David S. Gran
InThinking Site Author • Apple Distinguished Educator • National Board Certified Teacher
Currently based in Santiago, Chile | Empowering students at the intersection of storytelling, education, and technology.
WHO I AM
FROM IMAGINATION TO IMPACT
I'm passionate about engaging students in meaningful projects that connect their lived experiences and imagination to real-world impact. I aim to empower students to explore, create, and reflect through inquiry-driven learning while equipping them with the tools to communicate, collaborate, and contribute with confidence. I want their learning to spark engagement with the world beyond the classroom; so they grow as empathetic thinkers, problem-solvers, and changemakers.
WHAT I DO
MAKE THINGS
CHANGE THINGS
As AI reshapes what’s possible in classrooms, it also challenges us to rethink what students truly need to learn. When tools can generate summaries and reports in seconds, education must shift toward deeper, more human skills: synthesis, empathy, creativity, and problem-solving. In developing programs like the Innovation Institute and Changemakers, my wife Kim Sajan and I have focused on designing learning experiences that ask students to grapple with real-world questions and projects that require them to think critically, connect ideas across disciplines, and create with purpose. The goal is not just to prepare students for the future, but to empower them to shape it.
RESUMÉ
Key Information
InThinking DP Film Website
Co-Author
National Board Certified Teacher
Early Adolescence and Young Adult Art
Apple Distinguished Educator
Class of 2008
School Arts Magazine
Contributing Editor (2012-2020)
Media Arts Columnist (2012-2016)
Author, Multiple Articles & Chapters (2012-Present)
International Baccalaureate
IB Film Examiner
IB Film Curriculum Committees
The following highlights represent key moments in my professional journey; milestones that reflect a consistent focus on innovation and educational leadership.
Innovation Institute
Founding Member
Changemakers PBL Curriculum
Founding Member
Find my complete resume
here.
Shanghai Student Film Festival
Founder
Experience
Nido de
Aguilas
Film & Changemakers Teacher
2023-Present
Shanghai
American School
Technology Integration Specialist
Art Educator
Film Educator
2006-2023
Huntington High School
Art Teacher
Film Teacher
Drama Teacher
2001-2006
Harlem School for the Arts
Film & Art Teacher
1999-2003
Publications
DP Film Website
InThinking
School Arts
Magazine
Makers, Crafters, Educators
The Carrot Revolution
Award-Winning Blog on Art Education
2001-2015
No longer active
Curious Artifacts
While résumés can communicate professional roles and achievements, they also often leave out the less conventional experiences that shape who we are and how we think. This collection highlights experiences, projects, and personal pursuits that have informed my perspective in meaningful ways. They’re artifacts of curiosity; unconventional, sometimes meaningful, often playful, and quietly influential experiences that I've collected along a path that values exploration over convention.
As an administrative assistant in the Buildings and Operations department, I might, on a conventional resume, discuss the necessary organizational skills that I developed here (database work, spreadsheet development, billing and payment, etc) but as a curious artifact it lands here because it meant that I got to do things like take the first passenger ride on a Zamboni, get a private concert from Lenny Kravitz and eat lunch with elephants when the circus came to town.
In my first year of teaching, I ran the drama club at Huntington High School. After a funny miscommunication with the orchestra teacher around choosing the spring musical, we decided to create Imagine Oz; a version of The Wizard of Oz with music from the Beatles. The students themselves conceptualized the revision and worked with composer Scott Barkan to re-orchestrate the songs. This musical has become a 'cult classic' on Long Island in New York, having been performed by other high schools, colleges, and summer camps.
Hengdian Film Studios is the largest film studio in the world, 3 hours south of Shanghai. My design for our week without walls there was based on my experience with Project Based Learning. Before the trip began, students studied a selected and studied a period of Chinese history and learned about screenwriting. On each trip we had a film bootcamp; students wrote, directed, acted and edited their own films (like this one). Our filming permit allowed us to film all day and into the night... which also allowed us to do things like play crickett or hide and seek in the forbidden city.
When my daughter was about 4, she used to like to sit and paint with me... and then paint all over my paintings. So instead of trying to keep our work seperate, I started to paint with her. We shared a little exhibition at a local cafe in Shanghai in 2014.
Education
Harvard Buisiness School
Certificate in Innovative Leadership
(Pending 2025)
Teachers College
Columbia University
MA in Art Education
Suma Cum Laude
2001
School of
Visual Arts
Continuing Education classes
1999
Binghamton
University
BA in Film and Anthropology
Cum Laude
1996
WHERE TO FIND ME
WHERE AM I?
After having taught in both Shanghai and New York, I am currently working at the International School Nido de Aguilas in Santiago, Chile.
You can reach me at:
