Future Prize for Middle School

How can newcomers to Canada make sense of Toronto’s public transportation system? Is there an “app” to banish social anxiety? These are just two of the important issues recently tackled as part of the Future Prize Challenge.

Co-hosted by CIS Ontario and the Future Design School, this design-thinking competition for Middle School students (Grades 6 to 8) empowers them to find technology-based solutions to pressing real-world problems.

The two-day event involves, first, a professional development opportunity for educators to learn the ins and outs of design-thinking methodology. Then, each one returns to school and forms a “mini-club” quartet with three students. After a month, researching an issue and conducting interviews with real potential users of an app-based solution, they all congregate for an action-packed day, including a final pitch to a team of judges (one of whom may just be from Apple!).