Building Creative Confidence at Camp — A Young Innovators Experience
Future Design School has been running Young Innovators Camp in locations all over North America for a number of summers. Each new program brings with it an incredible new cohort of innovators, full of BIG ideas waiting to be discovered and youth who are beginning to embark on an entrepreneurial journey.
It can be difficult at times to describe just how unique and transformative the experience is for our participants. This isn’t your average summer camp! Jack, a Grade 7 student, attended our camp in London, Ontario and wasn’t sure what to expect when he began, but soon, he would describe the experience as “the greatest camp I have ever done”.
“When I first signed up for the camp… I started wondering what it was. I thought [it] was going to be sort of like a coding camp…” but he was delighted to find out that it was something very different. The great thing about the Young Innovators program, is that it engages kids with all areas of interest. It provides a platform for everyone to uncover passions and develop something unique. It teaches kids some of the same tools that industry experts are using to create innovative technology — but without the coding. What we focus on in our Level 1 programming, is teaching kids the tools to leverage that technology to create meaningful change in the world.
Throughout Jack’s week at camp, he learned methods to help him both uncover problems in the world he is passionate about as well as a variety of tools to help him develop the big ideas he didn’t even know he had. In fact, one of the highlights he pointed out of his Young Innovators experience, was all of the activities he learned to come up with and help make his ideas come to life.
At the beginning of the week, Jack participated in activities that helped him highlight the connection he felt toward environmental issues; specifically the lack of green spaces in his community. He decided that he wanted to help create more places in London for people to enjoy nature. He also wanted to encourage others to also get involved. Over the course of the program Jack built a prototype of an easy to use app that would allow users to design their own green spaces, in a location of their choice, and help them arrange all of the materials needed in one simple app. His hope, is that eventually people everywhere would be able to use this app to help create more green spaces in cities around the world. “My solution [is called} Eco Space, an app that lets you chose the location where you want your green space to go, and the [elements] you want [to include like] flowers, trees and wooden benches”.
“I learned strategies, [like how to] start my own company/business, and become a successful entrepreneur like Sarah.”
Jack had an amazing experience over the course of the week. “[Young Innovators] is the greatest camp I have ever done… I tell [my friends] that it is my favourite camp, because it is a lot different than any camp I have ever done before!”
Jack’s mom Sheila B. also appreciated the variety that Future Design School’s Young Innovators program brought to the London camp scene. “Summer camps are usually sports or arts related. The Young Innovators Program allows kids to take the uninterrupted time to do deep critical thinking in a safe environment. I think that is one of the reasons Jack liked it so much: it pushed his thinking and skills…at camp!” This action packed, high energy week is not only an opportunity to dive into your ideas, but also a place to meet new people and have a lot of fun!
When asked about some of the challenges he faced, Jack shared he “was really struggling to find a solution for my problem to reach [his] goal”. But with the support of his facilitators, Young Leaders and fellow Young Innovators, Jack “used all of their advice and [his own] ideas and put them into one big project”. Great entrepreneurs solicit advice from others to help improve their ideas. Learning these fundamentals skills, provides campers with the transferable skills to problem solve in any capacity!
What one of the most exciting things about Young Innovators, is the impact it has on our campers. When we asked Jack about the impact it had on him, he told us, “It changed the way I view problems, and how I come up with solutions.” Building a sense of unfailing optimism and perseverance are just a few of the entrepreneurial skills and mindset we foster. When asked, Jack’s mother Sheila, she told us, “Confidence!”
“Jack loved Young Innovators! Every day he would come home from camp with new ideas and learning. He felt like this experience allowed him to think differently and be creative.”
Over the course of the week, our Young Innovators are not only exposed to tools and methods, but facilitators work hard to connect with local entrepreneurs who can help provide campers with additional mentorship and share their own stories. This is an opportunity to learn from others, gain feedback on their ideas and be inspired from someone else’s entrepreneurial journey. These experiences have a lasting impact on our campers and help them to iterate on their own ideas.
Simply put, Young Innovators is an incredible week that is difficult to sum up in a few sentences. But, “if you are looking for a program that will encourage your child to think differently, meet other like-minded peers, gain confidence and develop skills that will support their future plans in school, life and work, this is the program that will do that!”
We have a number of Young Innovators Summer Camps running this summer around Ontario. Several locations will have both Young Innovators Level 1 and Level 2 available — but secure your place soon, spots are filling up!
REGISTER TODAY for camp at www.futuredesignschool.com/events
We also have camps running out of schools across North America! For more information on where our other camps are running, questions about the program or how to BRING YOUNG INNOVATORS TO YOUR SCHOOL please email Rachel Franks at rachel@futuredesignschool.com.
