The Design Exhibition - Evidence of Success

Ss pitching their idea to Mrs. Williams to take their challenge to the next level. Stay tuned to see them complete a related challenge during their next rotation! @DTNRHS @williamsmnrhs @lynn_moody @RSSinformation @scibri @RSS_CTE @CoachCausby pic.twitter.com/nkr3lVY6SC

— Miranda File (@Mrs_Biblio_File) February 26, 2019

  This past week, our Design class held their first ever exhibit based on the Tikkon Olam Challenge.  Over 200 individuals attended the exhibition.  For those not following this blog, Tikkon Olan is Hebrew for “heal the world.”  Students were tasked with working with a “need knower,”  a group or individuals to determine his/her needs and find a way to meet that need.  While doing this, students applied the Design Thinking process which originates with empathy.  Students worked collaboratively to create a list of questions designed to develop a better understanding of their need knower.  After the initial interview, students developed a more concentrated set of questions to better determine a need or an opportunity for their need knower.  After working to identify at least one need for their need knower, students ideated several ways in which to meet the identified needs of the need knower.  Students then chose a solution and created a prototype.  The students then solicited feedback from the need knower and made a second prototype and tested it.  

This challenged proved to be one of the best challenges in that students learned to focus on meeting the needs of others.  Here are some of the highlights of what our students accomplished:


One of our groups worked with our school resource officer (SRO) to identify that he needed the opportunity to work out more during the school day, often when he is in his office.  They worked to create a Metaverse experience to connect various YouTube videos showing simple exercises that he could do in his office.  They also found out that he enjoyed quotes from the Art of War attributed to Sun Tzu.  They integrated quotes into the Metaverse experience to further inspire our SRO.  

A second used Metaverse to help a special needs student learn to spell.  They had to obtain various lists of spelling words from the student’s teacher and program them into their Metaverse experience.  The students quickly realized that they had to include a short audio recording telling the student the word instead of typing it in the app since the student was spelling it.  This was a great design challenge that our students realized they need to solve.

A third group worked with another special needs student to provide him with an experience of friendship and acceptance after identifying a need of social interactions.  This group also interviewed the student’s mother to better determine needs.  The group created an experience where he played several games and bonded with them.   The student was extremely happy.  This group also created a large poster with pictures to help him always remember his experience.  They even plan to continue to work with him in the future.

Another group worked in secret to design a space for theatre teacher where individuals could donate unwanted goods for teachers to use.  This was been a dream for this teacher for many years.  When she visited the exhibition, they told her about their plan and she very humbled by what the students had created.  Later, the students created a strong pitch to our school’s principal to help make this space a reality.  They are already solicited donations for their space.  A short video is embedded at the top of this blog from these young men.

The exhibition was simply a finishing stage for a successful challenge.  Students seemed very pleased with what they accomplished.  The visitors provided amazing feedback and even complimented how well spoken our students were in these presentations.  It is moments like this solidify the importance of the work that we are doing.  The work that our students are doing matters and it shows.  By showcasing some of the extraordinary things going on at North Rowan High School, our students see that their work matter.  They see that their ideas matter.  They see that their ideas matter.  The school’s transformation continues but the early successes of school designed with the idea of “what box?” seems to be the right path for North Rowan High School.  

Based on the feedback of our visitors, we have much more to accomplish but we are pleased that we are marking on a journey that will benefit our students and their futures positively.  This week, we will have two sets of students present at NCTIES in Raleigh on their Design Experience.  If you are able, please stop by the student showcase and see what teams from both the 9th and 10th grade Design courses are doing.