Ovie Oghenejobo is the assistant principal at Lee’s Summit High School. He’s only recently transitioned into an administrative role, and says he thinks he’ll be just as unorthodox in that position as he was as a teacher. After all, someone needs to challenge the status quo.
In the seven years that he’s worked in schools, he’s felt concerned about the textbooks that aren’t up to date, the lessons that are only meant to prepare students for a test, and the one-size-fits-all approach in curriculum design.
“What is a 4.5 GPA and being a valedictorian is you don’t understand what we’re doing is affecting our society right now?” he asked.
That’s why he’s excited about the work he’s been doing with the Learning Collaborative, because it addresses these concerns. As an administrator, Oghenejobo has begun training other educators in the ideas that the partnership between museums and teachers within the Learning Collaborative is bringing to education.
“When you talk about Jackie Robinson in the classroom. First of all, that’s all many people know,” Oghenejobo said. But Kansas City has a valuable resource in the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. He says that when kids interact with what the museum has to offer, they learn about the history and the trials and tribulations of all the athletes.
“A young baseball player being able to go to a museum and learn about racism, well that hits a little differently for them,” Oghenejobo said. “You start realizing that this is really bigger than sports, this is really something that can hit close to home. This is no different from me and my friends.”
