enjoy the learning process WAY more. AND you might even remember way more of what you got taught...

And who knows...

You might just start hearing the term

"impact-first learning"

More often.... 😎👊

-Hannah

(Your Chief Rebel)

👊😎🔥🎉👊👊😎🔥🎉👊😎🔥🎉👊👊😎🔥🎉👊

Copyright d'Skills, Inc

Legal warnings.

(and the Scooby Snacks 🐶)

All d’Skills dispatches have tasty follow-ups.

The writer of these dispatches has been told:

“You’re the coolest person I’ve ever met”
“Go f***k yourself lady”
“This advice is super unrealistic”
“You graduated when…?”

Please.

If you are one of the crazy people who enjoys this crazy bonkers newsletter...

Share this d'Skills Dispatch on your fav social media now,

Thx for spreading the rebel pixie dust 😎🔥

Would you rather fight one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses?

if you've tried the Roman Empire challenge and asked the dudes in your life about how often they think of the Roman Empire you might be surprised by the answers 😭

the ones in my life don't think abt it often...

but dudes all over social are funny.

If you’re not crying so far on this wacky rigamarole of a newsletter...

you might be one of the few (very few) people who would enjoy our d’Skills community, attending one of our free workshops, or….

maybe even joining IMPACT10 -- our bootcamp where high schoolers have 10 weeks to build an impact portfolio (personally taught by me and my co-host Swetha Tandri).

kittens rescued from a storm drain

pennsylvania twin-dergarten

micro-schools are the new trend

car wash found groundhog in a car bumper