On Dec. 5, Gables held another successful “Innovation Day,” hosted in collaboration with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship. The event focused on equipping students with critical thinking and problem-solving skills through hands-on workshops and interactive challenges. Participants explored innovative solutions to real-world scenarios, sharpening their creativity and teamwork abilities. The day highlighted the ongoing commitment of the school and its partners to prepare students for the demands of an ever-changing world.
“We believe that you are never too young to start thinking like a problem solver. Ultimately, the world will need your energy, your intelligence and your creativity to solve some of the largest problems we deal with. Never let somebody tell you that you are too young to make an impact and a difference. At the end of the day, the future will belong to those who can learn, unlearn and relearn,” Daniel Williams said.
NFTE is a non-profit organization that teaches young people how to both think and act like entrepreneurs. On Innovation Day, representatives visit different schools and let young students work on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Challenge, which is developed by the UN to raise awareness about the largest climate adversities facing society. The challenge runs from September to December for students ages five to 24.
The challenge on Innovation Day was centered around solar energy. Students were divided into several groups, and the NFTE volunteers helped the students come up with creative and innovative ideas to address how to make solar energy more accessible to solve energy problems.
Mrs. Brown ,the Entrepreneurship teacher at Coral Gables Senior High, has been working with NFTE for fifteen years. She found that competitions and different challenges engage students, allowing them to think outside of the box. It helps students apply critical thinking skills and learn how to collaborate with those who surround them. She has been doing the World Series Innovation Challenge with her students for over eight years. In the past, Gables has had five finalists for the challenge in the past eight years; students competed with kids from all over the world, including parts of Africa, Latin America and all over North America.
“Events like this are what broaden our experiences with our students. I think that this is expanding our opportunities to make our students inventive, intuitive, give them initiative and overall give them a great opportunity to learn and be challenged,” Mrs. Brown said.Sophomore Kennah Pollard and seniors Valerie Roman and Isabel Hernandez all submitted for the competition. They created inventions such as a solar powered flowers that help generate sustainable energy while still appearing aesthetically pleasing, as well as electric generators that use solar power to keep hospitals and other businesses running during storms. Inventions like these address critical environmental and energy challenges, while inspiring others to think creatively.
“This event allowed an opportunity for me and my friends to help out not only our community but also to contribute to protecting and preserving the environment. It was rewarding to see how our efforts, no matter how small, could create meaningful change,” senior Isabel Hernandez.
The future of business lies in the hands of today’s students and opportunities like Innovation Day are essential in shaping their potential. In addition to acquiring useful skills, students develop the courage to take on the unknown by participating in real-world problem solving and critical thinking. These experiences display students’ capacity to handle the intricacies of tomorrow’s problems, demonstrating that the leaders and problem-solvers of the future are here, sitting in our classrooms and study halls.
“It really helped me get my creative juices flowing in a sense. Coming up with inventions like this to solve real-world problems not only challenges my imagination but also gives me a sense of accomplishment, knowing that my ideas could have a meaningful impact on people’s lives,” sophomore Kennah Pollard said.
