Aylon Samouha

You've never seen a school like this.

In the middle of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, surrounded by cranes, startups, design studios, young people aren't just sitting in classrooms.

They're creating digital marketing campaigns for small businesses, wiring real houses.

Down the hall, a student named Natalia is hacking websites, safely, with the guidance of cybersecurity pros.

These students are part of the Brooklyn STEAM Center, a public high school that looks and feels more like an engineering studio than a traditional classroom.

They're earning college-ready diplomas and industry credentials.

They're building professional networks while discovering what they're good at in the real world.

And none of it happened by accident.

I lead a school design organization called Transcend.

And when we began working with the Brooklyn community, our first step wasn't to bring in a program.

It was to listen.

Students, families, educators, local employers all told us the same thing.

We want learning that actually connects to the world kids are growing into.

So with the school's founders, we stitched together decades of practice and research, career-connected learning, project-based learning, purpose development.

The result?

A learning experience that's rigorous, relevant, and engaging.

Not about regurgitating content, but about solving real problems.

Not, what do I need to know for the test?

But what can I build that matters?

And when you see it, it feels obvious.