A key element of inquiry based learning is authenticity; learning needs to be situated in the real world context in which it lives. To contextualize learning and enhance authenticity we need to go beyond the walls of our classrooms and schools and engage with the real issues, living disciplines, and experts in our communities. Schools are looking for ways to create partnerships with other organizations and develop relationships with local experts to enable teachers and students to connect to the limitless possibilities for learning that our communities hold. The video below chronicles the story of Banded Peak School’s Fine Arts Day. In partnership with the local chamber of commerce Banded Peak hosted 20 local artists and transformed their school into a art studio where students were engaged by the passion and expertise of the artists and enchanted by the wonder of photography, dance, music, illustration, acting, improvisation, floral arrangement, sculpting, pottery, painting, jewelery, and sketching. The day was an amazing success and provided the inspiration and foundational relationship for future collaboration between the students and the artists. Why not host a fine arts day at your school or a science day, an engineering day, a recreation day, a writing day, a languages day, a mathematics day… Tear the walls down, take the roof off, bring the community in and contextualize learning in the real world.