2026 ICU BPW Journey by

OVERALL REFLECTION

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

We felt like the group came together very well as a whole, bringing very unique perspectives to the project, some with a lot of experience and others brand new. We were able to bond a lot through meals, cards, and activities, which helped us come up with a great solution. From the first year to the second, I learned the value of prototypes, and making the solution simple enough, yet offering specific details of costs and dates. The BPW audience really appreciated the details of the painting project, and seemed interested in making the project feasible.

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

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

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

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?

Reflection

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

We loved how the tours of the BPW made how these complex systems work very tangible for the students. The scavenger hunt was not just for fun, but truly made a point of reference for the entire project, as we went back to visualizing the hidden infrastructure revealed over and over.

Ambassador Quote

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

"You will all be utility nerds by the end of this." - Ms. Ashley

Student Quotes

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

“Alex, do you like traffic?” - Santos

“What are some fears we have other than Alex driving?” - Nicholas

“You driving.” - Kasey

"This is the holy trinity!" - Alex

"What Padlet?" - Jacob

“I know everything” - Reese

Resources

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

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

Reflection

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

In the incubation stage, I was impressed that students still refrained from proposing a specific solution. I think our students who had previously experienced the program understood this expectation, and the team followed suit. At the library, we found book covers that matched the BPW's problem, while imagining solving it from different points of view -- from Elon Musk to Taylor Swift.

Teacher Quotes on the Experience

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

"The students rose to a tough challenge, bringing such different life experiences together to form a cohesive team and a project they could be proud of. I love watching students emerge as leaders and communicators, learning to be stakeholders in their community." - Alex Sinn

Reflection

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

What went well in this stage?

We were able to take great tours, interview multiple employees, and do great research to learn about the company.

What surprised you?

The students did a great job holding off on answering the question and really embraced learning and investigating before jumping to the solution.

What would you do differently?

Nothing in particular, other than possibly having a representative talk about the history of BPW.

Reflection

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

As a team, we continually reflected on if our ideas and thoughts aligned with the driving question. This was a great way to stay on task and all pushing in the same direction. A concrete example of this was when we were in the solution stage starting to form our ideas, and we ended up putting them into a 3 pillar form which aligned greatly with answer each part of our driving question in their own way.

Idea Generating

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Checking In

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

We always had morning chats that allowed us very informal discussion about our project, our plans for the day, and feedback to one another. We did not require very rigid protocols as the students were so receptive to direction from one another. Card games and off-topic discussions helped break up the power thinking.

Reflection

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

What went well in this stage?

The students did a great job formulating a 3 pillar system for the solution instead of just giving one answer.

What surprised you?

The students did a wonderful job embracing the feedback they were giving each other, not taking it personally and growing from it!

What would you do differently next time?

Every solution is different, and that is the fun of this program. I would say that there could be more tinkering and changing small parts of the solution before we made our final pitch to perfect it.

Team/Class Picture

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Reflection

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

What went well in this stage?

Validation is always tricky with high school students, but we finished with a protocol where they took time to reflect about how they will take what they learned and apply it to their school, family/friends, and community. It was wonderful to hear what lessons they plan to take in the real world.

What surprised you?

The Sticky Note Awards were both comical, but heart warming and a great way to finish out time together.

Redirection/Clarification

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

We provided warm and cool feedback when small groups and individuals shared their ideas for solutions. We reminded students to check their ideas against driving question and the direction given to us by the business partner.

Authentic Audience

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

We had superintendents and a variety of employees come in to watch the final pitch at Holland BPW!

Entry Event

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Driving Question: How can Holland BPW engage with our community to celebrate the hidden infrastructure and work we do for our customers?

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Develop Ideas

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Some developing ideas include cards, painting infrastructures, and summer expos.

Design Challenge/Project Description

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Design an answer to the following question: How can Holland BPW engage with our community to celebrate the hidden infrastructure and work we do for our customers?

Narrowing Down/Deciding

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

All of the ideas we narrowed down to are included in our decision

Uncover Need to Knows

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Gaining Empathy

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Stakeholder and Empathy Maps were a great way to connect with different people in the community and in Holland BPW to help us investigate how to answer the question.

Project Title

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

BPW Panel

Stakeholders

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

Driving Question Understanding

futureprepd2 — 2026-04-01 15:21:22 UTC

We dissected our Driving Question several times and kept coming back to the important words to ensure all pillars of our project fit these needs: engage, celebrate, community (customers), and hidden infrastructure. We did this at every debrief after making a decision.

2026-06-15 18:42:39 UTC

Working in our stakeholder map, thinking about how our driving question affects different people in the community.

Scavenger hunt (PUPPY!)

2026-06-15 18:43:19 UTC

We had to take a picture of a dog drinking out of a bowl!

2026-06-15 18:43:44 UTC

Working on some research of Holland BPW to be prepared for our tours of the facilities tomorrow!

2026-06-15 18:43:46 UTC

2026-06-15 18:44:42 UTC

Nature walk after a great first day of investigating and observation!

Survey

2026-06-16 18:49:52 UTC

We wanted to gain insight to what the holland community knows about BPW. We created a quick survey to have people fill out at the holland farmers market.

100 ideas

2026-06-18 18:55:16 UTC

We each were given 10 minutes to create as many ideas as possible. We took our results and sorted by themes like social media, events, painting projects, etc. We then narrowed them down by removing duplicates and moved on to our NUF test.

2026-06-19 15:13:46 UTC

Creating slide show

2026-06-19 15:13:52 UTC

We worked to develop a slideshow to convey the ideas we came up with to a visual presentation.

Cards

2026-06-19 15:18:16 UTC

A little down time and team bonding playing card games!

kleinjanska — 2026-06-23 18:09:50 UTC

Sticky Note Awards

2026-06-25 15:18:24 UTC

To finish our time together, the students came up with an idea to give each other "Sticky Note Awards" which was a great validation to a wonderful two weeks together.

Final Presentation

asinn1 — 2026-06-25 15:25:37 UTC