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What can we design to highlight the importance of machine safety for students pursuing engeneering and manufacturing?

After analyzing our Driving Question, students identified two core themes: safety and machine. We also dissected the Driving Question to clarify key terms and objectives.

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In response to our Driving Question, students identified several key stakeholders who are impacted. The following list was developed:

Students and Teachers

Parents and Family Members

Machine Operators

CEOs, Business Administrators, and Executives

Community Members

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To focus on the stakeholders affected by our driving question, students created Empathy Maps. They selected specific individuals and imagined themselves being in that person's shoes and considered what that person sees, says, thinks, feels, and hears.

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Include a video of your final presentation.

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The students were able to create a solution for our Driving Question that they were proud to present. They were able to nail the questions pertaining to our solution --> Who? What? Where? When? How? and Why?

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Safety Media Program (SMP)

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The GRCC Lab Tour: Your ambassador, Mr. Golden, took the students on a tour of the machinery at the GRCC Skilled Trades and Manufacturing Lab, emphasizing safety protocols throughout the visit.

Observations & Word Webbing: Immediately after the tour, students processed what they saw by taking notes and creating a collaborative word web based on their real-time observations.

The Silent "Big Paper" Protocol: To finalize and uncover their actual questions and missing pieces of information, teams participated in a silent writing activity. Using just one marker per team and working in total silence, they wrote out their thoughts and questions on large sheets of paper, generating over 25 words per group to clarify what they still needed to know.

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Individual Voice (Dot Voting): After each table group presented their poster, every student was given dot stickers to vote for their two favorite solutions.

Democratic Choice (Narrowing Options): The teachers looked at the results and narrowed the field down to the two solutions that received the most dot votes.

Team Choice (Dividing into Groups): From those top two vote-getters, the group of twenty students was divided into two equal, dedicated teams (such as the "Boy Wonders" group) to fully develop and build out one of those chosen solutions.

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Our table groups sorted through the many ideas from the 100 Ideas Quota Activity. After filtering out the ones that weren't feasible or related to the Driving Question, each group narrowed their ideas down to one solution and shared it during a protocol called Poster Session.

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We loved having Mr. Mike drop by GRCC to share some quick presentation tips and tricks with the students. It was perfect timing, as each group was able to show their posters and get some great feedback. It was awesome to see them put what they learned into action and really step up during their presentations!

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Students created a program to help educate students participating in engineering and manufacturing classes on safety through media (posters, videos, and word of mouth). Attached is our slideshow.

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Partner groups will create a 1 minute elevator pitch for how they will make this the best summer experience. They must have a visual or prop to go with it. It can be a drawing, a logo/symbol or anything they want to use! A “pitch” is a short and compelling description of the problem you’re solvin...

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After each group'e presentation, students voted for their two favorite solutions by applying dot stickers to what they considered were the best solutions. Leading up to this the voting, we worked with the other Engineering and Manufacturing group. The teachers decided that students could vote on one of the two solutions that gained the most dot votes. From those votes, we divided our group of twenty students into two equal groups who would work together to develop a solution to our Driving Question.

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Boy Wonders: an all boy solution group.

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Idea Quota: generate 100 ideas in 10 minutes.

How would your Dad design it? Your Mom?

What if you could only use paper in the solution?

How would an elementary student design it? How would a high school student design it?

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After learning about our Driving Question, students created a list of problems or words associated with our question. From their list, they drew the problem and shared their ideas out with fellow teammates.

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: : Coummuication

: : Collaboration

: : Critical Thinking

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Zoomed-In Activity : : Students will be presented with very enlarged versions of Personal Protection Equiptment (PPE) and try to guess what they are.

Industry Tours : : Disher Design & JR Automation

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Working together to figured out some very zoomed-in images.

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We had a real audience (panelists, other CTC Future Prep'd Teams (teachers & students), and family members in our audience. That was our final show to share the solution to our problem. There were nerves and anxiety, but each member of our team had their roles and did outstanding! We are so proud!

During their presentation, they were able to answer questions that the judging panel had for further clarification.

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: : Teamwork

: : Accountability

: : Problem-solving

: : Innovation

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Students began by categorizing their initial thoughts to identify overarching patterns. After refining these concepts, they selected their top three choices for further development. Next, they mind-mapped these selected concepts on chart paper to map out their final product, which was ultimately presented as a core solution to the entire team.

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I am proud of not cutting my fingers off.

I helped my group.

I am glad I grew in my ability to be more confident.

I am glad I went through it.

Proud of my teamwork.

Better communication.

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The TAG, You're It! protocol and practice presenation was helpful to help us narrow our focus and see where we had information gaps. It gave us a direction on where our group needed to head in order to come up with a solid presentation.

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Gaining Insight: Tour of GRCC and Big Paper

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Gaining Insight: Tour of GRCC and Big Paper

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Day 2: Our ambassador, Mr. Golden (an instructor at CTC), toured us through the impressive machinery at the GRCC Skilled Trades and Manufacturing Lab. He emphasized safety throughout the entire visit. Afterward, students took notes and created a word web based on their observations. To wrap up, teams wrote their thoughts and questions on large sheets of paper—using just one marker per team and working in total silence. It was a great exercise, and every group came up with over 25 words!

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Students developed the idea that they would create a Safety Media Program to educate students to better understand the importance of safety from a young age. This would include various media ranging from posters to video clips.

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What went well in this stage? The initial categorization and refinement process went smoothly. Students successfully sorted their massive pool of ideas to identify overarching patterns, narrowed them down to their top three concepts, and used chart paper to mind-map and map out their final product.

What surprised you? The students showed impressive critical thinking and collaboration when transitioning from loose brainstorming to a structured final solution. They were able to effectively consolidate their mind maps into a single, cohesive "Safety Media Program" core solution that they successfully presented to the entire team.

What would you do differently next time? While the mind-mapping on chart paper was highly effective, next time it would be beneficial to build in more structured, rapid-fire peer feedback loops between the mind-mapping phase and the final selection. This would give students more external input before they lock in the final solution to present to the team.

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Photo 1: Team Photo at GRCC with Mr. Golden (first from left)

Photo 2: CTC Engineering & Manufacturing x JR Automation

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Lunchtime Fun!

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How do you plan on checking in with your groups during and after the investigation stage?

During the investigation stage, checking in will focus on real-time guidance as students explore the GRCC Manufacturing Lab and interview industry professionals. I will actively monitor group dynamics and engagement using targeted questioning and protocols like the silent "Big Paper" activity. Afterward, we will transition to a debrief phase, gathering the teams to review their "Need to Knows" list and address any remaining information gaps before brainstorming begins. To capture every individual student's voice, we will implement an end-of-day Name Tent Reflection routine, where students write brief, honest responses to a daily prompt on their personal name tents, providing immediate feedback from both vocal and quieter students to help shape the next day's coaching.

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What resources do you need for the Validation Stage?

Youtube videos for inspiration to create our own videos.

Design programs like Canva or Slides to create posters and videos.

Notecards for presenting.

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The students used our feedback rubric to zone in on what they needed to work on. They divded and conquered to try to create a strong end product.

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What went well in this stage?

The initial categorization and refinement process went smoothly. Students successfully sorted their massive pool of ideas to identify overarching patterns, narrowed them down to their top three concepts, and used chart paper to mind-map and map out their final product.

What surprised you?

The students showed impressive critical thinking and collaboration when transitioning from loose brainstorming to a structured final solution. They were able to effectively consolidate their mind maps into a single, cohesive "Safety Media Program" core solution that they successfully presented to the entire team.

What would you do differently next time?

While the mind-mapping on chart paper was highly effective, next time it would be beneficial to build in more structured, rapid-fire peer feedback loops between the mind-mapping phase and the final selection. This would give students more external input before they lock in the final solution to present to the team.

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Jason Hicks : : Math, Science, STEM, Environmental Science @ Coopersville Middle School

Dina Price : : Math Interventionist @ Macatawa Bay Middle School (West Ottawa)

Kevin & Colleen are also teachers who are leading another group of students enrolled in Engineering & Manufacuring Technology. We plan on working together in various activities throughout Camp Week.

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What resources do you need for the Solutions Stage?

Stick Notes

Chart Paper

Computer (to see examples of posters and videos)

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Our students’ ideas were honestly mind-blowing. They were incredibly creative as they brainstormed ways to tackle our driving question. We started by challenging each group to come up with 100 solutions with their tablemates—everything from realistic ideas to the totally wild and wacky ones. We went through A LOT of sticky notes!

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Future Prep'd- iChallenge Uthc 2026: CTE #2

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CTC - Engineering & Manufacturing #2 Students- Please take a moment to learn ABOUT YOUR LEADERS find the slide with your name on it. Please complete it by Monday, June 16th. i Challenge Uth

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What went well in this stage?

Wow, just wow! We are so proud of the students who came out of their shells to present, even if it was a practice run.

What surprised you?

We were surprised at how well they took the feedback and were able to make changes accordingly.

What would you differently next time?

We ran out of time but would have students watch the example presentation to help them understand their task when presenting.

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What went well in this stage?

Students were highly engaged and appeared to enjoy the tour of the GRCC Manufacturing Lab with our ambassador, Golden.

What surprised you?

We were surprised by how quickly the students warmed up to each other, especially given the size of our group compared to other Future Prep’d cohorts. This made communication and collaboration much easier.

What would you do differently?

We feel fortunate to partner with CTC Engineering and Manufacturing Group 1. Given the success of our collaboration, there is not much we would change.

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What resources do you need for the Observation Stage?

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Every student needs to experience Project Based Learning and iChallenge Uth is a fast and furious way to fully immerse in the experience. -Dina

"Watching these students step entirely out of their comfort zones was incredibly rewarding. In just one week, they went from shouting out loose, chaotic ideas to standing proudly in front of a professional panel, confidently pitching a unified solution they built from scratch." - Jason

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What resources do you need for the Investigation Stage?

Interviewee (Mr. Ouendag and Mr. Golden)

Chart Paper

Sticky Notes

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What resources do you need for checking in with your students?

Computer

Slideshow (for presentation and making visuals/ posters)

Video (camera or phone)

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Day 2:

Tyler: When do we get done?

Ms. Dina: Friday. It's only a week.

Tyler: (Audible sigh of disappointment). I wish it were longer.

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Final Words...

Mr. Golden shared with the students how proud he was of their growth over the course of the week and then left them with this quote, "You have to walk through the hallways of failure before you can walk through the doors of success."

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What went well in this stage?

Day 1 was a soft rollout, providing a nice way to ease into the week and help our students begin to understand the engineering and manufacturing industries.

What surprised you?

We were impressed by the insightful questions our students asked the industry experts. Additionally, during lunch out, the students did a fantastic job of ordering and maintaining a respectful presence; they were excellent representatives for their schools and Future Prep'd.

What would you do differenlty?

While Day 1 went well, if we had more time, we would have included more team-building or get-to-know-you activities.

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What resources do you need for the Incubation Stage?

Sticky Notes

Chart Paper

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Industry Tours:: Disher & JR Automation Photos

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Industry Tours:: Disher & JR Automation Photos

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Field Tripping!

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Students reflected on Day 1 by writing a sentence by only using 6 words.

"Disher was a very cool experience." EC

"I saw a secret pipe machine." ZG

"I saw machines and secret pipes." JW

"I had fun learning about machines." WV

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Students completed a self-assessment to identify their preferred role in the Creative Sequence. We have a healthy mix of Investigators, Brainstormers, Deciders, and Presenters.

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What went well in this stage?

During the incubation stage, students tapped into their creativity by brainstorming numerous solutions to our Driving Question.

What surprised you?

We were impressed by the students' communication, mutual respect, and thoughtful peer feedback. Their group presentations were particularly strong.

What would you do differently?

In the future, we will dedicate more time for feedback and questions regarding each group's solution.

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Show through pictures, videos, examples of student work, and written documentation to reflect how teams were built, how students uncovered and understood the driving question, the standards covered, and the launch into the project

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We were "first year" teachers in this program and were throughly impressed with our training, which allowed for us to implement the program to our students. The students made so much growth in such a short span of time. They improved on communication, collaboration, innovating thinking, and presentation skills.

We thought it was nice for students to work in two spaces, GRCC and CTC. The two spaces were actually helpful because one area seemed more explatory while the other seemed more of a workspace to plan their presentation.

We appreciated all the people who gave the students feedback and took the time to support our groups. It was great that they were able to hear things from various people throughout the week.

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Gaining Insight: Interview with Mr. Ouendag

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Gaining Insight: Interview with Mr. Ouendag

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Day 2: We invited an individual from the industry, Mr. Ouendag (Ms. Colleen's dad), to visit us for an interview. Students came up with questions pertaining to safety in the realm of engineering and manufacturing. They were able to have their burning questions answered from an industry professional. Thank you (and Happy Bithday), Mr. Ouendag!

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Show through pictures, videos, examples of student work, links to reflect how your students built empathy, determined Need to Knows, and uncovered important information to solve their driving question?