At Twin Valley Middle High School, our mission statement is “Creating Innovators Who Will Change the World.” Over the last 6 years we have used this mission statement to guide our purpose. In 2019, we used the idea of innovation to create WILD programming (Wildcat Innovators Learning Dynamically). WILD took place during the week between semesters, not unlike a J-Term in college. The final result was a culminating night of a car show, student music videos, a museum about the Civil Rights Movement and so much more. This was my first taste witnessing how powerful choice can be for students.
This year has been full of innovation for everyone; teachers and students alike worked together to create engagement given the real life limitations put upon us. The limitations did, however, create opportunities to try new and different ways of working towards that engagement. The Design Thinking Process and Curricular Choice were two major components that showed success during this time. These empower students, promote creativity, and inspire the innovation we are looking for. I plan to study how design thinking strategies and choice can work together as a driver of change in the future. I will visit schools where choice and design thinking is used in a variety of ways, because there is no singular way to be successful in this process. Armed with my knowledge, my school will engage students, staff, and community by working with teachers in their classrooms, supporting their curriculum, and using creativity to provide choice for students. Finally, we will plan more WILD programs that are student led through choice and design thinking as a culmination of this work.
When I envision the success of my idea, I see more choice in every classroom. Teachers who allow students to learn in their own way then use their creativity to show their knowledge using something that they are passionate about. My dream is that students begin to be passionate and share their interests at school and in their learning. As teachers, I feel that we are responsible for showing their beauty of knowledge and how our passions can transfer to our learning and our futures.
