Why Kornerstone & Not Cornerstone

At a recent Kimberly Area School District Board of Education meeting, the question was raised: Why is Kornerstone spelled with a K and not a C? The answer: Kimberly + Cornerstone = Kornerstone. This is a community school. The designers of this school have so much pride in Kimberly and what the motion K stands for and represents.


The first name of Kornerstone School was Quo Vadis, meaning "Where are you going?". That name lasted less than three months. Looking back, I'm still fond of that name and at the same time, I'm surprised it lasted that long. The Biblical implication of Quo Vadis, was one strike against it. Strike number two and three were that no one knew what it meant. 


Now for the long answer...very early in the design process, I had laid out two different criteria for the school. The big 5 employability traits were something I had researched extensively for getting my masters degree. These 'soft skills' are the things employers look for the most, yet schools have a difficult time directly tying them into the school curriculum. The big 5 employability traits are:

1. Problem Solving & Critical Thinking
2. Social Responsibility
3. Collaboration
4. Communication
5. Work Ethic

Those five skills survived the design process and two have been added- Leadership & Creativity. 

The second criteria, were the four cornerstones. I didn't know much about project-based learning at the time, and I wasn't sure what was exactly going to be included in the school. I was at the 2009 WCSA Conference listening to Rovy Branon. He presented a slide with four boxes, one in each korner of the page. In each box was a one of the following terms: innovation, design, systems, learning. When Rovy clicked to the next slide, a central box appeared that connected everything, the box was titled TECHNOLOGY (see the transition from slide 4 to 5 on this site for a clearer picture). With Rovy's permission, I borrowed his Intellectual Property and used it as the cornerstone's for a new school. The cornerstones went through several different versions or iterations; firstly, when Tom Krause and I met with Dr. Mayfield and Mr. Rietveld, an incredibly important observation was made. "This doesn't make sense to me." Dr. Mayfield stated, "why is technology at the center on that slide." He went on to say that everything Tom and I were talking about put the student at the center of the school and not the technology. His led to this: 

In November of 2009, I was not yet comfortable or certain about spelling cornerstones with a 'K'. The Post Crescent ran an editorial following the November '09 KASD board meeting. The article was filled with words of wisdom for starting out a charter. I usually don't read comments in the Post Crescent left by readers. Being the son of a retired superintendant, I lost sleep a few evenings at some comments that were directed at my father. As a rule, I don't go through the comments on that site. A few of my colleagues told me people were commenting on the spelling of the school with a K and not a C. I should have paid more attention to this criticism, but I didn't. To be fair to the man who created the title, Brad Klitzke and I were talking in between classes outside of his classroom. Brad stated, "What about Cornerstone with a K?" It was perfect. Two months of brainstorming led to something perfect. The web domain was wide open. There weren't any Kornerstones in the area. There were however about a half dozen different Cornerstone businesses. A few months after the school design took shape, Cornerstone Driving School opened up across from the high school. And just down the street from our school is another Cornerstone financial office. Kornerstone met the planning team's goal of inputting Kimberly into the title of the school. We brought the K with us. It was an intentional branding of the school, and not just a flippant mis-spelling. 

From 2009 up until right now, spelling C words with a K has become somewhat of a Kulture thing with those involved in Kornerstone. Slowly over time, Cornerstones featured in the image above were transformed into The 4Kornerstones. This was done to limit confusion for students. 

Explaining The 4Kornerstones

Rather than reading, writin', and rithmatic, Kornerstone School has Learning, Community, System, & Design. Our school focuses on process rather than content. Student-directed project-based learning (PBL) is the process we use to deliver the content. This is a radical shift from traditional education. Over a five year period (students enter our high school in 8th grade), students must explore each of these areas in the same way that a student would have explored reading, writing, and basic math in 1911. These four 'K'ornerstone areas are the building blocks of this school. If mastered, they will lead students to their profession of choice. The four Kornerstones will be broken down in a future post, as will the school mission. 

I would hope that folks in the Kornerstone community will advocate for our name rather than against it. This is a community school. The beauty of our school is the student ownership piece. I know some folks are bothered by the improper syntax. I wanted to take this opportunity to let people know that Kimberly + Cornerstone = Kornerstone. Please leave your comments. I'd love to hear what others think. 

Future posts:
Breaking Down the Four Kornerstones (by October 1)
Explaining School Mission (by October 13)