Rudrojas Kunvar built Evion, an AI farm tool, while in high school.
Rudrojas Kunvar
Rudrojas Kunvar, 16, built Evion, an AI tool that helps farmers analyze crop health.
The tool collects aerial crop data from drone-captured images.
Kunvar created Evion to make that data more accessible to small and midsize farms.
While meeting with a venture capitalist last year, 16-year-old Rudrojas Kunvar received an offer that would excite even the most nonchalant teens: accept $300,000 to drop out of high school and run his AI startup full-time.
“It was definitely a rough couple of weeks of contemplating,” Kunvar, who lives in Germantown, Maryland, told Business Insider. “That’s a lot of money.”
Kunvar had spent the summer before building Evion, a free AI crop-analysis tool that uses images taken by basic camera drones that farmers can purchase themselves.
The AI model analyzes images and generates a crop health map that farmers can integrate into their existing platforms or access via a dashboard. Green means healthy, while red means unhealthy.
Evion is an AI crop analysis tool.
Evion
“Farmers can use that to predict the future of their crops,” Kunvar said. “You can see what areas need more water or fertilizer, rather than just spraying everywhere.”
Like construction and defense, drones are reshaping America’s agriculture industry. There were about 5,500 agricultural drones registered with the Federal Aviation Administration in 2025, up from about 1,000 in 2024, according to Michigan State University researchers.
Kunvar said Evion can help farmers save money because the targeted data can eliminate crop health uncertainty, meaning they’ll be less likely to waste water or fertilizer.
Kunvar says Evion is positioned as an alternative to companies that market pricey agricultural drone products or services.Instead, farmers can buy cheap camera drones, take their own photos, and upload the information themselves.
“It’s meant to be a more affordable plan for these low to mid-scale farms,” Kunvar.
After building Evion, Kunvar partnered with Jacob Lee, who has experience creating tech tools, to expand its reach. Kunvar launched the initial pilot in the fall.
Ultimately, Kunvar declined the $300,000 drop-out offer, saying he wanted to ensure his product remained accessible and didn’t get wrapped up in chasing profits.
It all started with a question
The idea behind Evion came during Kunvar’s sophomore year at Poolesville High School in Montgomery County while attendinga community festival. One-third of Montgomery County is designated as an Agricultural Reserve, or protected local land meant to preserve rural space.
“I asked a farmer about how they’re able to tell when a disease is coming or what slight discoloration means,” Kunvar said. “Essentially, he said he’s guessing. I spoke to a few other farmers, and I realized there was a common thread among all of their responses.”
Kunvar, who said he’s had a lifelong love for technology, was surprised.
“We’ve had a lot of AI advancements in various verticals and various industries,” he said. “Why isn’t there much happening for agriculture?”
Initially, Kunvar wanted to make his own fleet of fully autonomous drones that could capture the data, but went a different direction after talking with mentors and crunching the numbers. Instead, he studied drones and pinpointed what’s driving their cost: the multispectral camera.
“The camera was the leading cost. I wondered, ‘What if there’s a way to get similar data without needing this camera? What if I could use a simple camera?'” Kunvar said.
He pointed toward Tesla and its autonomous vehicles as proof it work. Unlike Waymo and other companies that use lidar, Tesla relies on cameras.
After setting up the logistics and AI model, the founders sought clients by sending cold emails and LinkedIn messages. They found better luck, however, partnering with agriculture-oriented nonprofits and organizations to reach farmers.
Now, the technology is helping farmers in North America, Southeast Asia, and India.
As for his future plans, Kunvar wants to continue growing Evion while exploring opportunities in different fields, including AI infrastructure.
“There’s so much ambiguity in entrepreneurship, especially in startups, but I’ve learned there’s beauty in ambiguity,” Kunvar said. “There’s been times where nothing’s working out, and then you have the tiniest win, and it’s like, ‘wow, maybe I can do this.'”
California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that his office reached a settlement with the El Monte Union High School District.
The settlement follows what Bonta described as years of “mishandling” sexual harassment, assault, and abuse complaints from students.
In 2023, Business Insider published an extensive investigation into allegations of misconductat Rosemead High, a school in the district.
The state opened an investigation into the district in 2024. It examined conduct from 2018 through fall 2025 and reviewed more than 88,000 documents and nearly 200,000 emails. Investigators also interviewed 26 administrators, along with staff, former students, and other witnesses.
Speaking at a press conference in Los Angeles County, Bonta said that, under the settlement, the California Department of Justice and the school district will implement a four-year corrective plan that would permanently enjoin the district from violating state and federal laws governing sexual misconduct in schools.
Every time Katherine publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
Stay connected to Katherine and get more of their work as it publishes.
The El Monte Union High School District serves roughly 9,500 students across eight campuses.
“Every child deserves to learn and grow in a safe and supportive school environment,” the attorney general said in a statement on Friday. “Today’s settlement marks a beginning, not an end.”
“I am hopeful that the District will move swiftly to implement the reforms required by this settlement, and my office will be monitoring closely to ensure its compliance,” Bonta added.
As part of the settlement, the district must appoint a state DOJ-approved compliance coordinator, roll out a centralized electronic complaint system, and expand access to education and mental health services for those who report misconduct. Officials will also be required to maintain a list of substitute teachers barred from reappointment following sustained findings of sexual harassment.
“At El Monte Union High School District, student safety and well-being remain our highest priorities,” El Monte Union High School Superintendent Edward Zuniga said in a statement included in Bonta’s press release.
“This agreement reflects our continued commitment to strengthening systems that support safe, inclusive, and respectful learning environments. Through enhanced protocols, increased transparency, and expanded training for staff, students, and families, we are reinforcing our responsibility to protect every student and ensure they feel supported, valued, and ready to learn.”
My high school son, Jack, was overwhelmed with college anxiety — SAT prep, AP classes, acceptance rates, and all the pressure that comes with being a New York student.
It was hard to quiet the noise, so I decided to make a radical — and unconventional decision: I pulled him out of school and took him to Antarctica for three weeks over winter break.
Everyone told me it was a terrible idea, but I thought it was exactly what he needed.
We’ve been traveling since he was a baby
Jack and I have been traveling together since he was 3 months old. I’m a huge traveler, and when I had my first son, I decided to take him along for the ride.
In elementary school, I didn’t think twice about pulling him out in order to explore the world (Costa Rica, Mexico, Nevis, Finland). Against the judgment of some parents (and some school officials), I thought it was important to expose him to travel — different cultures, different ways of doing things, different ways of thinking. He quickly became my favorite travel companion, and I often thought travel Jack was the best version of himself.
Every time Judy publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
Stay connected to Judy and get more of their work as it publishes.
The author and her son have been traveling together since he was a baby.
Courtesy of the author
It became more difficult to pull him out in middle school (but I still did — he missed eighth-grade graduation — to go on a trip to Sri Lanka). Once he entered high school (where, according to him, grades matter), it became really difficult to make up the work if I pulled him out.
Then came junior year and all the stress that comes with college prep settled upon us. Not only was he balancing a bunch of AP classes, but he was also studying for the SAT and doing all the college prep work. Basically, he (and therefore I) became slightly unhinged.
I booked a 3-week cruise to Antarctica
So when I floated the idea of going on a trip — just the two of us — Jack was instantly in, but I got tons of pushback from everyone else. Junior year is the most important year for college prep; he’s in AP classes, and it’s super hard to make up the work. Did I have my priorities straight? Now is the time to lock in, not travel.
But I ignored the noise and booked us on a three-week cruise to Antarctica — he had two weeks off for the holiday break and would miss one week of school. I had him talk to all his teachers about missed work and make-up, and, surprisingly, while a lot of parents thought I was nuts, the teachers were supportive of this once-in-a-lifetime trip.
The author says people told her not to take her son out of school as he was preparing to apply for college.
Courtesy of the author
And off we went on a three-week trip to Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falkland Islands. I purposefully chose this cruise itinerary because it included South Georgia, which everyone says is a must if going to the white continent. It definitely made the trip long (by a week), but it turned out South Georgia was both Jack and my favorite part of the cruise (we saw thousands of king penguins in their beautiful orange plumage, alongside their baby chicks, which looked like they were wearing lush fur coats).
His perspective started to shift during the trip
Every day was a different adventure: hiking up snow-capped peaks; kayaking among icebergs looking for whales and seals; getting face-to-face with several types of penguins (we quickly learned the difference between rockhopper, macaroni, gentoo, Adelie, and chinstrap varieties).
Far from GPAs and college chatter, surrounded instead by penguins, elephant seals, and endless ice, Jack’s perspective started to shift. College stopped feeling like the entire world — and started looking like just one chapter.
One night we had dinner with Rich Pagen a naturalist and Kristen Wornson the Young Explorers guide. When Jack asked them how they knew what they wanted to do with their lives, they shared their experience of trying to find the right college and then moving into different career circles. It was great for Jack to hear that their path wasn’t always straightforward, but they ultimately found jobs they loved.
For Jack to see people loving their jobs — and to realize that no one thought they’d end up where they did, leading expeditions in Antarctica — was a great wake-up call.
Also, because this was the family holiday cruise, several other families with teens were on board. It was great for Jack to get out of his comfort zone and talk to teens from all over the world. One was taking a gap year before college, and it really got him realizing that there are so many paths out there.
The trip brought us closer together
The trip also brought Jack and me closer together; away from the distractions of everyday life, we connected in a way that’s rare during the teenage years.
On this trip, Jack and I always did the excursions together, and we ate dinner together every night. But on sea days, I attended every lecture, and he opted to go to the gym or sleep. By giving each other space, we really enjoyed the time we did spend together. I didn’t nag him, and he, in turn, didn’t give me an attitude.
When my son was still under 5, I worked at the local library. In my free time, my son was basically my best buddy. My supervisor at the time had teenagers, so she was in a different parenting stage than I was.
I remember her saying that the secret to keeping her kids close was to drive them around as much as possible. This kept her kids talking to her and enabled her to maintain close relationships with them.
She was so right with her advice.
My son is now a tween
My son just turned 12, and the shift from boy to teenager seems to have happened overnight. He is becoming more independent and less talkative — with me, but not his social circle.
I know it’s the natural order of things for him to spread his wings and to push back a bit against me. But sometimes I just really miss my best buddy and all the fun we had spending time together when he was little. Now, when he’s home from school, he’s often in his room talking on the phone with his friends or playing games online with them.
Every time Ashley publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
Stay connected to Ashley and get more of their work as it publishes.
I think my former boss’s wisdom stuck with me, because the idea of my son growing up and not wanting to talk to me scared me. I’ve come to realize that driving my son around whenever I get the chance is basically priceless. Right now, drives with him are primarily to and from school, but during football or basketball seasons, all of the practices and games really add up. This year, sixth grade has really felt like a turning point, because I’ve noticed an increase in invites to parties, hangouts, and sleepovers.
I realize that as he gets older, these social outings will only increase. And then one day, when he’s closer to age 16, he’ll likely have a part-time job to add to his schedule. As long as he doesn’t have a car, I know I’ll be his main source of transportation. Instead of dreading, I know these are actually the hidden opportunities, like diamonds in the rough, to remain connected to him as he grows up.
It’s best to allow our conversations to flow naturally
I never try to force a topic on him, because I have found that it’s not the best timing for discipline-based or serious talks. I’m sure he feels trapped, so he shuts down, and it ruins the safe space I’m trying to develop out of our car rides. Allowing the conversation to flow organically is when he’ll surprise me and ask me something random or open up about something that’s been bothering him.
Even if he doesn’t open up every time, I know I’m giving him the space to do so. Often, after a few minutes of being stuck in the car together, one of us will start talking about something. I think having the music on and sightseeing on our way everywhere gives our brains distractions and talking points. It feels like the car is sometimes the white flag zone, where we stop arguing and start talking again.
While he’s mostly reserved, there are other times when he’s more open and chatty, and I just let him vent and do my best to listen. It’s likely therapeutic to have someone who will just listen to him at his age, but it might also be easier for him to open up to me side-by-side instead of face-to-face. Knowing there’s an endpoint, such as knowing we’ll be at his school in five minutes, likely helps too.
I hope I’m also sending him the message that I won’t stop showing up
Willingly taking him everywhere he needs to go daily, I think, is communicating to him that I’m not going to stop showing up for him. That no matter how tense things may be at times between us, I’m going to continue to be there for all of it.
I think it reassures him that I’m not going to give up on my job as his mom, even when things get tough. I’ll be sitting there in silence if that’s what he needs, but the message I hope to send him is: I’m still here.
Do you remember what you were doing on this day 20 years ago? If you were an avid Disney Channel viewer, chances are, the answer is living and breathing “High School Musical.”
In January 2006, a direct-to-TV movie musical starring a cast of largely unknown teenagers set a single-night audience record on the Disney Channel. It was such a hit that the house of mouse promptly doubled down with repeat screenings, sing-along versions, piles of merchandise, and a live concert tour that packed arenas across the country. By the time the year was out, the soundtrack had become the top-selling album of 2006.
No one could have known that a Disney Channel Original Movie would eventually become a hit trilogy and multibillion-dollar franchise, but director Kenny Ortega was never in the business of half-heartedness. He’d already made a name for himself as a choreographer (“Dirty Dancing,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Madonna’s “Material Girl”) and a director (“Newsies,” “Hocus Pocus”). He’d signed on to choreograph and direct “High School Musical” because he recognized his younger self in the story — but also because he saw potential for an ambitious production, complete with original songs and colorful dance sequences.
Ortega successfully won support from Disney Channel executives to turn the original script into a “full-on musical,” which, at the time, was not a popular format for the network.
“The musical was dead, according to the industry,” Ortega told Business Insider. “The budget came in, and I was like, how the heck am I going to be able to do this?”
Every time Callie publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
Stay connected to Callie and get more of their work as it publishes.
With only about a month to shoot and a few million dollars to spend, it was crucial to ensure that each piece to the puzzle fit perfectly.
“We made every dollar stretch and every minute mean something,” Ortega said. “We didn’t waste any time. Nothing ended up on the cutting room floor.”
Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Lucas Grabeel, Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, and Monique Coleman on the set of “The Today Show” on March 30, 2006.
Jemal Countess/Getty Images
Ortega and his team eventually landed on Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens to play Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, a basketball star and a whiz kid who discover an unlikely love for theater. The high schoolers resolve to follow their dreams and, of course, fall in love in the process. Offscreen, Efron and Hudgens followed suit, dating for several years.
As “High School Musical” celebrates its 20th anniversary this week, Business Insider spoke with Ortega about the movie’s key casting decisions, the actors’ real-life relationships, and the potential for another sequel.
The sibling dynamic between Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel led Ortega to make their characters siblings
Lucas Grabeel and Ashley Tisdale as Ryan and Sharpay in “High School Musical.”
Disney
Is it true that you wanted to run the auditions for “High School Musical” like Broadway auditions?
I did. And I got in a little trouble for that in the beginning.
I remember Judy Taylor, who I adore, who was head of casting at Disney Channel for many, many years, came to me during our big final testing. We had about 25 and 30 kids for the finals. And then we narrowed it down to about 18. And I had them in the room for about six hours — they were playing basketball, they were dancing, they were singing, they were improvising. I was flipping them around and switching them around and looking at the chemistry that was in the room and looking at the promise that was in front of me.
The next day, Judy came back and said, “The agents are flipping out. They want to know what the heck’s going on over here. These kids have other auditions, other people to meet, and you’re holding them ransom.”
But then the next day, Judy came back to me and said that Zac Efron’s agent called her and said, “Zac said it’s the best audition he’s ever been to.” And that even if he didn’t get the part, it was worth being a part of the auditioning.
It was such fun. The kids in that room with me were having an absolute ball. I don’t think they’d ever been put through any kind of an audition like that, being West Coast actors and not East Coast theater actors. I put them through the mill.
Were any of the main cast members almost passed over because there were concerns about their stamina, or their singing and dancing abilities?
There were questions. I mean, I think everybody saw the chemistry between Zac and Vanessa from the very, very beginning and knew that it was palpable and that that was going to be hard to top, but there were also concerns about whether they could handle the responsibility. They were young. Vanessa was 15, Zac was 16, and we were putting them in a full-on musical that they had to carry.
Fortunately, we also had the support of Ashley Tisdale and all the other brilliant [actors], Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel and Monique Coleman. And beyond that, with people like Alyson Reed and Bart Johnson. And so we had them surrounded with a lot of great energy and intelligence, and we did it.
But no, I don’t think anyone really was averse to any of the choices that we made. It was hard for me to get Ashley because she was already a big star for Disney Channel, and I think they were priming her for her own movie. And I was like, “Please!” I was crazy in love with what I knew she could do with this role, and she was delicious to work with.
Ashley Tisdale as Sharpay in “High School Musical.”
Disney
I can’t imagine anyone else playing Sharpay.
Honestly, every day she brought something to the party, to the game. There were days where she would come in and she would say to me, “Don’t say anything! Don’t say anything! Can I show you something?” She was just really an improvisational genius, and she really had her arms wrapped around Sharpay, and we had the most fun developing that role together and working with [screenwriter] Peter Barsocchini, of course.
You know, in the beginning, Ryan and Sharpay weren’t brother and sister. They weren’t twins. They were just two characters in the high school that were both in the theater department. But the chemistry that they had together in the auditions, I said, “I think we should make them twins.” I said, “They’ve got something here that I think we could have a heck of a lot of fun with.” And everybody agreed, and we moved forward with that idea.
This is an interesting point, because Ryan and Sharpay are auditioning to play a couple in the musical, are they not?
Yes. [Laughs.] We didn’t change that. I don’t think we thought it through. I think we were a little busy.
Did any of the actors butt heads behind the scenes?
No. I mean, there was some really fun rapport between Lucas and Ashley that they incorporated into their work.
There was this wonderful kind of tug of war between the two of them. And then when the lights came on, and the cameras were rolling, it was just like they were onstage. They put it on.
We felt that. We saw that. We saw them bickering or challenging one another, and we just found it to be really great. And I didn’t have to ask them to be anything. All I had to do was just turn on the camera and get out of the way.
I was there to guide and direct and suggest and mold, but these kids brought a lot. They really did that. They studied, they cared. Day one, Zac said, “Don’t worry about time. Don’t worry about working us, Kenny. We all committed to do this. Let’s make it worth something. Let’s make this worth us all being here.”
Zac was initially really helpful in me sort of raising the bar on what I could expect from these young people. Because before that, other than “Newsies,” I hadn’t been really experienced in working with kids that young.
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens lobbied for their characters to kiss in the first movie
“High School Musical” won outstanding children’s program at the 2006 Emmys.
Mathew Imaging/FilmMagic for Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
Was there any concern about Zac and Vanessa potentially breaking up during the trilogy?
Well, I think you quietly have concern because you know that that could impact a kind of energy and comfort. And especially with younger kids, you want to make sure that it doesn’t change the sort of climate and ease that we walk into every day. But it didn’t weigh heavily on me. They were all friendly. They all got along. They all enjoyed each other’s company. There was no one that was over here and everybody over here. They really all enjoyed each other’s company. They were a tight-knit group of kids all through it. They were serving of one another, helpful to one another. And I don’t remember that weighing on me.
Certainly, no one said, “Hey, be careful.” No one really brought it up. And I wasn’t aware that they even had a kind of romance, a kind of care for one another in that capacity, until almost the end of the first movie. And I thought it was so silly that I didn’t pick up on it, but I was a little busy.
Was there a version of the movie in which Troy and Gabriella do kiss at the end?
I don’t think at the end of one, no. I don’t think we wanted that. And not because we knew that there would be a two. I just think that we felt that that was something that we could all hope and wish for, but that it wasn’t time for it.
I think Zac and Vanessa wanted it, if I’m not mistaken. I think both of them were like, “We could do a little kiss. I think that it would end the movie in a really lovely place.” And we said, “You already have. You’ve already ended the movie in a really, really lovely place. There’s all kinds of promise about where these two kids are going.”
Troy Bolton’s voice was originally a mix of Zac Efron’s and Drew Seeley’s, but Efron did all his own singing for the sequels
Zac Efron as Troy in “High School Musical.”
Disney
Zac has gone on to do other musicals like “Hairspray” and “The Greatest Showman,” which is maybe a surprise, given that he didn’t do all his vocals in the first movie.
He did part of it. A lot of people don’t know that. A lot of people think that he was lip-syncing the whole movie. He wasn’t.
Drew [Seeley] did an incredible job. Drew’s an amazing composer and lyricist and performer and actor and singer, and he helped us. But because the music for one was written before we had Zac, the music wasn’t written for Zac. And so there was some of the music there that was just out of his range. But he did a lot of it. And then Drew filled in some of the higher-register parts. But “High School Musical 2” and three is all Zac.
Whose decision was that? Was it Zac coming to you, saying, “I want to do the singing now,” or was it your call?
We all wanted him to do it because we all wanted everybody to be doing their own work. And it was hard for him. It was a challenge, but God bless him, he accepted the role, and he went along with us, and he sang all through all those scenes where you see him, he’s singing along with the track.
When we knew that we were going to make a second, it was on everybody’s plate. We’re going to write the songs now, knowing Zac’s voice, knowing Zac’s range and register, so he can deliver all the music for the next movie.
Ortega would sign on to do a fourth ‘High School Musical’ if the cast and crew were all in this together
The cast of “High School Musical” performs “We’re All in This Together.”
Disney
In your mind, would Troy and Gabriella have made it as a couple? Twenty years later, are they still together?
Well, that would be unfair of me. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of Peter Barsocchini being able to write a fourth movie, if that’s the plan. So I wouldn’t want to throw anything out there, because as a director, I would want to be open to either way, whether they stayed together or whether they didn’t stay together, that if I was fortunate enough to be invited to come back and do it again and everyone wanted to, that I would be open to looking at whatever Peter wanted to put in front of us as what he would think the future brought for those characters.
I think all of us hope that they would be together, but maybe not necessarily as a couple, maybe just connected in some kind of wonderful, soulful, spiritual way. Friends, even. Who knows? We’ll see. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but it’s been talked about.
So you’re not connected to a fourth movie right now?
No, no, I’m not. No one has reached out to me and said, “We’re doing it.” But I know that the fans have been asking, could we do some kind of coming back together, some kind of a reunion show? And hey, I’d just be happy with a nice dinner with everybody present and with no rush to get out after dessert.
But for the fans, I hope we could do something. I think that would be lovely. They’re deserving. They’ve been amazing. They’ve changed all of our lives.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Matt Damon, 55, says one diet change left him lighter than he has been in years.
During an appearance on Wednesday’s episode of the “New Heights” podcast, Damon spoke about how he prepared for his latest role in “The Odyssey.”
“I was in really good shape. I lost a lot of weight. He said he wanted me like lean but strong. It’s a weird thing,” Damon told hosts Jason and Travis Kelce, referring to the film’s director, Christopher Nolan.
To achieve that physique, Damon said he cut one thing out of his diet.
“I literally, just because of this other thing I did with my doctor, stopped eating gluten,” Damon said. “I used to walk around between 185 and 200. I did that whole movie at 167. And I haven’t been that light since high school. So it was a lot of training and a really strict diet.”
Every time Amanda publishes a story, you’ll get an alert straight to your inbox!
Stay connected to Amanda and get more of their work as it publishes.
The actor said he works with a trainer, and compared the physical preparation to how the Kelce siblings would gear up for a football season, with training becoming part of his daily routine.
“You know, it’s like just part of your day. It’s part of your job, right? And it’s like yeah, you get really routinized about it and really kind of build your day around all that stuff,” Damon said.
The actor added that he hasn’t had gluten since. “I’m done. I’m done. I’m gluten-free everything,” Damon said.
A gluten-free diet eliminates gluten, a protein found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye. It is often adopted for medical or digestive reasons, including to manage symptoms of celiac disease.
For most people, gluten isn’t necessarily harmful.
“Evidence suggests that, for general health, the emphasis should be on a whole, minimally processed, plant-based diet, which can include gluten-containing grains,” Grace Fjeldberg, a registered dietician with the Mayo Clinic Health System, told Business Insider in 2021.
Despite its popularity, a gluten-free diet doesn’t necessarily result in weight loss and isn’t a universal approach to better health.
Damon is no stranger to getting into peak shape for a role.
In a 2016 BBC interview, Damon said that getting back into shape for his return to the Bourne franchise was “brutal,” after his last appearance in 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum.”
“For the first Bourne movie I was 29 and I thought that was hard work getting into shape,” Damon said.
“Now I’m 45 and it’s just brutal. We shot this bare-knuckle fighting scene on my 45th birthday and it was a lot of work to get there,” he added.
In 2019, my 5-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were excited to start their first year of public school. But like millions of students in March of 2020, they never got to finish the school year.
The COVID pandemic closed the classrooms, forcing my husband and me to rethink how we wanted to handle our children’s education. An outdoor learning school at The Learning Tree, a local day care, became our solution.
The unique education exceeded our expectations in every way.
Why we chose an outdoor learning school
The pandemic made us nervous to send our kids back to school after summer break. We were told that if someone in their class contracted COVID, the entire class would shut down for two weeks. This wasn’t feasible for us as parents with full-time jobs, plus it would disrupt the learning experience for our kids.
That summer, the day care our kids attended prior to starting school announced a new opportunity: a K/1 program focused on interactive, accelerated education. It promised small class sizes (roughly 12 students per class), project-based and student-led learning, and academics balanced with outdoor activities and healthy habits.
Despite the $125 weekly tuition fee per child, we were sold on smaller classes, less exposure to others, and the included after-school care.
We enrolled our kids for the 2020-2021 school year: our daughter in kindergarten and our son in first grade. When the school added second grade the following year and then third grade the year after, we stayed.
We missed out on traditional opportunities, but gained so much more
We didn’t plan on sending our kids to a private program for most of their elementary school years. But after comparing what public school offered that The Learning Tree didn’t, and vice versa, the outdoor learning school was a no-brainer.
The author’s kids loved their outdoor school.
Courtesy of Alli Hill
At The Learning Tree, there was no library, computer lab, or even a cafeteria. They didn’t have art, music, or gym classes. The playground was small, and there was no option for gifted testing.
However, they did have an in-ground swimming pool, and swimming was built into the curriculum during warm months. A mile-long nature trail and morning fitness exercises replaced the gym. Students helped to build gardens and grow food, which made its way into their lunches. Most notably, screen time was minimal — almost nonexistent.
There was also more parental involvement. We went kayaking on the river as part of a history lesson, and we always had special celebrations for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Instead of reading math word problems, they acted them out in real time with things like farmers’ markets and food prep. Projects, not worksheets, were a focal point for each grade. And since students played a role in their own education and pacing, there was no need for a separate “gifted” curriculum.
Transitioning back to the ‘real world’ was a tough lesson
The original K/1 program added a new grade each year, up to fifth grade. However, we pulled our children out when they started fourth grade to give them time to transition back into public education before middle school. Where we live, fifth grade is at the middle school, and we felt like jumping from outdoor learning to a public middle school would be too stressful.
Both of our kids already had lots of friends in public school, so it wasn’t completely unfamiliar to them. Still, it was challenging.
They went from spending most of the day outside to getting only 20 minutes of recess. Classes were much larger, so they didn’t have the opportunity to learn at their own pace. They had more rules and a more rigid structure to follow. There was more sitting and busywork than they were used to.
They missed the kindness and genuine interest of their teachers at their old school. They also lacked the opportunities to guide their own education and pursue their own interests in the classroom.
While we loved our time at the outdoor learning school, all good things must end. Our kids gained a solid foundation of work ethic, self-discovery, and leadership that continues to help them in and out of the classroom, and we’d do it again in a heartbeat — pandemic or no pandemic.
An Arizona pilot school has stopped Cathay Pacific trainees from solo flights after several incidents that went unreported, Bloomberg first reported.
Cathay Pacific, the Hong Kong flag carrier, is one of the world’s best airlines — one of just 10 globally to be ranked five stars by Skytrax.
In an internal memo, the AeroGuard Flight Training Center in Phoenix said it saw “an alarming increase in solo incidents during cadet training,” per Bloomberg.
It added that the incidents involved a wingtip colliding with a fixed object, a “bounced landing” leading to a “substantial” propellor strike, and a complete runway excursion.
“While each situation was unique, in each case the concern was the same — required consultation did not occur,” the memo reportedly said.
Bloomberg also reported that the students didn’t properly report the damage in two of the three incidents.
In a statement shared with Business Insider, Cathay Pacific acknowledged the events and added, “We are taking them seriously.”
“These incidents involve our sponsored students, who will become our employees upon successful graduation from the training course,” it said.
“They will then need to undergo additional structured training before being assigned any flying duty.”
A source familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the decision would affect around 150 of the 250 to 300 Cathay cadets training at the school.
The decision hinders Cathay’s ongoing plans to increase its number of pilots after the pandemic, when the airline instituted steep pay cuts.
Several pilots quit during that time, with some telling Reuters that strict COVID measures in Hong Kong were affecting their mental health.
In the statement, Cathay Pacific said, “Safety guides every decision we make, and we fully support the decision of the training school.”
“We will continue to prioritize the safety and well-being of our cadet pilots and crew members, and we remain dedicated to upholding the highest standards in our training programs,” it added.
