2026 MDC Quincy Winter Academy Template PBL JOURNEY by

Authentic Audience/Celebration

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:32:33 UTC

We had an AMAZING turnout of parents, grandparents, siblings and even our principal to act an an authentic audience for us. All three groups presented their pitches, answered questions and showed off their hard work!

QUOTES/CONTACTS

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:32:33 UTC

"Thank you so much for providing this experience for our kids!"-Allie Nelson, Parent

Business Connections

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:32:33 UTC

Fleetwood Furniture: Phil Brechting and Matt Marzolf

Team Photo

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:32:33 UTC

Our Driving Question

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:32:33 UTC

How can we design a piece of classroom furniture that makes school easier and fits the needs of all students?

futureprepd2 — 2025-10-22 14:32:33 UTC

Lock Box

2026-01-15 15:31:29 UTC

We split our group into two teams and worked through a few observation protocols in order to open our lockbox. Inside, students found a pop-it keychain, some candy and our driving question. Some of these locks proved tricky for our students...good practice for middle school lockers!! :)

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Hopes/Fears/Norms

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Creative DNA Assessment

2026-01-15 15:38:40 UTC

Students read through PowerPoint slides and took note of the statements that they resonated most with. We ended up with a good mix of all four sections: Investigator, Brainstormer, Decider and Presenter.

2026-01-15 15:39:44 UTC

Collab Tower

2026-01-15 15:42:21 UTC

Students were split up into two groups to create a collab tower. We then put the whole group back together to see if they could build an even better tower. The group all agreed that smaller groups, with good planning and communication, worked better than a group with "too many cooks in the kitchen."

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Planning their tower.

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Starting the process of building the tower.

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More building.

2026-01-20 16:52:47 UTC

“Unpacking” our driving question to make sure we really understand what it’s asking.

Bug List

2026-01-20 16:58:11 UTC

Students traveled around the school taking notes on things that "bug" them about the furniture in classrooms they frequent or have been students in before.

2026-01-20 17:06:02 UTC

Stopping by the art room.

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Visiting our STEM room.

2026-01-20 17:07:20 UTC

Empathy Map

2026-01-20 17:10:36 UTC

We created an empathy map to consider the experience of ALL students in classrooms.

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Interviews

2026-02-05 19:18:00 UTC

We were so fortunate to have two employees from Fleetwood Furniture come in and spend an hour and half with us!! They answered our interview questions and gave us feedback for our initial ideas.

Idea Quota

2026-02-05 19:19:30 UTC

Our goal: 200 ideas in 10 minutes!

Saturate and Group

2026-02-05 19:21:04 UTC

CTC Visit

2026-02-05 19:25:54 UTC

Students were put into final groups and created posters of their "working" solutions to present to the high school students at the CTC. In between presentations, students were able to make changes based on feedback gathered from the classrooms we visited.

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Crazy Eights

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Poster Session

2026-02-11 21:33:47 UTC

Script Creation for our Pitches

2026-02-11 21:34:03 UTC

Students were given the pitch template to use and fill out. Then the creative writing began!

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Check In and Revise

2026-02-11 21:58:50 UTC

Students had time to debrief after their presentations to their authentic audiences at the CTC. Revisions were made before their next round of presentations.

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Elevator Pitch

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Thrive Comfort

2026-02-19 22:31:35 UTC

Super Storage Unit

2026-02-19 22:47:09 UTC

Happy Workspace

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2026-02-25 21:16:56 UTC

"I really liked Winter Academy. I would do it next year." Eden

2026-02-25 21:18:45 UTC

"This has been a very fun experience. I hope to do it again."-Ana

2026-02-25 21:19:48 UTC

"I am proud of everyone and had fun! I hope we win." -Leo

2026-02-25 21:20:41 UTC

" I learned teamwork and you can group different drawings together." -Ireland

2026-02-25 21:21:58 UTC

"I learned that drawings can become a whole product." -Sidney

2026-02-25 21:22:43 UTC

"I learned that I can work as a team and present information in front of people." -Cody

2026-02-25 21:23:42 UTC

"I learned that there is more than just working together in Winter Academy." -Johnny

2026-02-25 21:25:11 UTC

"I love Winter Academy because I usually have nothing to do on Thursdays and it's fun." -Abe

2026-02-25 21:26:18 UTC

"I hope we got to the next part of the challenge so I can see the S.S.U. in real life." -Finn

2026-02-25 21:27:00 UTC

"This was fun. I liked it. It was hard, but I had fun. I am sad this is the end of this academy." -Miles

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