Aoife Devereux
Website Editor
The Convent Elementary and Stuart Hall for Boys seventh and eighth graders joined the high schools last Wednesday for a design thinking workshop at the Palace of Fine Arts, where students learned how to be innovators who create their own future.
Guest speakers include investor Ron Conway, artist Dana Hart-Stone, investor Sameer Gandhi, co-founder of Remind101 David Kopf and owner of Kara’s Cupcakes Kara Lind who elaborated on their careers and how they accomplished their goals.
“I hoped that students would have the experience of a professional day off-campus replicating the type of professional workshop, that ultimately students will experience again when they are older and in their careers,” Head of School Rachel Simpson said.
Each speaker described a different aspect of success in a variety of professional fields. The overarching message behind the symposiums was for the students to find something they love, push through the challenges and to be persistent in the midst of failure according to Simpson.
“I learned that to get what you want and to be successful, you can’t work in the established system,” junior Sarah Niehaus said. “You have to create your own system and it might make some people unhappy, but it is hard to be successful otherwise.”
In order to inspire students who attended the workshop to use their new knowledge of design thinking and innovation, the Schools are offering to fund a startup with $2,500 to $3,000 to applicants whose entrepreneurship embodies the values of the Sacred Heart Goals.
“The full process will involve providing information to the students during the school year, letting people know what the criteria would be, and coming to do a full pitch to an expert panel,” President Ann Marie Krejcarek said. “Anyone who pitches will have a good idea, and even if their idea is not chosen there is still the ability to advise them on what their next steps will be because this isn’t the end.”
The symposium entailed exploring a design process through design thinking and discovering how students can “dream up great ideas.” Students explored the steps behind design thinking through interactive experiences provided by the speakers.
“We are very fortunate in being a school in the Bay Area where we are among people who are very successful in the field of innovation, and who are connected to and related to our schools,” Simpson said. “What struck me was when one of the speakers was talking about entrepreneurs and I saw lots of male faces, so I think it is really critical that all the girls in the audience sit up, and dare I say, ‘Lean in’ and ask, ‘Where is the female face in that circle of influence?’”
