Hello, internet friends! Welcome to my website.

My name is Izzy Lapidus and I am a recent graduate of Barnard College of Columbia University where I studied Computing, Design, and Pedagogy—a major I created. I graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude in Spring 2024. I worked in Barnard's Office of Community Engagement and Inclusion, Office of Admissions, Athena Center for Leadership, and had many experiences in Barnard's Center for Engaged Pedagogy, Design Center, and Computational Science Center.

During my time at Barnard, I devoted myself to exploring my interests in their fullest capacity. Rather than pursue an already created major, I opted to create my own. The entire process took me 2 and a a months and was prompted by an unrelenting feeling of: there is no major that best meets my needs and wants, creating my own is the best path forward. Through my studies, I developed an understanding of the foundations of this country’s–and particularly New York City’s—education system, critical pedagogies, praxis, and explored different educational philosophies such as Montessori and Reggio. I read authors such as bell hooks and Paulo Freire and did many multi-media projects, my favorite of which unpacked the experiences in my classmates’ K-12 math classes. That one was called “Math Education Sucks!” In many of my classes, I developed projects that enabled me to examine computer science, STEM, and STEAM education from a critical perspective, recognizing that STEM classroom settings are often locations where other social and economic inequities come into light. Questions I often considered included: Who does and who does not have access to these classrooms? Whose needs are being met and whose are being overlooked? How can we create classrooms that celebrate students' unique idenities and lived experiences and teach children agency and interconnectedness as they explore their interests? What is the world that we are ultimately trying to build, and how do we best model it in our classroom?

My major led me abroad to the home of play, LEGO, and outdoors education—Denmark! For five months, I studied in Copenhagen in a Child Development and Education program hosted by DIS. Throughout the semester, I spent 45 hours at a local elementary school where I designed and taught my own computer science curriculum to a class of seven-year-olds each week, curating a mix of unplugged and Scratch-based activities. I also took a Children With Special Needs course where I worked on a project developing a 5-piece framework for creating an inclusive computer science education environment, and additionally studied Danish langauge and culture. Du snakker dansk? Jeg snakker lidt dansk!

I just returned from my third summer serving as a staff member at my childhood sleepaway camp, Shire Village Camp—and my 10th summer if you include all my years as a camper! This tiny camp is nestled in the hills of the beautiful Berkshire mountains and every summer offers children an opportunity to be their most unique selves. Kids engage in a variety of silly and whimiscal activites in the woods, from making traveling playdough people, to creating their own songs, dances, and skits, and going on multiple miles long hikes in the seemingly never-ending forest. This summer, I was a bunk counselor for my 5th and 6th bunks and also served as a supervisor for other counselors in my role as a group counselor. Each week, I had meetings with my supervisees and other members of the Leadership Team. Next summer, I will be returning for my 4th year on staff!

As an aspiring educator, I intend to use the 2024-2025 school year to gain more experience in early childhood and elementary classrooms before pursuing my masters in Education in Fall 2025. I am especially interested in and inspired by Montessori and Reggio inspired early education classrooms and think that their beautiful designs offer an ideal setting for children to first experience the world. I believe that the best educators are ones who see, respect, and honor children in their full humanity, instill values of social justice, belonging, and community, are actively anti-racist and anti-bias and teach children how they can be, too, expose children to a variety of inspiring figures from different racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds, teach children honest history and critical thinking skills, and offer curriculum that is flexible to the wants and desires of students in the room. I believe that classrooms should be silly, fun, playful, and whimsical (can you tell I've been inspired by my experiences in Denmark and at camp?) and that students should come to school every day excited to be there!

One day, I hope to start my own school. To become an educator is the greatest honor, and I look forward to the day I can wear this identity with pride. Children are our future, and we need more educators who are committed to collaborating with their students to build a more equitable, more just world, one that is centered in love, care, empathy, interconnectedness, joy, liberation, and the profound privilege of being alive. 

To reach me, please send me an email at izzylapidus at gmail dot com.