Green School Community Innovation Hub (iHub)
Can you imagine a school where students could incubate and investigate ideas and turn them into real solutions? Where learning has a distinct flavour of purpose?
The world is calling out for new approaches to education. Approaches where students learn to apply knowledge and skills to real-world solutions. Ways to be able to creatively problem-solve, collaborate and to think in systems. The unique Green School Community Innovation Hub (iHub) is one of the ways Green School is bringing this idea to life. Enabling students to draw learning from every part of the campus and beyond, to implement, in a hands-on and purposeful way, the hybrid academic disciplines of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics).
Green School students making bio soap from used cooking oil.
In January 2018, the doors will open to a hub of innovation and fabrication. It will be alive with the sights and sounds of collaboration and creation. One of the many pieces of equipment and tools that students will be working with will be 3D printers. Why 3D printing? In embracing the technological future, there is growing demand for mastery of 3D, virtual, and augmented reality skills. Teaching 3D printing not only equips students with the skills they need for the future but also enhances their knowledge of the STEM subjects. 3D printing allows for rapid prototyping, while digital fabrication also enables designers to combine beauty with function while cutting down on material costs and time. This is all part of the zero-waste goal for the Innovation Hub.
3D Printing Workshop for High School students.
Community Integration
The Innovation Hub will be the new home for Green School’s growing social enterprises. BioBus, the first student-led sustainable school buses, running on used cooking oil converted to biodiesel, will take up residence. As will KemBali, Green School’s resource management and recycling station. The Kul Kul Connection, Green School’s community outreach program, which provides English and Sustainable Learning for nearly 300 local students around the Green School neighborhood, will also have their own space. The new spacious Innovation Hub will enable students and community to incubate ideas, research and develop the social enterprises even further.
Local children learning about sustainable projects at Green School.
Human Library
The Innovation Hub is not just a new addition to the beautiful bamboo campus, it will also play a role as a human library. The idea of going to the library and reading about specific topics will come to life as students can go to the Innovation Hub and learn from real entrepreneurs, artists, and professionals. Real people who are part of our community, or are friends of Green School and who have knowledge, expertise, and experience to share. This way students gain experiential learning in everything from technical know-how and artistic design to financial skills, from managing projects and teams to developing partnerships. This is 21st-century skills in practice.
Green School students consulting with parent mentors
Bridging the Gap
Construction of the Innovation Hub will be completed at the end of 2017. $200,000+ was raised earlier this year to establish the facility and the 700+ children who will have access to the Innovation Hub will be the direct beneficiaries of our generous donors. Supporting students to be changemakers, to get their ideas off the drawing board and into real life is at the heart of the Innovation Hub. It will be another example of how Green School is leading the way in 21st-century education. Bridging the gap between theory and practice. Bringing technology into education in new and exciting ways. Unleashing the potential of our community of learners to incubate ideas and turn knowledge into real solutions. This is 21st-century learning. This is Green School.
Innovation Hub at Green School.
Help us to support approximately 700 students and changemakers to turn ideas into real-world solutions. The iHub officially opens on January 12, 2018 at Green School. Watch the video here.