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At the end, students pitched their ideas to their families!

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"Learn to be patient. Once you learn to do that, good things come out of it." Evan

"High school feedback from the pitch was good." Caleb

"I can always add more, but too much is too much." Rosalie

"This was a good year." Bobby

"Use teamwork to make the design." Mia

"Work as a team. It's really hard to come up with ideas." Rosalie

"Follow the 3Rs. Be serious. Have fun." Bobby

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Winter Academy Presentations, February 24, 026 IMG_4610

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Casen, Ori, and Autumn assembly the furniture of the future  the R.IC. .

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Layla, Brooklynn, and Adalyn manufacture the Strorage Tree House!

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Lane, Walter, and Easton collaborate to create craete their new furniture design.

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Bobby, Evan, Alex, and Mia build "The Big To Tall Chair".

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Winter Academy 2026, Big to Tall Chair IMG_3277.HEIC

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This group listens to the feedback that they received on their furniture design called "The Storage Tree House."

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The furniture design is being developed, providing us with valuable insights.

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We are busy at work practicing our pitch!

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Roman, Rosalie and Will are busy building a prototype of their furniture.

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An AI image of what a Port-a-Table would look like.

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Step 1

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Winter Academy 2026 Port-a-Table step 1 IMG_3258.HEIC

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Step 2

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Winter Academy 2026, Port-a-Table Step 2 IMG_3257.HEIC

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Step 3

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Winter Academy 2026, Port-a-Table Step 3 IMG_3256.HEIC

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Caleb, Jayden, and Kyren discover different ways to construct the multi-functional Transformer!

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Winter Academy 2026, Transformer IMG_3264.HEIC

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Show through pictures, videos, examples of student work, to reflect on the authentic audience, the pitch, the final product. Include any information/pictures from your community partner.

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This group of students collaborates to create their furniture design.

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This group of students has refined their ideas and created a solution for individuals who use wheelchairs and need assistance getting to a bed.

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We ended session 2 with a structured protocol to get students' ideas onto paper....Crazy 8s! A timer was set and they had to sketch one idea per minute for 8 minutes. They really loved this challenge! Once we were done, they shared ideas with a partner and then in larger groups.

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Session 2 started by revisiting the driving question and then we extended our thinking by asking students what they already know about the question, and what information was still needed (some students' ideas were materials, and the budget, etc). This activity helped check students understanding of the question/challenge.

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To introduce the students to the challenge, we geared up and headed outside to visit all of our outdoor learning spaces. We used the "What if.....were......?" protocol to give them guiding questions for notetaking as they explored. The questions were: What furniture would make this space more usable?  How could we make this space more comfortable for our friends with autism?  How could we make this space more comfortable for our littlest learners?  How could we make this space more comfortable for the kids who need lots of movement to learn?  How could we make this space more user-friendly in the rain or snow?  What bugs you when you are learning outdoors?What if...were?

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For our interview panel, students will be able to ask questions to our ASD teachers and building principal, as well as Bob Wandel and Nate Bosch from the Outdoor Discovery Center. This will really help them focus their ideas around outdoor learning which is relevant to them at Sheldon Woods.

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Some of our students' thoughts on the driving question.

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Using the Creative Sequence results, we put students into mixed grade level groups, with a balance of every type of thinker in each one :)

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Once we completed our Entry Event walk, students joined in our "Campfire chat" to share their observations, thoughts, and notes about their field trip to our outdoor learning. Students shared their ideas to the guiding questions from their notebooks.

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Looking at all that we know.

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As a team, we watched the kickoff video to get excited about Michigan Design Prize and learn about our upcoming challenge.

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After the Need to Know protocol, we informed students that we will be interviewing a variety of experts next week, such as ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) teachers and staff, our principal and an ambassador and design expert from the Outdoor Discovery Center. They came up with a lot of questions!

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Question Sort: Generativity and Geniuneness

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Question Sort: Generativity and Geniuneness

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Students gather to ponder which questions will prompt new insight or understanding of the topic.

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After the video, we came together and introduced the teams to the driving question: Create a furniture concept that provides individuals with unique needs, or for use in various environments (public spaces, private spaces, natural environments, business spaces, industrial spaces). This really got them excited!

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Working in their mixed grade level groups.

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Our students took the Creative Sequence Assessment to discover what their creative preferences were. The results were used to create our furniture design groups.

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Poster of final idea, created for the pitch

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So many great ideas! How can we combine these ideas into one furniture design?

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Students ask the interview panel general questions about what they like and dislike about the furniture in their workspace. Students asked the interview panel which types of furniture are most effective for special populations and what furniture works best for outdoor learning spaces.

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Poster of final idea, created for the pitch

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Poster of final idea, created for the pitch

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Project Based Learning directly connects to all the spokes of West Ottawa's Instructional Compass.

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Mr. Bob, Mrs. Howell, Mr. Nate, Miss J, Mrs. Doctor (with feedback from Ms. Zietz-Hozeska)

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Mr. Bob shared that if he was to buy supplies, our superintendent would ask these 3 things: 1. Is it equitable? 2. Can it serve more than one purpose? 3. Is the product mobile?

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Time to reflect on what furniture concepts we like best and how to proceed on our furniture design.

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Students took notes to keep track of comments and suggestions made by our panel of experts. They took their feedback and information into consideration to help solve their driving question.

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What type of buyer am I trying to attract with my furniture design?

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Show through pictures, videos, examples of student work to reflect on the check ins done throughout the project.  How did students reflect throughout the process? How did student critique and revise?