Dykhuis Winter 2026 Academy Design Challenge by

Experts from ODC

futureprepd2 — 2025-11-20 19:44:09 UTC

Much of our revision was done with help from experts. Each day we seemed to get more refined info., and they continued to tweak their solution.

QUOTES/CONTACTS

futureprepd2 — 2025-11-20 19:44:09 UTC

"I had no idea that Dykhuis owned ALL of this! They are an important part of our community."

Joe Dkyhuis, President of Dykhuis Farms, gave us a personal tour of all of their properties in the Hamilton/Holland area.

futureprepd2 — 2025-11-20 19:44:09 UTC

Please list speakers and business partners you encountered throughout your journey.

Team Photo

futureprepd2 — 2025-11-20 19:44:09 UTC

Our Driving Question

futureprepd2 — 2025-11-20 19:44:09 UTC

How can we as business people and environmental stewards better use the large, mowed, grassy areas on Dykhuis properties?

futureprepd2 — 2025-11-20 19:44:09 UTC

Our ambassador, Jessica VandenBosch

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 13:50:24 UTC

Joe and Jessica gave us a great tour of the headquarters. SO MUCH happens, even in the off-season.

meeting lots of team members

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 13:52:43 UTC

A great slide show

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 13:54:06 UTC

Jessica went above and beyond to build us a slide show containing so much of the information that we're gonig to need.

Stakeholders Map

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 13:55:27 UTC

Lots of practice with mini presentations

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 13:56:49 UTC

Empathy Maps

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 13:58:54 UTC

One stakeholder was "the wildlife."

Another Empathy Map

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 14:00:09 UTC

Aldi is our favorite place for snacks!

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 14:01:07 UTC

Teamwork

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 14:06:25 UTC

Students are intentionally teamed up on our first day of work to help students branch out.

skapenga4 — 2026-01-11 14:07:31 UTC

Top 10 via Google Meets...(snow day!)

2026-01-20 21:12:45 UTC

Slideshow for our Google Meets

2026-01-20 21:14:29 UTC

Pains + Gains ---> Speedboat!

2026-01-22 20:58:28 UTC

More work on Google Meet!

NUF test

2026-02-06 18:00:40 UTC

Group and Saturate

2026-02-06 18:01:19 UTC

Our groups ended up falling under two main themes: Environment and Community

2026-02-06 18:02:38 UTC

Getting ideas laid out

2026-02-06 18:02:44 UTC

Pains and Gains after hearing from a lot of Dykhuis people

2026-02-06 18:04:18 UTC

Digital version of Speedboat

2026-02-06 18:04:21 UTC

This was actually a great activity for Zoom. The efficiency of doing it simultaneously generated more ideas than when we've done it in perons.

Half way mark - Remind them of our Padlet

2026-02-06 18:04:57 UTC

Critical Friends - Alumni of Dykhuis!

2026-02-06 18:09:38 UTC

We tried having our Critcal Friends be alumni of Dykhuis Academy 2025, and it went fabulously! They provided great feedback!

Alumni presented their final pitch

2026-02-06 18:11:23 UTC

The students really appreciated seeing what last year's group did! It gave them motivation and a better sense of the intricacies needed to really sell your idea!

Idea sparked!

2026-02-06 18:13:01 UTC

One big takeaway was the idea of a deliverable for the audience at the final pitch. Because the solution involves using the land to grow flowers/tulips, they decided to give out flowers.

Economic opportunity

2026-02-06 18:15:39 UTC

In addition to the great community-service ideas, students recognized that some for-profit options could be very beneficial to Dykhuis.

Read the Temperature

2026-02-19 21:28:10 UTC

Checking in to see how students are feeling was helpful. We tried to find a balance of a little fun and little pressure - to keep working.

Final Pitch

2026-02-25 18:40:36 UTC

The team chose to hang their favorite posters up at the presentation, and that was a hit!

Connecting through technology

2026-02-25 18:42:03 UTC

This year, the CEO was in Indiana, so he Zoomed in.

Kids shared great answers about their positive experience!

2026-02-25 18:43:41 UTC

It was great that our audience asked the students how they felt about the process. It was a great time of reflection. I suggest all audiences do that after the students have presented.

Student reflections...

2026-02-25 18:47:45 UTC

Our final pitch (Part 1 of 20

2026-02-25 18:50:55 UTC

Part 1

Our final pitch (Part 2 of 2)

2026-02-25 18:52:15 UTC

Refining our slides

2026-02-25 18:53:28 UTC

Students did an excellent job recognizing the need for a cohesive slide deck. Our aesthetics curators made sure each individuals's part tied to the whole.

The last push to finish...

2026-02-25 18:56:11 UTC

We were able to fit in two practice runs. This is where students were able to stand on their own two feet. They did great, not needing any hand-holding.

Team thought:

2026-02-25 18:58:57 UTC

Although they found the first weeks of initial investigation a bit "annoying," after seeing where it got them, they did appreciate it.

Great staff!

2026-02-25 19:01:25 UTC

The staff at Dykhuis took the time to answer our questions. Learning about the culture of Dykhuis helped make are solution specifically applicable to them.

Final Group Photo!

2026-02-26 19:27:47 UTC

Congratulations to our TEAM for a job well done! We had fun, learned a ton, and grew as people!