Design Challenge

Design Challenge brings together teams of students to engage in design thinking challenges to solve local community problems.

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Teams of middle school students engage in design thinking challenges to solve local community problems while their teachers gain aligned, cohort-based professional learning to incorporate design thinking as a problem-solving approach in their instructional practice. Businesses or nonprofits in each city serve as the client for the challenge and support local teams, including by providing professionals to mentor student design teams.

Design Challenge originated as a single-day event held across cities, where middle schoolers, local companies and partners, and community members came together to engage in design thinking. Each Design Day centered on solving a community challenge, with solutions designed by students. After spending the day building a prototype, the day culminated students presenting to a panel of professional judges and awards ceremony. Previous Design Day partners include:

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• Obama Foundation

• The Newark Alliance

• Grow With Google

• Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh

• Newark Symphony Hall

• Tree Pittsburgh

• Chicago Architecture Center

• Panasonic