In 2015, Ken Grover, an administrator in the Salt Lake City School District, took the stage at the Salt Lake City TedX talk for his 15 minutes of education-themed inspiration. He didn’t exactly have a Tony Robbins stage presence — Grover looks and sounds the part of a school principal down to the neat, slicked-back hair and dry, monotone jokes — but his message resonated.
He beckoned education leaders to follow the lead of his school, Innovations Early College High School — “a truly magical place” where the students are in charge. At Innovations, they come to class when they learn and progress on their own schedule.