Thinkering Arrives at NYSCATE

A week of Fellow showcases, mentor leadership, and future-ready conversations live from the NYSCATE floor.

Packing Up (and Showcasing) the Future of Learning

Today, our team arrived to Syracuse for #NYSCATE25. We’ll be rolling out the full Thinkering Collective ecosystem in real time — our Fellows, Mentors, capstone projects, media booth, and the power of human-centered technology. We may even tease out a new moonshot goal being announced in 2026!

At our Thinkering booth you’ll find us filming mini-interviews with educators, technologists, and learners about what it means to be “future-ready” — not merely tech-enabled, but human-empowered. We’ll be asking: How does tech support humanizing learning? How does the educator evolve when creativity, community, and collaboration drive the agenda? What would you build as an educator if there was no red tape?

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Featured Thinkering Voices

Kim Rich (Silver Creek Schools, NY)

Kim is one of our New York region Fellows and will be presenting her capstone project at NYSCATE. Her project — detailed here — is all about rethinking how students engage with technology and creativity in the classroom. At NYSCATE, Kim’s “Growing Solutions” project stands as a powerful example of how technology, culture, and student agency intersect to create meaningful, future-ready learning experiences. By blending digital journaling, bilingual signage, sustainable design research, and place-based storytelling rooted in Seneca culture, her work shows exactly how educators can use tech to humanize learning rather than replace it — a message at the heart of this year’s conference. During the Thinkering presentation, she’ll walk through her progress, her vision, and how Thinkering supports Fellows to move from idea → prototype → impact.

Laurie Guyon (Thinkering Mentor & NYSCATE Event Lead)

Laurie is not only one of our most dedicated Mentors, she’s also helping lead the NYSCATE event track. If you’re attending and want to connect with Thinkering, she’s your go-to person. Come say hello at the booth — Laurie will help connect you to Fellows, Mentors, and the network of educators transforming their schools from the inside out.

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Interviews are already underway:

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What We’ll Be Doing at NYSCATE

• Mini-interviews: We’ll record on-site conversations around key themes: tech + humanity, student agency, educator creative leadership, librarian as system-designer, and more.

• Capstone showcases: Kim and other Fellows will present, share, iterate, and invite feedback.

• Booth conversations: Drop by the Thinkering booth, share your vision, grab a Thinkering card, and record your “What would you build if there were no red tape?” answer.

• Thought leadership sessions: Our Founder Evin Schwartz will present two sessions on behalf of Thinkering — exploring how the whole ecosystem (Fellows + Mentors + tools) makes humanizing learning possible at scale.

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Why This Matters

At Thinkering we know that tools alone don’t transform learning. It’s the people: the educator, the mentor, the student-creator, the librarian, the community partner. When we place humans at the center, technology becomes a support — not a substitute. At NYSCATE, we’ll amplify that vision. We’ll spotlight projects like Kim’s, showcase how Mentors like Laurie drive sustainable change, and invite every educator to become a maker of possibility, not just a consumer of solutions.

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Can We Meet You There?

Whether you’re a classroom teacher, librarian, instructional coach, technologist, or district leader — if you’re attending NYSCATE:

Stop by the Thinkering booth.

Bring your passion. Bring your ideas. We’ll bring the popcorn, the camera, and the community.

Let’s talk about how you can build your dream project — backed by the Thinkering ecosystem — and join our next Fellowship wave.

See you in Syracuse. Let’s humanize learning — together.

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Do you know someone who is a rockstar educator who deserves to have their dream ideas brought to life? Send them this article - or nominate them, today!