berwick innovation center
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Berwick Academy Innovation CenterTRANSCRIPT
BERWICK INNOVATION CENTER
The Makerspace in the Middle School is equipped with two Makerbot 3D printers which allow our students the opportunity to apply mathematical reasoning, artistic sensibility, and engineering design to solve real problems in tangible ways.
T he Berwick Innovation Center (BIC) is an evolving program that reaches far beyond the physical Berwick Academy campus. BIC allows students
the opportunity to follow their own intrinsic path to discovery.Through BIC, students design, direct, and drive their learning.
Acknowledging that those roads are as different as every student, BIC pro-vides the framework for students to pursue their passion, learn more deeply, and connect to the subject matter in new and creative ways. Drawing from our mission, BIC encourages creativity, engagement, and entrepreneurship, while promoting the ideals of “virtue and useful knowledge.”
Innovation Center DirectorDarcy coffta
BIC?
WELCOME
Berwick’s curriculum balances tradition with innovation.
Simply, some ideas, texts, or thinkers are timeless while oth-ers are timely. The Curriculum Council is constantly reviewing what we teach and how we teach it, so our students can participate in classes that are interdisciplin-ary, engage ideas at the forefront of innovation, and hone 21st century skills.
IPs
INNOVATION JR.
INNOVATION PURSUITS
T he IP program is a curricular vehicle that allows students to fully engage
an intellectual passion. IPs are endeavors that are driven, designed, and directed by individual inquiry. Berwick believes an IP is a valuable learning experience and can play an integral role in the college process.
ELEMENTS Of BIC
CURRICULUM
T he Makerspace, located in the Middle School, strengthens a mindset and
culture of creativity, collaboration, trust, resiliency, and problem-solving in our community. The Makerspace is an incu-bator for innovation where questions are valued above answers, students learn by doing, and the final product is deter-mined and assessed by the individual.
T he power of play and explorative fun! Innovation
Jr. is an afterschool enrichment program available to students in grades 1-4. Following a club model, Innovation Jr. meets weekly from October through March and students collaborate and creatively problem-solve while working on projects led by a session-mentor.
What excites us most about BIC is its ability to be an ever-evolving program, continually
expanding and changing with our students’ interests. The possibilities for the program are endless and we look forward to what the future will bring for BIC.
FUTURE
CURRICULUM
MAKERSPACE
fEATURED IPs
I built a nuclear fusor to explore the potential of fusion as a viable energy source.
My IP confirmed my love of science. I intend to use my IP as part of my college port-
folio and pursue an engineering degree. Most importantly, my BIC experience provided me with a broad knowledge base and skill set that I can build on throughout my life.
“ThERE IS NO BETTER WAy TO APPLy ANd dEEPEN WhAT yOU LEARN IN ThE CLASSROOM ThAN By SOLV-INg REAL WORLd PROBLEMS. ThE INNOVATION CENTER INSPIREd ANd SUPPORTEd ME AS I dId ThAT.”
AIDAN COOKSON 2015
What’s my IP?
What I learned
“FUSION FOR FUN”
“I AM ThANKFUL ThAT BIC gAVE ME ThE OPPOR-TUNITy TO ACAdEMICALLy ANd CONSTRUCTIVELy
PURSUE My PASSION FOR MUSIC OUTSIdE OF A CLASSROOM SETTINg.”
“AN ExPLORATION INTO
AUThENTIC MUSIC RECORdINg”
BEN
THU
T 20
15
What’s my IP?
What I learned
I explored audio recording and music production using traditional studio techniques. I also assumed the role of producer by managing
artistic collaborations and mixing tracks.
M y IP was the first time I was able to comprehensively explore music recording and sound design. This experience was monumental in my acceptance to a month-long
summer program at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU. It was an amaz-ing experience and inspired me to pursue my interest in the music industry in college.
“I hAVE BEEN OPENEd TO A WORLd OF NEW POSSIBILITIES WITh BIC ANd ThAT hAS FURThEREd ME AS A STUdENT, AN ENgINEER, ANd A PERSON.”
ABBY CASE 2018
I built a ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle). I oversaw the design and production
of the frame, propulsion system, water collector, and temperature sensor.
What’s my IP?
My IP challenged me to move past simply ask-ing for an answer and allowed me to think
harder about possible solutions. Working on this IP has strengthened my creativity and critical thinking skills, and I am hoping to explore this field as a possible area of study and career.
What I learned
“R&d FOR A ROV”
INNOVATION JR.
InnovaTIon Jr. SeSSIonS:reCenT
JENNIFER BREWER,Lower School Librarian
“ThE LOWER SChOOL’S INNOVATION JR. PROgRAM FOSTERS dISCOVERy, CREATIVITy, ANd FUN; ThESE ENRIChMENT SESSIONS PROVIdE OUR yOUNgEST LEARNERS WITh ThE OPPORTUNITy TO ExPLORE ANd ExPERIMENT WITh NEW CONCEPTS ANd SKILLS.”
• Celebrate a Hero Using iPads• Chinese Calligraphy• Digital Scrapbooking and Paper
Journal Making• Eat the Rainbow: Fun with Food• Fiber Arts• Image Play: Fun with Digital
Photography• Lego Robotics• Math Games• Printmaking Marathon• Soap Making• Yoga
MAKERSPACE
“I BELIEVE ThAT STUdENTS WILL INVENT, ThEy WILL COLLABORATE, ANd ThEy WILL PERSEVERE WhEN ThEy ARE EMPOWEREd TO FOLLOW ThEIR INTERESTS. FOR ME, ThE MAKERSPACE IS A JUdgEMENT FREE zONE WhERE STUdENTS ARE ABLE TO ACT ON ThEIR OWN CURIOSITy ANd ExPERI-MENT PLAyFULLy; ThUS ENCOURAgINg ThE PURSUIT ANd APPLICATION OF USEFUL KNOWLEdgE.”
MARC SMALL, Middle School Science
agroup of Middle School students is hoping to create a Berwick version of the famous “Powers of Ten” documentary from 1977. By mounting a camera and GPS tracking device to a weather balloon,
these students hope to capture aerial images from at least 30,000 feet. They will then use a microscope camera to capture images of a cell at 400x magnification. These images will be used to create their own version of this famous documentary.
IdEA
IN
Th
E M
AK
INg
TIMELINE
20 IPsInnovation Celebration,
May 2012
researched best practices,
programmatic decisions,structure, and policy
2008-2009
5 IPsInaugural Innovation
Celebration, May 2010
2009-2010 1stYear
Presented to Trustees Mission and Culture Committee;
Innovation Celebration, May 2011
13 IPs
2NDYear
3rDYear
2010-20112011-2012
4thYear
reidy Interactive Lecture Series,Portsmouth, NH, September 2014;
Connected Librarian 2.0, September 2014;
Launched Makerspace, Fall 2014;
nAIS, Boston, February, 2015;
Innovation Celebration, May 2015
6thYear
ISANNE, Conference for Academic Program Leaders, Meredith, NH,
October 2012;
Chosen as a “School That Shines” by WCSH Newschannel 6, January 2013;
Follett Challenge Award, March 2013;
State of Maine LegislatureCommendation Award, May 2013;
Launched Innovation Jr. in the Lower School, Fall 2012;
Innovation Jr. Celebration, March 2013;
Innovation Celebration, May 2013
36 IPs
2012-2013
International Society for Technologyin Education conference,
Atlanta, July 2014;
40 IPs
Innovation Jr. Celebration, March 2014;
Innovation Celebration, May 2014;
Dover Mini Maker Faire, NH, August, 2014
5thYear
2013-2014
2014-2015
T he annual Berwick Innovation Celebration takes place in the spring and is a time for the community to come together to celebrate and showcase our students’ creative and original Innovation Pursuits
(IPs). The celebration begins with a keynote address from both a guest and student speaker. Recent guest keynote speakers have included Dr. Yet Ming Chiang of MIT and Dr. Saeed Arida of NuVu Studio.
The main purpose of the celebration is for our students to present their IPs to a group of panelists who come from the Berwick community, local schools, businesses, and organizations. Our panelists play a critical role in the evaluation process of all IPs by providing useful feedback that is shared with the student and mentor.
BERWICKINNOVATION CELEBRATION
GOOGLEELIZA
CORPORATIONBOSTON SEED
CAPITALNEWMARKET
TECHNOLOGIESWHERE OUR
HAVE COME FROMPAST PANELISTS
Dr. Yet-Ming Chiang is a Kyocera Professor of Ceramics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
whose research focuses on the design, syn-thesis, and characterization of advanced inorganic materials and related devices. Dr. Chiang was a recipient of The Economist’s Innovation Award in 2012 for his research in battery technology.
Dr. yEt-MING cHIaNG, MIt
Dr. Saeed Arida is the Founder and Chief Excitement Officer at NuVu Studio, a magnet innovation center for young
minds in Cambridge, MA. At NuVu Studio, students learn in a hands-on environment with coaches who help students create projects and move through many, many iterations. Dr. Arida received his PhD in architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dr. SaEED arIDa, Nuvu StuDIo
KEYNOTE SPEAKERSINNOVATION CELEBRATION
31 Academy StreetSouth Berwick, Maine 03908
207.384.6300www.berwickacademy.org
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