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Education in San Diego: Why we should stick with “A through G”

A couple days ago I did a post about possible reasons to change our system (here).  Now I want to offer some of the successes that suggest maybe we are already doing this thing right.  Some of the information below may surprise you.  As we get ready for Thursday’s Craft Beer Debate with some very accomplished panelists it’s time to have a better look at what San Diego has been doing.  If you are here for the first time and want to know what the Craft Beer Debates are, click here.  For the rest, let’s get started. Read more…

How coaching and mentoring can drive student success

The registration for the second craft beer debate is almost complete and before I present the case for the current system actually working better than I suspect many realize, I wanted to give a quick window into one component of student success: the school principal. Read more…

Education Needs a Change: Alternatives to the current system

In 2011, only 41.8% of San Diego Unified School students would have met the “A through G” requirements for admission to a UC or CSU school.  Is this evidence that we need to rethink local education focus?  In preparation for the second Craft Beer Debate, I want to present both sides of the discussion.  Here is the start of that effort. (Click here to register for the June 6th Debate at Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens Liberty Station.)

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The future of education: Meet the panelists

As we head into the Second Craft Beer Debate on June 6th (free to attend, must pre-register here), I want to introduce our panelists as a way of helping frame this “future of education” debate.  First, though, obviously it’s not possible to take on the whole future of anything, let alone something as complex as educating our young people.  So the first point is to realize what piece of that puzzle we’ll be toasting to on the 6th. For background on this debate or this whole series click here. Read more…

The role of education in San Diego: a slide show

With the next Craft Beer Debate right around the corner on June 6th at Stone World Bistro & Gardens in Liberty Station, I started reaching out to my friends in education to ask about the types of issues most relevant to this debate.  As it turns out, I am fortunate to know several smart people.  One of them shared the following slide presentation with me.  I found it most interesting that 56% of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education jobs DO NOT require 4-year degrees.  But have a look and arrive at your own conclusions… Read more…

The Second Craft Beer Debate: The Future of Education in San Diego

A bit of background

With the end of the school year approaching in the San Diego region, this is a great opportunity to think and talk openly about the future of education in San Diego.  I started the Craft Beer Debates series to create a fun, approachable way to help regular San Diegans engage in issues important to our region’s future.  Here is a quick explanation of the debates, modeled after the surprisingly fun House of Commons in Britain.  The first debate, held in Slater’s 5050, focused on the question of whether San Diego’s future required public funding for a downtown football/sports stadium.  Watch “The Great Stadium Debate” here. The second one is coming on June 6, 2013. Register to attend here.

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Full Video: The Great Stadium Debate!

On September 12, 2012, a room full of curious people came together to interact with leaders in a new style of debate.  The idea is simple: make it fun for people to engage in San Diego issues and learn about our awesome craft beer community.  The Craft Beer Debates have very simple rules:

1.  Answer the question. Whether from the audience, the moderator (Greg Koch of Stone Brewing Co.) or the other panel. No political double-speak please.

2. Embrace interaction. The audience is part of the debate, not just a recipient of canned answers.  Moderate booing, spontaneous questions and rousing cheers were all both accepted and encouraged! See for yourself, below.

3.  Explore great craft beer. We have a vibrant, innovative community and these debates are an easy way to learn about (AND TASTE) great craft beer.

The twin goals of every debate are (1) to give people a few facts about a local issue that( they can share with their friends) and (2) to enjoy the craft beer that is making San Diego one of the top global destinations for beer tourism.  Please click below to watch the debate.  Read more…

Sponsorship Page

I’m doing this to encourage more San Diegans to get involved in local issues and promote our craft beer industry.  But I can really use some help.  Being a big fan of transparency, I don’t mind listing the exact costs that make up the $767 for each debate ($400 for the video and editing, $247 for the sound equipment so the video is audible, $20 as a pro-rated cost of the video upload add-on and $100 to purchase refreshment for the panelists and moderator).

If you’d like to sponsor a debate, please send this form and I’ll contact you in short order.  Thanks for visiting.

Loans for brewers: Brewing the American Dream

Okay, so a new friend over at Jewish Community Foundation passed along the flyer below. Loans to brew craft beer! How awesome.

Here’s a link to more information. I’ll be posting the first craft beer debate online later this week. Big thank you to the San Diego Foundation’s new Center for Civic Engagement for making this connection to brewing loans. Please check them out here.

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Craft Beer: San Diego’s Other Innovation Economy

On September 29, 2012, Voice of San Diego helds its second annual Politifest event in Liberty Station.  The event was a blend of spirited political exchange, street fair-esque community booths, food, fun for the kiddies…and this being San Diego, a beer garden sponsored by Stone Brewing Co and Public Policy Strategies.  The event also included a series of talks about San Diego called “City 101”, designed to give people a quick snapshot of issues in our city.  To lighten things up, they asked me to do one about San Diego craft beer.  I decided to post the presentation with additional commentary below each slide.  To find out what the Craft Beer Debates are, click hereRead more…