🎙 PORTRAIT OF A LEARNER | The Learner Came First

Guest: Dr. Matt Doyle + Dr. Gary Storts

Host: Arvin Ross + Dr. Michelle Ament

Presented by: The Human Intelligence Movement

🔍Episode Summary:

Two districts, two completely different contexts, one shared belief: the knowledge age is over, and the intelligence age demands more from everyone.Dr. Matt Doyle, Superintendent of Vista Unified School District in North San Diego County, spent a year building a learner portrait with more than 500 voices, the majority of them students. Dr. Gary Storts, Superintendent of Eureka City Schools in Humboldt County, leaned into a community that has had to reinvent itself more than once, and built a portrait around resilience for exactly that reason. Roman Stearns of Scaling Student Success joins to name what these two very different districts have in common, and what it cost them to get here without state support.This conversation gets into what happened when Vista's students called the adults' bluff and demanded a portrait for grown-ups, too, how Eureka uses student portfolio defenses at every grade transition to have kids make the case for who they're becoming, and why Roman believes both districts are among the furthest along in California toward a truly competency-based system.Portrait of a Learner is a special 4-part series from Unscripted Intelligence and Scaling Student Success, spotlighting California superintendents leading the shift to whole-child education.

🎙️About the Hosts:Michelle Ament and Arvin Ross come from different generations, experiences, and disciplines—but their unlikely partnership is built on mutual curiosity, deep listening, and a shared belief in the power of human connection. Their conversations are real, unscripted, and often challenging—in all the right ways.

Dr. Michelle Ament Co-President of the Human Intelligence Movement & Chief Academic Officer at ProSolve.

Arvin Ross Co-Founder of ProSovle, educator, speaker, and adaptability enthusiast.

Jena Crossland ⁠ Production Manager for Unscripted Intelligence and Director of Operations + Marketing for the Human Intelligence Movement.

🔗Join the Movement:Website: ⁠Humanintelligencemovement.orgEmail: ⁠members@hi4ai.org⁠Follow ⁠@HumanIntelligenceMovement⁠ on LinkedIn for live shows and episode updates