Our Story

The night was Sunday, July 9th, 2020...

A friend and I were enjoying a night of playing cards and having some of the best conversations we’d ever had while doing so. Right then it occurred to us: there should be a card game to help kids connect. 

An idea was born. We scoured the internet for hours and couldn’t find what we had in mind. 

We were onto something. 

I know what you’re thinking: That must’ve been some wild night ::sarcasm detected::

Being that we’re both educators - it was!

You’d think in this digital age of ever-advancing technology and rapid fire social media connectivity that interpersonal skills among our youth would be at an all-time high. Yet, although technology has made us a part of a global community, conversational skills have taken a back seat and our youngsters are suffering the consequences. 

We believe conversational skills give everyone a leg up in the workplace and in life and platforms that build such competencies are scarce. This is the crux of why we’re passionate about designing games to develop interpersonal skills that help kids connect with one another and grow lasting relationships.

Let’s face facts: School can be awkward for kids. It’s tough getting to know your peers and forming meaningful bonds especially when you’re unsure how to do so. After all, who are these people that you share most of your day with? Do you truly know them beyond surface level conversation? Opportunities for authentic heart to heart peer conversations are uncommon, and we wanted to help.

Being an assistant principal in the beginning of a doctoral journey, I had found the perfect dissertation focus and had some amazing research tools at my fingertips to pursue this idea further. We realized: We could help!

And so the process of creating research-based educational interventions in the form of card games began. 

Specifically, we sought to devise games to help young people become better conversationalists in school, at home, and in life. 

So, why does this matter?

Read all about our why, our continued research, our products in development, our philanthropic partnership and our journey as a new social enterprise startup on our LinkedIn page!

 

Andrew Canlé
Founder of EDUCANLE LLC