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Levi Strauss & Co. Launches the Levi’s® Wear Longer Project to Empower the Next Generation to Repair, Refresh, and Reimagine Their Clothes

According to new LS&Co. research, Gen Z leads the thrifting movement but 41% report no clothing repair skills; this is the gap the Wear Longer Project is designed to close. 

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — January 14, 2026 — Today, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) announced the launch of the Levi’s® Wear Longer Project, a new community engagement initiative designed to help young people take fashion into their own hands. The program will equip them with the skills and confidence to repair, refresh, and reimagine their clothes—so they look better and last longer. 

Gen Z is driving the resurgence of thrifting, repurposing, and creative self-expression in fashion. Yet, many youth were never taught the skills needed to repair and customize clothing — skills once passed down through generations or taught in schools. A new survey conducted by LS&Co. in the U.S.  found that 41% of Gen Z report having no basic repair knowledge, such as fixing a tear or sewing a button, which is nearly double the rate of older generations. At the same time, 35% of young people say they would keep their clothes longer if they knew how to fix them. This highlights a meaningful opportunity to reduce clothing waste when the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothing each year1, which leads to more than 2,100 pounds of textile waste entering U.S. landfills every second2. Equipping young people with the skills to extend the life of their clothing reinforces LS&Co.’s efforts to use its scale, reach and platform to drive toward a more sustainable, less resource-intensive apparel industry. 

The Levi’s® Wear Longer Project introduces free resources primarily aimed at students in grades 9 through 12. Developed in partnership with global edtech leader Discovery Education and aligned with national K-12 education standards, the program teaches young people hands-on life skills such as how to repair and customize their clothes, from sewing a button to patching a hole or tailoring a hem.  

“At Levi Strauss & Co., we’ve spent more than 170 years designing clothes to be worn and loved for as long as possible. The Levi’s® Wear Longer Project builds on that legacy by giving young people the confidence and tools to extend the life of what they already own,” said Michelle Gass, President and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co. “By building up repair skills within the next generation and emphasizing the idea of durability, we’re helping spark a culture of creativity, sustainability, and pride in taking care of the things we value.” 

Beginning with high school students, the curriculum is now available to educators and students nationwide on the free platform. LS&Co. employees will also serve as volunteer ambassadors, bringing hands-on instruction into schools and local communities. In addition, schools using Discovery Education Experience, the cross-curricular supplemental resource, can integrate Levi’s® Wear Longer Project directly into classroom instruction. 

“Our partnership with Levi’s® reflects the growing demand in schools for curriculum that connects academic learning with real‑world, future‑ready skills. Through the Wear Longer Project, students gain hands‑on experience that builds confidence, creativity, and practical life skills while deepening their understanding of complex topics such as supply chain and resource management. This initiative helps prepare students to be thoughtful, capable problem-solvers,” said Catherine Dunlop, Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships at Discovery Education.  

Launching first in its hometown of San Francisco before expanding globally, the Levi’s® Wear Longer Project will educate local youth through regular opportunities to build core repair skills. The program will begin with a Wear Longer Project workshop for San Francisco high school students at the LS&Co. Eureka Lab. Additional trainings and workshops will continue throughout the year, including activations during Super Bowl weekend in San Francisco.  

“Programs like Levi’s® Wear Longer Project resonate because they meet students where they are—hands-on, creative, and rooted in real life,” said Ginny Fang, President of Spark, San Francisco Public Schools. “When students can learn practical skills like repairing and caring for their clothes, they’re not only embracing sustainability, they’re gaining confidence, independence, and a sense of pride in what they can create and maintain themselves.” 

As the Wear Longer Project grows, LS&Co. will scale its curriculum through community-based partners and select retail initiatives, creating more entry points for young people and employees to engage in repair education. This approach reinforces LS&Co.’s commitment to responsible consumption and encourages employees to invest in their own skills, so they can then teach others. These initiatives will build upon LS&Co.’s legacy of crafting durable, quality clothing designed to last a lifetime, empowering young people everywhere to care for, customize, and extend the life of the clothes they love. To learn more about the Wear Longer Project, please visit  levistrauss.com/values-in-action/wearlongerproject. 

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About Levi Strauss & Co. 
Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) is one of the world’s largest brand-name apparel companies and a global leader in jeanswear. The company designs and markets jeans, casual wear and related accessories for men, women and children under the Levi’s®, Levi Strauss Signature™, Denizen® and Beyond Yoga® brands. Its products are sold in approximately 120 countries worldwide through a combination of chain retailers, department stores, online sites, and a global footprint of approximately 3,200 retail stores and shop-in-shops. Levi Strauss & Co.’s reported 2024 net revenues were $6.4 billion. For more information, go to http://levistrauss.com, and for financial news and announcements go to http://investors.levistrauss.com.  

About Discovery Education 
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art, PreK-12 digital solutions help educators engage all students and support academic achievement. Through award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools that are effective, engaging, and easy to use, Discovery Education enables educators to deliver powerful learning experiences in 45% of U.S. K-12 schools and across 100+ countries and territories. Through partnerships with districts, states, and trusted organizations, Discovery Education empowers teachers with essential solutions that inspire curiosity, build confidence, and accelerate learning. Learn more at  www.discoveryeducation.com. 

1, 2 Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Facts and Figures about Materials, Waste and Recycling: Textiles Material‑Specific Data,” https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/textiles-material-specific-data. 

The post Levi Strauss & Co. Launches the Levi’s® Wear Longer Project to Empower the Next Generation to Repair, Refresh, and Reimagine Their Clothes appeared first on Discovery Education.

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A Man on the Inside: Netflix comedy offers a timely defence of higher education

Season 2 of Netflix’s A Man on the Inside finds Charles Nieuwendyk, private investigator and retired engineering professor (played by Ted Danson), undercover at Wheeler College.

The mission: recover the college president’s laptop. This might not seem juicy, but said laptop contains sensitive information about a $400 million donation by a tech multibillionaire, Brad Vinick.

As someone who has lived and studied academic life, I find the series created by Michael Schur (also behind The Good Place starring Ted Danson, among other hit series) is both funny and uncomfortable because it hits close to home.

Budgets trimmed to the bone

The P.I. is thrilled by his university case, calling it something “I can really sink my teeth into.”

Wheeler College, founded in 1883, has seen better days. It is struggling financially and its leadership is unpopular. The board of trustees hired a president who trims department budgets to the bone, cuts student aid and embraces corporate sponsorship — as well as the bonus he receives with every major donation.

These measures are not enough. Enter Vinick.

‘A Man on the Inside’ Season 2 trailer.

Vinick’s secret plan — “Project Aurora” — is to fire half the professors, exclude faculty from decision-making and close what he considers “non-essential departments,” leaving “three tracks of study — biotechnology, economics and computer science to prepare young adults for life in the modern world.”

President Jack Beringer knows Vinick’s intentions but does not want anyone to know he knows. Faculty uprisings would not help his bid for a higher-paying university job in Dallas, where he ate the best steak ever.

Language of efficiency, innovation

Any campus stroll reveals that Wheeler’s “Pepsi T-Mobile Covered Garage brought to you by Sephora” (Episode 4) is only a slight exaggeration.

Vinick’s language of efficiency and innovation dominates in real life. Universities are run increasingly on a corporate model, as numerous studies have demonstrated, including my collaboration with Maggie Berg in our book The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy.

Budgets and programs are being slashed, and in the guise of economic necessity, principles of higher education are undermined.

Professors also satirized

While Beringer and Vinick are the villains of the piece, there are, of course, some digs at the professors. (I admit we are an easy target).

The musicologist, for example, will abandon any conversation mid-sentence when inspiration hits.

In Episode 4, we see the chair of the English department is a snob about books you can buy at airports.

However, the show resists indulging in nutty, overpaid professor stereotypes because it recognizes, in the words of Dr. Benjamin Cole, head of the English department, “these are not the best of times.” The show focuses on staff and faculty efforts in an era of budget cuts and attacks on what the billionaire investor calls “pointless subjects” like art history and philosophy.

Holly Bodgemark, the provost, is so overworked she swallows nicotine gum (“It works faster if it goes right to the stomach”) and mixes her own “Peptocoffee.”

The musicologist may be flaky, but she buys used instruments out of her own pocket for students who can’t afford them. Money is tight for students. Student Claire Chung works a dozen jobs to pay tuition and housing. “When do you sleep?” Nieuwendyk asks. “In class,” she replies.

Defending higher education

To defend higher education, the show calls in the big guns: Ozymandias, a sonnet by 19th- century Romantic writer Percy Bysshe Shelley. It’s mentioned in one of Cole’s lectures, where he recites some of its lines and comments on its continued relevance: “Money, fame, power do not last. But ideas … can endure.”

Two men in discussion on a bench.
Literature professor Dr. Cole tells his students: ‘ideas … can endure.’
(Netflix)

Published in 1818, Ozymandias speaks of a “traveller from an antique land.” The traveller comes across the remains of a sculpture with an inscription that reads:

“‘My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,

Look on my Works ye Mighty, and despair!’”

The rest of the sculpture is a “colossal Wreck,” and the king’s boast has dwindled into unintentional irony.

Given that the show is American, the literary allusion might be a veiled reference to the No Kings protests.

Making sense of the present

The series seems to side with philosophers like Martha Nussbaum, who argues that a liberal arts education can help us make sense of the present and read it critically.

Vinick is a modern Ozymandias. He wants to be immortal, literally (he undergoes longevity treatments) and figuratively (he commissions oil portraits of himself). As the professor of fine arts notes in the first episode of Season 2: “Newsflash: the billionaire is a narcissist.”

Not to give away the mystery, but a crisis is averted. Wheeler is safe … for now. It might go under, but, as the provost says, “better to end on our own terms.”

And those terms are: education is not a business; it cannot be reduced to the delivery of quantifiable outcomes. The book What Are Universities For?, by Stefan Collini, professor emeritus of intellectual history and English literature, makes this case in a particularly compelling (and at times laugh-out-loud) way.

Higher education is a public good because it teaches critical thinking and civil debate and prepares engaged citizens.

Community

Good satire like A Man on the Inside points out the problems as well as possible remedies. Vinick mocks the notion of community, but the show values it above all because, without it, resistance is impossible. Wheeler College’s faculty and staff celebrate each other and band together across disciplinary divides.

In the words of the provost in the last episode of the season, they are committed to protecting “community and knowledge for the sake of knowledge.”

Schur’s comedy offers a timely defence of higher education and is notable for bridging the gap between academics and the general public.

The Conversation

Barbara K Seeber received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Institutional Grant at Brock University.

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Financial case for college remains strong, but universities need to add creative thinking to their curriculum

Unemployment rates are lower among people who have a college degree, compared to those with a high school degree. Wong Yu Liang/iStock Images/Getty Images

A college degree was once seen as the golden ticket to landing a well-paying job. But many people are increasingly questioning the value of a four-year degree amid the rising cost of college.

Almost two-thirds of registered voters said in an October 2025 NBC News poll that a four-year college degree isn’t worth the cost – marking an increase from 40% of registered voters who said that college wasn’t worth the cost in June 2013.

Caroline Field Levander, the vice president for global strategy and an English professor at Rice University, argues in her December 2025 book “Invent Ed” that people have lost sight of two factors that made universities great to begin with: invention and creativity.

Amy Lieberman, education editor at The Conversation U.S., spoke with Levander to break down the benefits of going to college and university – and how schools can better demonstrate their enduring value.

How can we measure the value of a college degree?

College graduates earn substantially more than people who do not have a college degree.

The average high school graduate over a 40-year career earns US$1.6 million, according to 2021 findings by the Georgetown University Center on Education and Workforce. The average college graduate, over this same 40-year time frame, earns $2.8 million. That $1.2 million difference amounts to around $30,000 more salary per year.

People who earn a degree more advanced than a bachelor’s, on average, earn $4 million over 30 years, making the lifetime earning difference $2.4 million between these graduates and people with just a high school diploma.

College graduates are also better protected against job loss, and they weather job disruption cycles better than high school graduates.

The unemployment rate for people with a high school degree was 4.2% in 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. By contrast, 2.5% of people with a bachelor’s degree and 2.2% of people with a master’s degree were unemployed in 2024.

Do any of these benefits extend beyond individual students?

In addition to the substantial financial benefits college graduates experience, colleges and universities are major employers in their communities – and not just professors and administrators. Higher education institutions employ every trade and kind of worker, from construction workers to police, to name a few.

Universities are crucial to developing and strengthening the U.S. economy in other ways. The discoveries that faculty and researchers make in laboratories lead to new products, businesses and ideas that drive the U.S. economy and support the country’s financial health.

Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern did important work in helping to discover statins, while scientists at the University of Pennsylvania developed the mRNA vaccine. The list of inventions that started at universities goes on and on.

Some people are questioning the value of a degree. What role can universities play in reassuring them of their relevance?

Discovery and invention have traditionally been the focus of many graduate programs and faculty research, while undergraduate college educations tend to focus on ensuring that students are able to successfully enter the workforce after graduation.

Undergraduate students need to gain competency in a field in order to contribute to society and advance knowledge.

But I believe universities need to teach something else that is equally valuable: They also need to build creative capacity and an inventive mindset into undergraduate education, as a fundamental return on the investment in education.

Employers report that creativity is the top job skill needed today. The IBM Institute for Business Value, for example, concluded in 2023 that creativity is the must-have skill for employee success in the era of generative AI.

The Harvard Business Review reports that employers are developing short courses aimed to build creative capability in their workers.

A woman with dark hair looks down with various small images around her.
Creativity and innovation are both likely to become increasingly important for young people entering the workplace, especially as AI continues to grow.
Andriy Onufriyenko/iStock/Getty Images

What can faculty and students easily do to encourage creativity and innovation?

Professors can build what I call a “growth mindset” in the classroom by focusing on success over time, rather than the quick correct answer. Faculty members can ask themselves as they go into every class, “Am I encouraging a growth mindset or a fixed mindset in these students?” And they can use that answer to guide how they are teaching.

Students could also consider committing to trying new courses in areas where they haven’t already been successful. They could approach their college experience with the idea that grades aren’t the only marker of success. And I think they could benefit from developing thoughtful ways to describe their journey to future employers. Simple practices like keeping a creativity notebook where they record the newest ideas they have, among many others that I describe in my new book, will help.

And university leaders need to open the aperture of how we define our own success and our university’s success so that it includes creative capability building as part of the undergraduate curriculum.

The Conversation

Caroline Levander does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Discovery Education Expands Inquiry-Based Learning with New Science Techbook, First-of-Its-Kind Social Studies Essentials

Next-generation K-5 offerings debut alongside comprehensive enhancements, including AI integration that transforms insights into instruction

Charlotte, NC (Thursday, January 8, 2026) — Today, Discovery Education unveiled bold innovations to power progress in K-12 schools for the 2026-2027 academic year. New solutions will modernize classrooms in essential ways, such as strengthening instruction and saving educator time, to support learning that sticks in every subject.  

For elementary educators, Discovery Education will release two groundbreaking offerings: the all-new Science Techbook and Social Studies Essentials. Both solutions blend research-backed pedagogy with cutting-edge technology and are complemented by notable updates across AI-driven personalization, career-connected learning, and more. 

“At Discovery Education, we believe excellent teaching and learning occurs when students are deeply engaged, and educators have the right resources at the right moment,” said Brian Shaw, Chief Executive Officer of Discovery Education. “In 2026, we are bringing the real world to classrooms, deepening personalization, and delivering unique, new solutions that educators can trust to move learning forward.” 

Product releases for the 2026 back-to-school season build on Discovery Education’s foundation as a trusted partner to educators for research-backed teaching and learning technologies. The latest updates include: 

New K-5 Science Techbook Simplifies Teaching and Builds Skills 
Delivering three‑dimensional, phenomena‑driven lessons that capture student interest and reinforce essential scientific and cross-disciplinary learning, the new Science Techbook offers: 

  • Flexible Teacher-Ready Lessons: Ready-to-teach resources that simplify planning with point-of-use guidance and embedded scaffolds. The lessons blend hands-on investigations and standards-aligned content in a fully editable format to elevate rigor without adding to a teacher’s workload. 
  • Inquiry-Based Learning that Reinforces Literacy and Math: Strengthen students’ cross-curricular skills through active reading, writing, data analysis, and discourse integrated into every science investigation. 
  • Assessments That Inform Instruction: Monitor progress and tailor instruction with high-quality formative and summative assessments designed to inform teaching and improve outcomes. 

New K–5 Social Studies Essentials Brings History and Civics to Life  
Discovery Education Social Studies Essentials (K-5) is a new inquiry-based supplemental solution grounded in the C3 Framework, making it easy for teachers to deliver impactful lessons in history, civics, geography, and economics. Social Studies Essentials deepens learning through meaningful real-world connections and features, including: 

  • Structured Inquiry That Strengthens Understanding: Five units per grade with compelling questions and developmentally appropriate sources, including assessments for students to demonstrate understanding of key concepts and skills. 
  • Teacher-Friendly Design: Ready-to-teach slideshow lessons with clear standards, scaffolds, and instructional guidance. 
  • Flexible Design for Engaged Learning: A mix of hands-on activities, inspiring primary resources, and immersive multimedia to differentiate learning and foster critical thinking. 
  • Adaptable Pacing and Supports: Embedded guidance and customizable delivery to ensure confident instruction for every teacher. 

Adaptive Math and District-Powered Pathways Personalize Teaching and Learning 
Updates to DreamBox Math offer increased adaptivity, district-enabled personalization, and progress tracking. The latest updates for 2026 grow the impact of DreamBox Math as the premier K-8 supplemental solution accelerating student progress in math: 

  • Alignment to District Priorities: Instructional sequences focus on personalized, priority standards for end-of-year success. Districts have the flexibility to select specific standards for students to focus on first or prioritize standards that are directly mapped to end-of-year assessments. Students receive targeted, personalized lessons aligned to outlined priorities, alongside prerequisite lessons, just-in-time support, and individualized feedback needed to progress. 
  • Dynamic Student Experience: New and updated lessons, including in-lesson vocabulary support and adaptive feedback, keep students motivated and progressing in interactive, age-appropriate learning environments that build understanding, skills, and confidence. 

Streamlined Teacher Workflows Meet Career Exploration in Experience   
Fresh innovations in Discovery Education Experience elevate its role as the essential companion for engaged classrooms, helping educators deliver rigorous, relevant Tier 1 instruction. With a continuously refreshed library of curriculum-aligned resources that build background knowledge, reinforce key concepts, and integrate career-connected learning as part of instruction, updates include: 

  • Time-Saving Educator Experience: Simplify daily planning with faster search, cleaner workflows, and expanded curriculum alignments. Updates make it easy for teachers to find accurate, standards-aligned, ready-to-teach resources quickly from Discovery Education Experience’s high-quality library of carefully curated multimedia content, lessons, and activities across K-12 subjects. 
  • Robust Career Exploration and Connected Learning: Career Connect now offers access to more inspiring professionals, and new features such as K-5 mini-quests, career-based story cards, and a career finder, allowing educators to embed real-world relevance and career exploration into daily instruction. These enhancements provide early exposure to career pathways, develop essential skills, and provide context and readiness for students of all grade levels. 

AI-Powered Recommendations to Empower Teaching  
Discovery Education and Otus have expanded their partnership, bringing AI-powered search and recommendations from the Discovery Education library of products directly into educators’ workflow, saving time and enabling targeted instruction. Qualified districts and school partners can now join the Early Access program to gain key features such as: 

  • Targeted Support for Learners: Data-driven recommendations that help educators differentiate and identify instructional next steps based on student learning needs. 
  • Instruction without Interruption: Educators can use the secure engine to access a comprehensive, district-vetted library sourced from Discovery Education Experience, Science Techbook, Social Studies Techbook, and other solutions while reviewing results and streamlining planning in one frictionless interface. 
  • Responsible, District-Ready Innovation: The integration upholds strong privacy and security practices while increasing the accessibility of existing resources. 

Learn more about what’s coming in 2026 from Discovery Education here. 

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About Discovery Education  
Discovery Education is the worldwide edtech leader whose state-of-the-art, PreK-12 digital solutions help educators engage all students and support academic achievement. Through award-winning multimedia content, instructional supports, and innovative classroom tools that are effective, engaging, and easy to use, Discovery Education enables educators to deliver powerful learning experiences in 45% of U.S. K-12 schoolsand across 100+ countries and territories. Through partnerships with districts, states, and trusted organizations, Discovery Education empowers teachers with essential solutions that inspire curiosity, build confidence, and accelerate learning. Learn more at www.discoveryeducation.com. 

Contact  
Grace Maliska 
Discovery Education 
Email: gmaliska@discoveryed.com

The post Discovery Education Expands Inquiry-Based Learning with New Science Techbook, First-of-Its-Kind Social Studies Essentials appeared first on Discovery Education.