Change Makers
What makes a Change Maker
Impacts the world in positive and authentic ways
Is robustly prepared for real-world challenges that require the integration of academic, creative and social-emotional domains
Is not defined by numbers or scale: To make a positive change in the life of one person brings positive change to the world.
OUR Change MakerS
Each year we identify a Change Maker who embodies that year's theme, and can be a lens through which we view our curriculum and projects for the year. Every class, TK - 8, learns about the life and work of this change maker. Change Maker nominations and the selection process involves all members of the community, from students to parents and staff.
Change Maker Themes
The Change Maker Themes inform the selection of each year's Change Maker and reflect the focus we aim to have on curriculum for that year. When a student has completed their Synapse education, from Transitional Kindergarten through 8th grade, they will have seen and learned in the context of each of the Change Maker Themes.
Edna Lewis – 2026-27 Change Maker
Change maker for 2026-27
Edna Lewis, a chef, author and farmer's daughter, Edna Lewis was one of the most quietly revolutionary figures in American culinary history. She transformed her own life, crossing geography and circumstance to become one of America's greatest chefs. She transformed American cuisine, insisting that Southern and Black foodways belonged at the highest table. She transformed how we think about ingredients, about land, about memory as a source of knowledge. And she transformed herself, again and again, as chef, author, farmer, teacher, and caretaker.
Edna Lewis
to represent the theme of Transformation
One of the greatest pleasures of my life has been that I have never stopped learning about good cooking and good food.Edna Lewis
