Byron Center — John Ball Zoo is looking for a fresh take on how to increase accessibility and foster a sense of belonging in the communities it serves, and it’s turning to students at Byron Center High School for help.
The zoo was one of nine area businesses that collaborated with 12th-grade English classes for a unit on design thinking, which asked students to pitch solutions to issues affecting the businesses.
Students developed their pitches over the course of about six weeks, meeting with representatives from the businesses first to get a breakdown of the problem that needed solving, then to provide a progress report before giving a final presentation on their proposed solution.
As presentations wrapped up in mid-January, student groups assigned to John Ball Zoo presented their proposals to the zoo’s marketing team. Ideas included offering translation stations, sensory rooms, community art opportunities and more.
Will Lake and Chris Brown’s group suggested that the zoo reserve time specifically for kids with special needs.
“They wanted to get more inclusion in the zoo, especially with special-needs kids, so we came up with the idea to dedicate an entire day, or maybe a night, to get these kids involved,” Chris said. “We’d have sensory-friendly spaces. We’d have spaces where, if kids get too overwhelmed, they can go there and just relax and sit on a couch.”
‘When the students know that this is a real business and a real problem that they’re talking about, they’re just that much more (invested) in making sure they do it right.’
— teacher Linda Baas
Program Gets an Upgrade
The design thinking unit started in the 2023-24 school year, but it wasn’t very successful, said English teacher Linda Baas.
“The first year we did it, we tried to do it in-house, where the kids find problems to solve within the school or the district. It didn’t go over well because it wasn’t authentic. It was kind of made-up problems,” said Baas.
“The problem was the kids didn’t take it super seriously,” said Eric Kelliher, a career readiness consultant at Kent ISD who worked with BCHS to develop the design thinking program. “They weren’t as engaged, they didn’t follow through very well, it was kind of a flop.”
Kelliher pushed for the school to partner with local businesses for the second year of the program, and helped facilitate that process once it was approved.
Examining real issues affecting real businesses seemed to ignite the students’ creativity and drive to problem-solve, said Baas, who said it “made all the difference in the world.”
“The authenticity of it is pretty amazing,” she said. “When the students know that this is a real business and a real problem that they’re talking about, they’re just that much more (invested) in making sure they do it right.”
A Hit With Students
The updated project was a hit with students like Will, Chris and their fellow group members who presented to John Ball Zoo, and with groups assigned to other businesses.
“Working with a real company gave us a real-world aspect of how projects and situations are going to be once you get outside of high school,” said Will. “This project gave us a better outlook of … the future in life, and when we’re in jobs solving real-world situations and working with a team. A lot of transferable skills, I’d say, came out of this presentation, and just working with others and having a fun time doing it.”
Ella Wolters and Jordan Kems’ group pitched solutions to LaFleur Marketing, which was looking for input on how to effectively present marketing data to clients. The group presented an idea for a website portal that presents individualized company data to LaFleur clients, with AI being used to summarize data in simplified terms.
Both Ella and Jordan said they learned a lot from the experience.
“I got to expand my knowledge of marketing, and it honestly kind of helped me think, ‘Oh, do I want to go into a career like this?’” said Ella.
“I feel like it kind of showed us the real world. Like, we’re in school right now and there’s not many problems we have to solve, but when you do get into a career, there are problems that you’re going to come across. … And it’s not like, ‘Oh, this is the answer,’ like you find it right away — it takes time and effort to figure that out.”
Added Jordan: “We really learned how to work as a team overall. Just coming up with different ideas and building off of them.”
In addition to John Ball Zoo and LaFleur, participating organizations included GMB Architecture & Engineering, Grand Rapids Environmental Services, Custer Office Furniture, TowerPinkster, Stryker, the Michigan High School Esports Federation and Vervint.
‘It honestly kind of helped me think … do I want to go into a career like this?’
— senior Ella Wolters
The zoo representatives were impressed with what they heard.
“It’s nice to have different insight from an outside perspective,” said communications coordinator Kristen Mann. “They are thinking outside of the box. … It’s really cool to hear their thoughts.”
It’s possible that some of the students’ pitches will actually be implemented at these businesses, if the ideas are good enough.
There was a competitive element to the unit as well, as each business selected the best presentation they heard, and the winners received gift cards provided by parents.
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