Alum pushing for change in K-12 education

WhenZarek Drozda ’16 arrived at Harker in eighth grade, he had already lived in six states.

“My dad worked in corporate mergers and acquisitions, so we moved a lot; but my parents were very good at helping my brother and me look at each transition as a new opportunity – and it helped me enjoy change,” said Drozda from his apartment in Chicago, where he lives with his partner and their two cats. “That being said, I was grateful when I joined Harker and got to stay because it is such an incredible school.”

Drozda made the most of his time at Harker. He was a John Near endowment scholar, debate captain, stage manager, theater technician and Middlebury Institute CIF researcher in addition to juggling a rigorous academic load. He enjoyed all his classes but particularly took to economics.

“As a student, Zarek was a voracious learner coupled with a positive demeanor and a great sense of humor. He loved to explore new ideas and theories, not for a grade or a test, but for the joy of learning and discovery itself,” said Samuel Lepler ’96, an economics teacher who also mentored him as a Near scholar. “I am not surprised that he has been so successful in college and beyond, and that he is giving back to the community with his current work. He embodies what school should be about: the joy of discovery, embracing and overcoming challenges, and laughing all the way.”

Drozda enjoyed economics so much that he went on to study it at the University of Chicago, graduating in just three years. He was very involved in the school, serving as treasurer of the university’s Inter-House Council; ambassador with the Institute of Politics; a member of the Transportation & Safety Advisory Board and Campus Catalyst Board; and co-creator of two student organizations: The Paul Douglas Institute and Global Student Policy Alliance.

His work with The Paul Douglas Institute led to his first job after graduation at the Center for RISC (Radical Innovation for Social Change) at the University of Chicago. While Drozda was at RISC, he worked with economist and “Freakonomics” co-author Steven Levitt, who released the podcast “America’s Math Curriculum Doesn’t Add Up.” The podcast went viral and the team realized they had hit a nerve.

“Nearly everyone believes that math education in America is messed up. Too many kids, even if they’re good at math, opt out of the topic at their first possible chance,” said Jeffrey Severts, co-founder of the Center for

RISC, who is a mentor to Drozda and describes him as incredibly dedicated and selfless. “Through Zarek’s tireless efforts, more and more students, teachers and administrators are starting to question whether today’s math fits with the modern world full of computers and data.”

It’s been an eventful ride for Drozda, who worked with the U.S. Department of Education before being tapped to be director of Data Science 4 Everyone, a nonprofit based at the University of Chicago, that is helping lead a national coalition for incorporating data science education into K-12 curriculum. There are now 14 states with data science education pilot programs across the country, driven by Data Science 4 Everyone and its national partners, and their work is extending across school subjects. In California, several schools and districts have adopted these programs:

• San Diego Unified is rolling out data science to 120,000 students across TK-12 mathematics learning, with current opportunities in high school and soon to reach students as young as fifth grade with more foundational “data literacy.”

• Khan Lab School in Mountain View is piloting an advanced second-year data science course that will introduce machine-learning and advanced statistical methods in the context of “big data.” The school is also re-scoping the traditional Algebra 1-Geometry-Algebra 2 sequence to allow for more modern content.

• Los Angeles Unified and researchers at UCLA developed a course under a National Science Foundation grant and have since expanded to 17 California school districts plus other districts in Idaho, New Jersey and Oregon.

And this is just the beginning.

“The importance of teaching students data literacy and data science techniques cannot be underestimated; did you know that every second we create enough data to fill 50 new Libraries of Congress?” asked Drozda with an urgency to make change. “Our vision is that people become more comfortable understanding, manipulating and using data.”

His work to modernize the curriculum could impact the face of education in profound ways.

“Zarek has quickly become one of the nation’s leading voices calling for change, “ said Severts. “If a math revolution happens and kids in K-12 classrooms start learning more about data science, it will be in large part because of Zarek’s efforts.”

WORDS BY ZACH JONES

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JANE SNYDER

UNLESS NOTED or all the laudable goals of diversity work, the people at the center of it – whose lives it is meant to improve – still encounter stresses unique to their experiences as marginalized people – stresses they sometimes grow tired of explaining. For these people, affinity groups have become a place on campus to alleviate these pressures.

“Affinity groups, for any culture, offer a safe space for those who identify under them to share experiences that outsiders may not understand completely,” said Makayla Aguilar-Zuniga, grade 12, a member of Harker’s Latinx Affinity Group. “Additionally, they bring a sense of belonging to people who struggle with connecting to their identity.”

Affinity groups, which have existed on university campuses since the early 1970s, are essentially spaces open only to people of specific, usually marginalized, identities. “Affinity groups are spaces for people who can speak from the ‘I’ perspective about their individual identity,” said Brian Davis, Harker’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). “It’s a space where you can learn a little bit more about who you are or your history.” During meetings, which are attended by faculty advisors, students in these groups discuss topics that affect them and others who share their identities and develop ways to approach the wider community with their ideas and concerns.

These forums differ from other campus advocacy organizations such as the Gender-Sexuality Alliance (GSA), which is also open to allies who do not identify as LGBTQ+. “Our school has the incredible privilege of having a Gender-Sexuality Alliance, but even this space can sometimes feel intimidating to students who wish to have an escape from the stresses of discourse,” said one non-binary student leader of the Transgender Affinity Group who wished to not be named. While they said allyship is a key aspect of diversity work, affinity groups can function as support groups that are “meant to give students a breather and an area where they are not required to explain how or why they experience something.”

Senior KJ Williams, a member of the Black Student Union (Harker’s first officially recognized affinity group, established in 2020), found that the experience of meeting and talking with other Black students made him feel more valued at school. “It made me feel more comfortable at Harker and made me feel, because the school let us have this space, that they valued my presence here,” he said. “When you have that support system, wherever you are, it makes you feel more welcomed.”

Students of other affinity groups also have found them to be a space where they can openly discuss topics related to their identities among people who share their lived experiences. Senior Ayla Apsey of the Middle Eastern Student Association said Middle Eastern students are hesitant to discuss concerns “because they might feel judged or don’t want to offend anyone else,” she said. “So it’s more of a safe space for us to just discuss how we feel.”

Reza Jalil, grade 11, a member of the Muslim Student Association, found that being in the group was another source of learning about his faith. “I felt like I couldn’t connect to anyone about this,” he said. “But now … I’m able to connect and learn more about our religion.” In turn, he says, this enabled him to talk about Islam with others more confidently. “I’ve been reached out to by teachers who I don’t even know on campus,” he said, “and they ask questions that I can honestly answer and teach them about our religion.”

Likewise, the Jewish Affinity Group enables students to meet and celebrate their heritage with others they don’t usually see at school. “We celebrate the holidays with any Jewish kids around campus, and it’s honestly just been super beneficial to have that community without it being super structured,” said junior Sarah Westgate, a member of the group. “It’s really nice to be around people who fully understand your identity, and we have little inside jokes that we understand, even if we didn’t go to Hebrew school at the same place.”

Other groups have had similar experiences, finding that discussing issues specific to their communities enables them to share their knowledge and concerns more comfortably with the wider Harker community. In one meeting, Apsey said, “we talked about Ramadan, because a lot of Middle Eastern students are fasting, and we had an open discussion about how difficult it is for people who are fasting during the day.”

Aguilar-Zuniga recalled one incident in which a Salvadoran dress she wore during Harker’s Culture Day was incorrectly referred to as a Mexican huipil. “Usually, I would have pointed it out to a few people but ultimately let it go since it was a common occurrence,” she said. After discussing the matter with the Latinx Affinity Group’s advisor, math teacher Jeanette Fernandez, she devised a way to communicate her concerns to the other party. “Since then, I have not faced a similar issue. With the help from the Latinx Affinity Group, I felt supported in ways that I had never been and I know that many in the group share the same sentiment.”

Another positive outcome of affinity groups, Williams said, was seeing more students willing to share aspects of their heritage with the Harker community. “When someone talks about their culture to you, or someone shares something with you, it’s easier to feel comfortable enough to share your identity, your truth.” He cited this year’s Culture Day, which grew exponentially over the previous year, as evidence. “Last year we had a decent number of booths,” he said. “But this year, we had way more because people realized, ‘oh wow, this is really cool that people are showing their heritage.’”

Discussions in the Latinx Affinity Group led to the decision to give a special dance performance at Culture Day. “We were unsure if we wanted to perform at all, because of the difficulty of the dance, but we decided that the benefit of showcasing our culture would outweigh the struggles,” Aguilar-Zuniga said.

In anticipation of others expressing misgivings about af finity groups being exclusionary, students in these groups maintain that their goals are quite the opposite. “Affinity groups aren’t meant to make other people feel excluded,” Williams said. “Their main purpose is to make those that are excluded, or feel excluded, feel more included in the community. Having those spaces allows everyone in the community to feel comfortable, not just the majority.”