When Dominique Paloma Bible talks about choice, her eyes light up. Choice, she insists, is at the core of education. Not worksheets, not tests, not standardized curriculum — but the power to choose.

That belief has shaped her life, from the moment she dropped out of high school to the creation of her Brooklyn-based education initiative, Off Da Beaten Path .

Bible was born in Brazil and moved to Brooklyn when she was 8. Her family settled in Bay Ridge, where she attended several schools. One thing she discovered: traditional education never fit.

“Dropping out was incredibly important to my journey as an educator, ironically,” Bible told Brooklyn Paper. “It’s through making those decisions that we exercise our power. Without power, it doesn’t matter what we learn — we’re not going

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