Jennifer Jenkins, Roger Rushworth, Michael Petrescu, Andrea Karas, Patricia Neary, Kirsten Hopes-McFadden, Amal Seif, Laura Rais and Amy Migliore

Jenkins and her colleagues’ innovative teaching idea, “Solar Cooker Design Challenge,” is designed to build a strong foundation for students in reading, writing, and math skills through this inquiry-based project. The project involves having students design and test a solar cooker from knowledge accumulated over three years of integrated STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) curriculum. According to Jenkins, design thinking follows a standard pattern: define the problem, brainstorm radical solutions, find prototypes of solutions, get feedback on how it works, and fix problems before implementation. The process involves teachers guiding students in answering essential questions of deep interest to the learners, naturally integrating the study of STEM subjects and the arts. Students will propose their product to an international nonprofit to help them bring the prototype to market. Ultimately, students become "professionals," applying advanced content and authentic methods to develop better products and services for real world audiences.