Good question. Here's a little bit about some class of 2018 Innovations students and their experience. I asked every senior how their year in Innovations has been, and to tell me a bit about a project that they did that stuck out as their favorite.
MAGGIE Innovations has been fantastic. I’m thankful for all the experiences I’ve gotten from this class and all the lessons I’ve learned, like how to think outside of the box and not be afraid to fail.
My partner and I worked on a project that we put a lot of effort into that didn’t go as planned, and we failed, but we learned a lot from it. I learned how to fail. AMNA I learned a lot of new things like creativity and negotiation with my classmates. I also got to meet a lot of new people that I would not have met outside of this class.
For my community partners project, I worked with the Fishers police department. We were able to answer the question that was given to us by the officer with a program that helps with school security. ERIKKA It’s been inspiring. I feel like I’ve come into myself and figured out what I want to do in the future.
I really liked the recycling project that I just did. It really opened my eyes and other people’s eyes to how much waste we produce on a daily basis. KACIE My year in innovations was fun and a new experience for me. We did fun projects and I thought it was cool that we could go outside the box and go outside the classroom. We got to go outside the classroom to solve real world problems and I thought it was different and creative.
I really liked the community partners project because we were able to go out in the community and make a difference and they actually took our ideas. RILEY My year in innovations was good. I got some super diverse experiences through this class.
My favorite would be the community partners project because I got to work with Fishers parks and rec and implement recycling in parks in Fishers. That project just launched, and it was good to make an actual difference in the community and not just do busy work. DEREK This year in innovations has been really eye opening. It has really given me new ways to think about things and new ways to be creative from a different perspective
My favorite project was the community partners project (Fishers zoning and planning) because it gave me a chance to be creative and do something that really impacted the community. ANDREW It’s been a good year full of many fun things a lot of good projects. I met a lot of great people and made good connections.
I was trying to fund raise for our best buddies program and we managed to become the top fundraising team in Indiana which I am very proud of. DALTON It’s been interesting because a lot of the kids in the class I normally would have never been around.
I liked the community project. It was a lot of fun because it was a clear-cut problem with a solution that we just went and did. It was really straight-forward and it made a lot of sense and it really impacted something. AARON I really liked my year because normally I don’t get the chance to work on anything serious during school. As most of my hobbies/interests have nothing to do with school. Having a class with projects that I would like to do anyway was nice.
One of my favorites is the one I’m working on right now which is a general project of working on my website and youtube and finding new ways to increase viewership. ERICA I think it’s been really fun and it’s definitely the most unique class at HSE. I think I’ve found many great things about myself through this class. CAM My year in innovations has been really great. It’s been incredibly eye opening knowing that we can not be afraid of failure and fail forward. I shouldn’t fear that. It welcomes failure and it welcomes being able to do whatever you want. One project that has really stood out to me has been trying to work on my own brand as a photographer. It’s something that I had been wanting to do for a while and I knew that it was something I wanted to do as a hobby or a profession. ABIGAIL My year in innovations has been a ride to say the least. When I started out I didn’t really know what the class was going to be, I just knew that it was something I wanted to be a part of. It started out really guided and you learn a lot about yourself and how you can approach the world and problems in it. Second semester you can just go and find your own projects and do what you can with what you’ve been taught. It was very rewarding.
Anything that we did where we used community partners was really cool to me. I think part of the draw of the class was that people around the community were willing to listen to us. And it made me feel like I could really make a change. Whether I’m working w city councilmen or local business owners, there were adults who wanted to hear out ideas and partner without projects TYLER My year went well, there were more presentations than I expected and we met with more important people than I expected but it also had cooler opportunities than I expected, like being with goldfish swim school. When I got partnered with them, they offered me a job, so this class gave me a job opportunity that I didn’t expect to get either.
The draft project that I did was really fun. CODY The year was good and successful. It was better than I thought because we got to do a lot of fun things like going to launch fishers and fail fest.
The community partners project let us meet different people. it put us in touch with people and we got to put what we learned all year into practice. KENDAL It was really good. I liked all the projects we did
I liked the passion project because it taught me a lot about myself and what I want to do in college. It was with special ed. I made a website talking about what its like to be in the class and work with the kids. KATIE It’s been amazing. I love having the freedom to do all sorts of projects and they’re based on your own personality so it’s creating your own project with very few restrictions.
I really enjoyed the community part project. It forced me to work with new people and to work in an environment that I didn’t really know anything about. I worked with fishers zoning and planning, so I got to explore a whole new career that I never thought was even possible TOM My experience has been great because I’ve gotten to know a lot about myself personally from the projects that allow you to figure out a lot about yourself and what you’re good at.
One of my favorite projects is working with Katie to make the courtyards in HSE a little nicer, with some flowers and colorful rocks and things like that. HANNAH I’ve really liked the class. It’s really different than I thought it would be since it’s the first year. It was different, but in a good way. It has allowed me to grow as a person and with my thinking and it’s going to definitely help me in the real world.
I really liked the self-portrait project. I did a 3-d model of a cherry blossom tree with things that I describe myself with on the branches, and I just really liked being creative in that way. CHLOE My year has been great. I’ve learned a lot of stuff about myself, design thinking, and ideation techniques. It’s been fun getting to know a lot of new people.
My favorite project was what makes you tick. I made a scrapbook and I put a bunch of stuff of my friends, family places I’ve traveled to, and my adventures. NICK My innovations experience has been incredible. I’ve worked on a lot of cool projects.
One of the coolest was working with Clear Object which was where I got to build a prototype of an app and I got to learn a lot about their company and meet some cool people through them. LAURA My year has been amazing. I like having a class that I can express myself in rather than do traditional work. There’s so much freedom that lets you work on what you’re passionate about and I think that so cool, especially with what I am interested in.
I created a youtube channel, so being able to do that through this class is awesome. I’ve worked on learning to brand myself as an entertainer and I’m learning a lot about how to build my platform and learning about the industry. ABBY My year has been very creative and exploratory, and I’ve been given the chance to touch upon my own interests.
I’ve been working on a mentorship program with my partner to implement it into the HSE district. We are scheduling meetings with the youth mentoring initiative to try and incorporate into an actual mentorship program. HALEIGH My year was great. I got to meet a bunch of new people and team up with some cool people.
The community partners project was my favorite because I got to work for the fire department and meet a lot of their members, as well as get paired up with many people that I wouldn’t have met otherwise. NOAH Innovations a lot of us grew into a family which was really cool, because it wasn’t all seniors that I already knew.
I worked with the YMCA and the southeastern sports network which was to create a broadcasting network here at HSE. TIMMONS I loved this class because it helped me to find what I want to do college wise, and I found that I want to study business. I got to find out who I am in this class.
I liked the design thinking week with Mark, and the first semester projects were really fun and eye opening. RENZULLI My year was very eventful and fun. I’m making a 10-song album with my own music, writing and producing that. It was my favorite because it has been the most rewarding.