By Katie Kreis ’19

Ian Coon ’20 discovered a passion for education at a young age, and encouragement from his teacher, Russ Goerend ’05, has led him to advocate for his fellow students ever since.

Though he’s only 20 years old, Coon already has launched a nonprofit that gives students a voice in their education and is involved with an education-focused national nonprofit run by students, for students. Though much of his work started in high school—he founded the Iowa Student Learning Institute (IowaSLI) during his first year at Waukee High School—his interest was piqued in sixth grade when Goerend, his language arts teacher in Waukee, used blogging instead of essay writing to inspire his students.

“Ian was really into the idea of finding an authentic audience. The next fall, when he was in seventh grade, I invited him to present at a conference. They always have a student showcase, but I wanted him to present at one of the sessions that the teachers and administrators attend,” Goerend said. “Later, Ian talked a lot about how the gift of being given a stage affected him a lot and how a teacher recognizing that what he was saying was important and how other adults could learn from him was important.”

Coon continues to seek opportunities to learn, teach others, and network with those who share his passions. Oftentimes, that means attending conferences and events where he is the only student in a room full of educators and policy makers. He was encouraged during these events to do something bigger and get more students involved, a seed that turned into the Iowa Student Learning Institute.

The organization provides opportunities for high school students to network with their peers and discover the tools they need to make a difference in their schools. The students work year-round to “revolutionize Iowa’s approach to K-12 education” through hosting the annual RISE Student Leadership conference and the Student Voice Rally at the Iowa State Capitol. The organization also helps students start Power of Voice (POV) chapters in their schools. The POV teams use “the power of student voice to advocate for a specific cause,” which currently is student representation on local school boards.

“I like the education field because I think the other topics I’m passionate about, like civil rights and anything that screams social justice, come back to education and awareness at a root level,” Coon said.

In high school, Coon was part of the Waukee Aspiring Professional Experience (APEX), an experiential learning program that connects students with businesses and the community to ensure students have real-world experiences in high school. Through Waukee APEX, Coon made connections with community leaders and area teachers and was given the flexibility to grow and expand the nonprofit.

Because of these experiences and the work of his mentors, Coon knew exactly what he wanted from his education.

“That was part of why I chose Wartburg—it isn’t a traditional higher-education model. There are not 2,000-person lecture halls like you’d see at a larger university. It is all relationship-driven.”

At Wartburg, Coon is studying public relations, involved in Student Senate, and serves in leadership roles with several student-led organizations, a triad of learning opportunities that allow him to apply what he learns in the classroom in his real life almost immediately.

“It’s a really great synergy that I’ve been able to set up with learning. Since everything is very experience-based in the journalism and communication department at Wartburg, I’m able to take that to the next level of real-world experience while still in a college setting. I’m learning so many things that I can easily scale to larger organizations, which is a really cool thing. What works at our 1,600-person college can work in the Cedar Valley, in Des Moines, and even nationally.”

Outside of Wartburg, Coon is involved with Student Voice, a national nonprofit similar to IowaSLI. As the organization’s director of communication, Coon frequently travels around the United States attending conferences and learning more about how to engage students and expand the nonprofit’s reach. Recently, he attended the Youth Activation Summit at Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, California.

“I’ve been able to take everything we’ve learned about state-level advocacy to a national scale and help build out all sorts of brands, develop digital campaigns, and handle internal relations. It allows me to travel to national conferences to share our work, philosophies, and ideas and meet with educators outside of Iowa.”

Though Coon and the organizations he aligns himself with have made some giant leaps, they did face early opposition, often because of his age.

“There were a lot of times when adults didn’t necessarily like that I was outspoken. That was difficult to overcome, that not everyone will believe in you and that pushing the system means not everyone will be a fan of your work. I’ve learned that it’s OK, and it usually means you’re doing something right,” he said.

For now, Coon’s main focus is to build relationships and be a college student.

“I spent a lot of time last year almost re-learning how to develop relationships. It’s taken time and energy to be more at peace with myself so that I can be at peace with everyone else. At Wartburg there hasn’t been so much noise or clutter in my life, and I feel more focused,” he said. “I find it so odd that I had to come to a college smaller than my high school to be surrounded by new ideas and new types of people. I’ve had so many eye-opening experiences at this magical little place. There’s something really special about how Wartburg facilitates and fosters those relationships with people you might not have been familiar with before.”

Looking to the future, Coon expects to continue his work to provide Iowa and subsequently the nation with a stronger education system, including bridging the divide between Iowa’s urban and rural education systems.

“Having an equitable education would solve a lot of problems of lacking opportunities,” he said. “I don’t want to be in a job that I’m at just to earn money. I really think I’ll be doing what I love, and I hope that all these experiences I’ve had early on will help get to that.”