Innovation Academy
I’ve always questioned school. Seeking a purpose and a practical use for my learning has always been a goal of mine. I was looking for something different at school. Something new, refreshing, and something that would get me interested in learning again. This is where they should be paying me: The Innovation Academy, located at the American International school of Lima, is an interdisciplinary program where students get to work almost completely autonomously, designing their own curriculum, gearing it towards their own interests and applying their learning in the real world. The IA is a new way of learning, one that I'm proud to be part of. Below are some of the projects I’ve worked on in the IA:
The R-Files
The task was simple: Find a problem plaguing our city, Lima and photograph that problem. Pssshhh... Lima's got plenty of issues. Which is why we decided to take a different path. The solid waste pollution in Lima is crazy, and it's a really large-scale topic to tackle, so we narrowed it down a bit and agreed our school had enough problems with trash itself. Specifically, recycling. Faculty of the school praised Colegio Roosevelt for being so eco-friendly, and they kept reminding us about their environmentally knowledgeable selves so much my group got a little suspicious. We launched an investigation into the school's recycling program, to find the truth. Along the way, we encountered plenty of problems that reminded us of one of our favorite sci-fi shows, the X-files. This ultimately led to the project name. Our final product, which was an improvised trash separation bin system, was put into place temporarily, for testing purposes. Thanks to prototyping, we realized our new system wasn't working. The problem wasn't caused by the school faculty, but the students. They were placing their waste into the wrong bins. We concluded that this was due to a lack of education on recycling matter and we launched a campaign of posters, speeches, and labelings to help educate the student body. In the end, we joined the other students of the IA for a final photo exhibition, all set-up and marketed by us. This project required proficiency in research, communication, photography, marketing, teamwork, and of course... patience.
"SITIOS" Magazine
independent Project
Our task as a cohort was to create a product that combined elements from three different classes. English, Humanities, and Media Arts. We chose to go forward with a magazine of professional quality, where us, the students, were assigned different roles in order to ensure a meticulously crafted finished product. Enter "SITIOS". Our target audience were new members of the international community at Colegio Roosevelt in Lima. Most of us knew what it was like to be new to a city, country, or continent and know nothing about the culture or the area. We wanted to familiarize our audience with Lima. Independently, we highlighted a specific location, be it a restaurant or a crossfit gym, researching, taking photographs, and composing an article. Once this was done, the cohort was split up into teams. Marketng, Layout, Finance, and Editing. As an Editor, I was tasked with making sure every individuals articles were top notch. In the end, we published a magazine with quality photos, articles, and content.
Students are given the freedom to choose an area of interest to base their independent project on. They must create and prototype a finished product, and test that product with a target audience. I chose writing. A book, specifically. I'm currently creating a science-fiction/alternate history novel, with the goal of becoming a published young-adult fiction book. To do this, I am in contact with two authors who are serving as "experts" and giving me feedback on my writing. I have tested my book with middle school students, and asked them specific questions as to how my writing can improve.
