Human Restoration Project

09/24/2026

We want to make our upcoming 200th episode a highlight reel of listener favorites over the years. Check out the archives, and let us know YOUR favorite HRP podcast episode with a brief description why.

We'll clip highlights and read your statement in the 200th episode! 👇

Nearly 200 episodes with educators, researchers, students, and schools tackling progressive, human-centered education.

09/22/2026

TCLC students from the 6th grade Green Team at Reeths-Puffer Intermediate are deep into a project on fast fashion and its impact around the world.

Students are designing for a cause and screen printing their own t-shirts, with designs raising awareness about sustainability and water consumption, autism acceptance and kindness, greenwashing, workers' rights, animal rights, and more!

Shout out to two local businesses who hosted us today so students could see this work in action: TH Brands gave them a look at what large-scale production looks and feels like, and FunkyPunk showed them the small-scale, DIY, upcycled side of things.

Huge thanks to TH Brands and FunkyPunk for hosting us and sharing your work with our students. We can't wait to see these shirts come together! 😎

09/19/2026

AFP has made its podcast debut! Huge thank you to Human Restoration Project for having us. ❤️

Now streaming wherever you listen to podcasts. Link in bio!

09/19/2026

In our newest podcast episode, we're joined by Dustin Hensley and Hannah Askew of Appalachian Futurism Project, based out of Elizabethton High School in Elizabethton, Tennessee.

AFP’s mission is to leverage educational, cultural, and economic resources to develop an ecosystem across the region where young people are part of imagining and co-designing the Appalachia of the future.

Search & subscribe to 'Human Restoration Project' on any podcast app, YouTube, or listen on our website:

https://www.humanrestorationproject.org/podcast/building-the-appalachia-of-the-future-w-appalachian-futurism-project/

09/14/2026

We're stoked to announce a recent addition to the HRP Board of Directors.

Hailie Bonz is a pre-law student activist at the University of California, Irvine. She was formerly a student plaintiff in the lawsuit opposing SF 496, which banned books across the state of Iowa. Her work has focused on community organizing, opposing book bans, promoting racial equity, and increasing the representation of student voices in education.

Please join us in welcoming Hailie Bonz as our Student Representative!

https://www.humanrestorationproject.org/staff

09/14/2026

Human Restoration Project Earns the Common Sense Privacy Seal for Polaris, Built to Let Student Voices Be Heard and Kept Private: A nonprofit built on empathy interviews shows that AI-powered listening and rigorous privacy protection can be the same product.

"Our mission is to help schools listen deeply to their communities. Not through a survey, but through real conversations where young people and adults can share what's working, what's not, and what they need. That's deeply personal work. When we use AI to help a school hear from hundreds of students at once, the ethical weight of handling those conversations is something we take seriously. The Common Sense Privacy Seal matters to us because it's external verification that we're doing what we say we're doing, not just building a privacy page and hoping people trust it." — Chris McNutt, Executive Director, Human Restoration Project

A nonprofit built on empathy interviews shows that AI-powered listening and rigorous privacy protection can be the same product.

09/11/2026

7th graders in TCLC at Reeths-Puffer Middle School kicked off their first PBL unit Sustainability in Muskegon yesterday!

Students had the opportunity to appreciate the Muskegon River by kayak (more than 100 kayaks). They evaluated wildlife, water temperature and oxygen levels, flood plains, and evidence of erosion.

Throughout the rest of the unit, students will collaborate with community organizations as they explore the small actions that can lead to environmental change and sustainability in the past, present, and future! 🚣

09/09/2026

One of last year's projects for Michigan middle schoolers involved in Third Coast Learning Collaborative connected them with students in Ukraine impacted by war. For most Ukrainian students it was their first time speaking with native English speakers!

Last week, that project made Ukrainian broadcast news:

Від мовної практики – до міжнародного проєкту. Звичайне бажання вдо...

09/01/2026

New from Nick Covington -- Every Dandelion is a Triumph: Thinking Ecologically about Education

"Schools are complex ecosystems that can, without intention and stewardship, become monocultures held in place by convention, policy, and the 'grammar of schooling.' In the face of such pressures, teachers and school leaders who don't share a passion for standardized instruction and testing nevertheless play a role in maintaining it. Thinking ecologically about classrooms and schools can help evaluate and intentionally cultivate biodiversity in the formal learning environments we create for young people."

Schools are complex ecosystems that can, without intention and stewardship, become monocultures held in place by convention, policy, and the 'grammar of schooling.' In the face of such pressures, teachers and school leaders who don't share a passion for standardized instruction and testing neverthel...

08/26/2026

If you’re in the 90% of US schools who go back to school before Labor Day, welcome back! And if you took the summer to unplug, we’ve put HRP’s summer highlights here in one spot for you to catch up on and come back to.

We hope your first days are wonderful and set the trajectory for a great year ahead!

- Nick, Cassie, & Chris
Human Restoration Project

Check out HRP Summer Rewind:

Back to school? Here are HRP's summer highlights, from new podcasts to Polaris updates, all in one place.