Robinson, considered one of the world's foremost experts on education, advocated for schools that are more individualized and less conformist. He called for more emphasis on creative thinking and less preoccupation with test scores. He spoke for more than 90 minutes to an appreciative crowd of alumni, parents, board members, administration, faculty, staff and RE friends.

"The human imagination is the seed of every form of human achievement," he said. "We can't afford to neglect it."

Before Robinson took the stage, RE's Chair of the Board Rudy Prio Touzet '76 officially launched Ransom Everglades' $75 million capital campaign, announcing that $40 million had already been raised, including $30 million in gifts from the school's trustees. Head of School Penny Townsend also addressed the crowd, noting to laughter that even institutions as perfect as Joe's Stone Crab and Ransom Everglades must evolve.

"What kind of curriculum is appropriate for a society in which traditional work, career ladders, even entrepreneurship are radically different?" she said. "How do we factor in something as potentially world-changing as artificial intelligence? We don’t know any of the specifics. All we do know is that test-centric teaching, perfectionism, and complacency will sink us. A lot needs to be reinvented."

Earlier, Robinson, the author of Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That's Transforming Education, met with RE's faculty in a private reception that lasted more than an hour. He touched on a range of topics, including the testing mindset in education that he described as a "toxic culture," and the necessity of replacing outmoded ways of teaching with more effective strategies and approaches. "The system is changing – and it has to," he said.

Robinson left RE's faculty encouraged. "For the kids in your class, you are the system," he said. "You are it ... You change the system for all" of your students.