Why don’t EA chapters exist at very prestigious high schools (e.g., Stuyvesant, Exeter, etc.)?
It seems like a relatively low-cost intervention (especially compared to something like Atlas), and these schools produce unusually strong outcomes. There’s also probably less competition than at universities for building genuinely high-quality intellectual clubs (this could totally be wrong).
Without a strongly supportive faculty member, I feel like you would struggle to make a group last longer than 2 years, since the succession and turnover dynamics of uni groups would be amplified.
Could still be worthwhile even with the lack of sustainability.
Students for High Impact Charity was a project to support groups at high schools, but it had difficulty getting traction. It’s hard to start a group from afar if you’re not a student or faculty there.
I think it sounds like an exciting idea. In my role funding EA CB work over the years I’ve seen a few of these clubs, so there’s not literally nothing, but it’s true that it’s much less common than at universities, and I’m not aware of EA groups at these specific high schools.
The answer to many questions of the form “why isn’t there an EA group for XYZ” tends to be “no organizer / no one else working to make it happen” and I’m guessing that’s the main answer here too.
FWIW I went to the best (or second best lol) high school in Chicago, Northside, and tbh the kids at these top city highschools are of comparable talent to the kids at northwestern, with a higher tail as well. More over everyone has way more time and can actually chew on the ideas of EA. There was a jewish org that sent an adult once a week with food and I pretty much went to all of them even tho i would barely even self identify as jewish because of the free food and somewhere to sit and chat about random stuff while I waited for basketball practice.
So yes I think it would be highly successful. But I think you would need adult actual staff to come at least every other week (as brian mentioned) and as far as I can tell EA is currently struggling pretty hard w/organizing capacity and it seems to be getting worse (in part because as I have said many times, we don’t celebrate organizers enough and we focus the movement too much on intellectualism rather than coordination and organizing). So I kind of doubt there is a ton of capacity for this. But if there is it’s a good idea. I’m happy to help you understand how you could implement this at CPS selective enrollment schools if you want to help do it yourself.
Why don’t EA chapters exist at very prestigious high schools (e.g., Stuyvesant, Exeter, etc.)?
It seems like a relatively low-cost intervention (especially compared to something like Atlas), and these schools produce unusually strong outcomes. There’s also probably less competition than at universities for building genuinely high-quality intellectual clubs (this could totally be wrong).
Without a strongly supportive faculty member, I feel like you would struggle to make a group last longer than 2 years, since the succession and turnover dynamics of uni groups would be amplified.
Could still be worthwhile even with the lack of sustainability.
Students for High Impact Charity was a project to support groups at high schools, but it had difficulty getting traction. It’s hard to start a group from afar if you’re not a student or faculty there.
Seems right, though plausibly there are some EA/EA-adjacent students at some of these schools.
I think it sounds like an exciting idea. In my role funding EA CB work over the years I’ve seen a few of these clubs, so there’s not literally nothing, but it’s true that it’s much less common than at universities, and I’m not aware of EA groups at these specific high schools.
The answer to many questions of the form “why isn’t there an EA group for XYZ” tends to be “no organizer / no one else working to make it happen” and I’m guessing that’s the main answer here too.
FWIW I went to the best (or second best lol) high school in Chicago, Northside, and tbh the kids at these top city highschools are of comparable talent to the kids at northwestern, with a higher tail as well. More over everyone has way more time and can actually chew on the ideas of EA. There was a jewish org that sent an adult once a week with food and I pretty much went to all of them even tho i would barely even self identify as jewish because of the free food and somewhere to sit and chat about random stuff while I waited for basketball practice.
So yes I think it would be highly successful. But I think you would need adult actual staff to come at least every other week (as brian mentioned) and as far as I can tell EA is currently struggling pretty hard w/organizing capacity and it seems to be getting worse (in part because as I have said many times, we don’t celebrate organizers enough and we focus the movement too much on intellectualism rather than coordination and organizing). So I kind of doubt there is a ton of capacity for this. But if there is it’s a good idea. I’m happy to help you understand how you could implement this at CPS selective enrollment schools if you want to help do it yourself.