The Community School: Projects-based curriculum helped David Goldbloom graduate with a goal in mind

The night before the first day of school at the Community School in 2019, TCS adviser Tami Linane-Booey received an email from a very nervous incoming high schooler, David Goldbloom.

“He appeared to have it all together and to be a really cool guy,” Linane-Booey said of her first impression of Goldbloom at orientation. “I was really surprised but I was like ‘David, don’t worry, we got you’ … he pretty quickly became a leader.”

Goldbloom said he hadn’t had the best middle school experience and was nervous about going to a school where he didn’t know anyone, especially as an introvert. Talking to people in general was difficult, but the public speaking required at the school didn’t leave much room for fear.

Now, public speaking is the norm for Goldbloom. As a student ambassador, Civics Bowl captain and a leader in TCS Inc., the school leadership program, Goldbloom has learned how to control the nerves common with speaking in front of a crowd.

“One of the biggest things about the Community School, at least for me, was that even in my freshman year, I was able to get out of my comfort zone,” Goldbloom said. “At first it was a lot of association with discomfort, but I realized going into my later years in high school that that’s actually a good thing, because if you don’t choose to do hard things, you’re never going to grow.”

Goldbloom said the Community School is a project-based learning program through which students can pursue their passions, which he used to testify in front of City Council based on a school project on water usage in Spokane.

“The thing I really admire most about David is that he just works so hard, and he works hard quietly,” Linane-Booey said.

Aside from school projects, Goldbloom was captain of the school Civics Bowl team.

Civics Bowl has been “some of my best memories because I’m really passionate about civics, civic involvement, and government, and we do a lot of that at TCS, so just competing and training for that, participating in those projects and getting out in the community has been awesome,” Goldbloom said.

Goldbloom will attend Eastern Washington University to pursue a degree in computer science, minoring in criminal justice. He then plans to enter the police academy to pursue his dream of working in law enforcement.

“A leadership position within law enforcement is kind of the end goal, because that’s where you can see the most change,” Goldbloom said. “If we had more people that are willing to make those changes and change the mindsets (people have) of everyday cops, I think that’s a good thing. I want to be that person.”

Prior to being adopted by his parents, Matthew and Lauren Goldbloom, in 2015, David spent four years in the foster system under the care of the Goldblooms. His interactions with the Spokane Police Department in his childhood were largely positive, but he wants to join the force to push for systemic change to help the department better serve the community.

“David is extremely hard working, caring, compassionate, thoughtful and he has just made us very proud with all the work that he’s done both in school and in his community,” Lauren Goldbloom said.