Big Bang is our national conference where educators, students, and leaders come together to share, learn, and celebrate what’s possible in education.
Every summer, our community gathers to: ✨ Share real-world learning practices ✨ Build meaningful connections ✨ Celebrate student and educator impact
This year we’re headed to📍 Dallas, TX 📅 July 2026.
If you’ve never experienced Big Bang, this is your invitation. Early Bird Registration ends April 30th.
#BigBangBPL #BigPictureLearning #RealWorldLearning
CHARMAINE MERCER - WIT AND WISDOM COLLABORATIVE; FORMER CHIEF OF EQUITY AND CULTURE, WILLIAM AND FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION
“There’s something about investing in leaders that are not just limited to big picture schools that is really special.”
Charmaine Mercer reflects on discovering that Big Picture Learning is far more than a network of impressive schools — it is a deeply embedded leadership model that extends beyond what’s visible on the surface. She highlights the full commitment required to center students, families, and communities, calling it leadership in action. Beyond operating strong schools, Big Picture invests in leaders across the broader education sector and has influenced policy shifts to expand access to innovative learning models. Its impact reaches beyond its own institutions, serving as a model others can learn from and build upon.
We talk a lot about preparing students for the future. But what about making learning feel human right now?
We believe students thrive when learning is personal, relationship-centered, and connected to the real world.
That’s the conversation we’re continuing at Big Bang 2026. Join us in Dallas this July to explore what student-centered learning can truly look like.
Register now at bplevents.org 🔗 in bio.
#BigPictureLearning #BigBang2026 #StudentCenteredLearning #RealWorldLearning
GREG LUCAS - DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING, NEW VISIONS FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS; DEEP LEARNING EQUITY FELLOW
“I live and breathe what Big Picture Learning is about.”
Greg Lucas describes how Big Picture’s fellowships create transformative spaces for educational leaders to engage in deep introspection and authentic growth. The focus is not on producing a product, but on becoming the kind of leader who can truly serve young people and their communities. Rather than assuming what students need, the fellowship creates space for youth voice and courageous, community-centered care. Through this work, leaders are reshaping education from the inside out — embodying the values Big Picture stands for.
MADDIE GILLISSIE - ALUMNA, BIG PICTURE LEARNING. GRADUATE, THE MET HIGH SCHOOL
“Education has to be so much more than getting young people ready to go out into the workforce. Big Picture Learning helps young people know that they have a voice and helps show them how to use it. ”
Maddie - an alumna from The Met - reflects on how Big Picture Learning helped her find and use her voice. Even during COVID and remote learning, she felt more connected to her teachers than she ever had before — a testament to the strength of the relationships at the core of the model. She challenges the idea that education is only about workforce preparation, arguing instead that it should teach young people how to be good people and care for one another. Her lasting takeaway from The Met is simple but powerful: this kind of education — rooted in connection, voice, and possibility — is real.
JAVIER GUZMAN - CEO, CENTER FOR POWERFUL SCHOOLS
“The core of Big Picture is the belief that every kid has genius.”
Javier centers the deeply relational and community-embedded nature of Big Picture Learning’s work. Drawing on the idea that “attention is the beginning of devotion,” he highlights how giving deep, sustained attention to young people affirms their inherent genius. When schools organize around a student’s strengths and passions, traditional structures must shift to make space for exploration, authenticity, and growth. The goal is not perfection, but creating environments where students can discover who they are — and then be supported in becoming it.
JEFF PALLADINO - SCHOOL LEADER, FANNIE LOU HAMER FREEDOM HIGH SCHOOL
“Big Picture has done a great job of not backsliding on beliefs. That focus is why Big Picture gets well-deserved recognition. It’s student focused, it’s always remained interest focused, and it’s always been community focused. That relentlessness is the power of the organization.”
In this video, Jeff, a New York City school leader, emphasizes that schools should extend beyond classroom walls and empower students to build agency in their own communities. He credits Big Picture Learning’s steadfast commitment to authentic, interest-driven, and community-centered learning as the source of its impact and recognition. Rather than drifting from its core beliefs, the organization has remained relentlessly focused on students and real-world relevance. In a world facing complex challenges, Big Picture creates space for young people to be proactive and make meaningful change.
SONN SAM - NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF PARTNERSHIPS, BIG PICTURE LEARNING
“Work-based learning is exactly what Big Picture Learning does.”
Work-based learning is at the core of Big Picture Learning’s design — connecting schools, communities, and systems to create authentic, real-world learning experiences aligned to student interests. Sonn reflects on the early skepticism before The Met was founded, when many believed this kind of approach wasn’t possible. Thanks to courageous community partners and leaders in Providence, that belief was challenged and rebuilt into something lasting. Thirty years later, research and replication have shown that this community-connected, remixed version of learning doesn’t just sound good — it works.
SUE HART - SCHOOL LEADER, LAFAYETTE BIG PICTURE LEARNING
“There’s opportunities everywhere. We just need to be creative.”
Big Picture Learning’s design thrives in a rural community by seeing opportunity everywhere and creatively leveraging local resources. Through a culture of distributive leadership, staff collaborate to make thoughtful, individualized decisions for each student. Over 18 years, internships have expanded from within the school to the broader community, strengthening real-world learning pathways. The result is powerful: graduation rates between 95–100%, including among Native American students, with a clear focus on long-term success beyond high school.
ELLIOT WASHOR - CO FOUNDER, BIG PICTURE LEARNING
“[Big Picture] has history, but I hope that people stand on our shoulders.”
Founder Elliot Washor reflects on the original vision behind Big Picture Learning — an education design driven by students’ interests and rooted in the real world. From the beginning, the goal was to break down the walls of traditional schooling so that students could learn alongside adult mentors in the broader community. This radical idea positioned each student as the curriculum and the entire community as the classroom. Over 30 years, that vision has spread through schools and initiatives nationwide, creating a legacy others can build.
BRIADELKY - STUDENT, THE MET HIGH SCHOOL
“The Met wasn’t made for a box. It was made for a child’s mind. It was made for wonder. It was made for whimsy. It was made for creativity.”
For Briadelky - a student at BPL’s flagship school, The MET -, Big Picture Learning represents the opportunity her parents never had — the chance to pursue passion instead of survival. She describes a school built around student interests, where curiosity is nurtured and teachers help turn dreams into real pathways toward careers and a better life. The Met, she says, wasn’t designed to fit students into a box, but to expand their minds through creativity, wonder, and exploration. In a time when education feels constrained and deprioritized, she calls for something fundamentally different — something built for young people, not systems.
CARLOS MORENO - CO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BIG PICTURE LEARNING
“The spirit of Big Picture is still the same. We’ve evolved from just being a school network to an organization that’s really committed to ensuring that all young people can live lives of their own designs, but doing that in a variety of different ways”
Big Picture Learning’s enduring commitment remains pointed to “one student at a time,” grounded in its founding pillars of relationships, relevance, and rigor. While the spirit of the organization remains the same, its reach has expanded beyond a school network to influence districts, systems, and even state leaders. Big Picture now works at multiple levels to rethink what learning environments should look like and how they can support young people in living lives of their own design. The ultimate goal is to center student and community dreams, then build educational systems outward from those aspirations.
![ELLIOT WASHOR - CO FOUNDER, BIG PICTURE LEARNING“[Big Picture] has history, but I hope that people stand on our shoulders.”Founder Elliot Washor reflects on the original vision behind Big Picture Learning — an education design driven by students’ interests and rooted in the real world. From the beginning, the goal was to break down the walls of traditional schooling so that students could learn alongside adult mentors in the broader community. This radical idea positioned each student as the curriculum and the entire community as the classroom. Over 30 years, that vision has spread through schools and initiatives nationwide, creating a legacy others can build.](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6747292031171916354349_0_0fbcb709442523712fccf8cd65a04312.jpg?o=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&h=74f841df1c408483f31638dafe772fbf)
