Educational Programs
STUDENT IDEAS FESTIVAL
When an author speaks to students, something changes. Young readers can cross a desert with a broken compass or match wits with a Grand Champion. They see Sitting Bull stand up in resistance or Nikola Tesla harness the lightning. The Student Ideas Festival is where stories come alive.
More than 1,300 local students came to the Monterey Conference Center, where they met an author who walks with elephants and a storyteller who crisscrossed the country for four decades. They took part in a Shakespearean play. They met artists and leaders with ideas that will change their world.
For those students unable to attend in person, the classroom became a grand theater. We recorded the Student Ideas Festival for future classroom use because wonder shouldn’t wait outside.
For many underserved students, the Festival represented a series of firsts: First time in a conference center, first time hearing an author speak their truth, first time seeing the Pacific Ocean. That same inspiring and crashing coastline that whispered to Steinbeck and dared Kerouac to go, go, go.
This year’s speakers included: Bob Dotson, who hosted NBC’s “The American Story” for 40 years; Eric LoMonaco, from the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, who challenged students to excel in school and pursue the sciences; Caitlin O’Connell-Rodwell, the world-renowned expert on elephants; Stephen Palumbi, Professor of Marine Biology at Hopkins Marine Station; Todd Purdum, who explained how a bongo player from Cuba rose to stardom; and Trish Tillman, our Student Ideas Festival advisor, who with the help of 20 student volunteers, produced a Shakespearean play in 30 seconds.
FESTIVAL 2 SCHOOLS
For those students who can’t attend the Student Ideas Festival, we take the Festival to them. Now in its 10th year, Festival 2 Schools sends our distinguished authors and speakers out to Monterey County schools in under-served districts, where just 1 in 3 students in grades 6 through 11 are advanced in the English language. We’d like to change that. Our student programs continue to grow and expand. Last year, Festival 2 Schools also visited the Boys & Girls Clubs of Seaside and Salinas, because not every student can be reached in the classroom. Our speakers’ inspiring messages of focus, self-reliance and resilience in the face of daunting odds resonate with teens at risk of getting lost in the system. Reading stimulates a student’s imagination, expands their understanding of the world and prepares them for success. Our speakers’ stories of hope help students connect with the world beyond their own community.
STUDENT INTRODUCERS
The leaders of tomorrow are taking shape today. For 19 years, the Pebble Beach Authors and Ideas Festival has been telling our youth that they belong. We pair local students with thought leaders from across the globe — authors and scientists, rebels and visionaries. Because real
growth occurs with a mentor who believes in what’s possible.
This weekend, students from across Monterey County share in the spotlight. By shadowing one of our speakers, a student receives a mentorship like no other. They accompany their speaker, help them prep for their presentation and even introduce them on stage. This year, we proudly welcome students from the Migrant Education
Region XVI’s Speech and Debate Tournament. As fully engaged participants, these students can learn from minds that move the world.
In years past, the students’ pride was on full display. They walked through the Festival a little taller, a little prouder. Doors they didn’t know existed had seemingly swung open.
Conversely, our speakers and special guests often say that working with these students was their most cherished experience.
EDUCATOR SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM
The Educator Scholarship Program believes in one simple truth: Teachers hold the future in their hands. Every day, they show up with coffee in their left hand, hope in their right, ready to help our future artists, innovators and leaders become all they can be.
We thank our generous donors for helping us bring more than 5,000 educators to our Festival weekends over the past nineteen years. Together, we all show up, ready to find a spark. We strive to leave our guest educators with new lessons to take back to their classrooms.
We hear time and again how our speakers’ words stay with them in the years ahead. Innovations in the classroom can come from anywhere, but the Pebble Beach Authors and Ideas Festival is a great place to start.
Join us this weekend in thanking those who make learning possible. Our teachers and educators truly are working for a better tomorrow today.