The document discusses how Forest Hills Eastern High School has implemented design thinking to engage students in learning. Students are presented with challenges to solve real problems in their community. They go through the design thinking process of researching, collaborating, prototyping, and presenting solutions. This has led to an organic garden project that has expanded across multiple classes. Students report feeling more invested in their education and gaining skills like empathy through these authentic, collaborative projects. The school aims to continue fostering design thinking and problem solving skills throughout the community.

1. 21st Century Learning: Thinking Like a Designer
By Lynn Cvengros
The 21st century challenges educators to think differently about how to best engage students in their learning and
how to best prepare them for the future. It challenges us to reconsider how we might create a learning
environment in which every student is intrinsically motivated to learn, and all students are driven by curiosity and
motivated by meaningful and engaging work. We ask ourselves how might we create a vibrant learning community
in which students confront ambiguity, apply content and work collaboratively to solve problems, gaining the
mindset of innovators. One approach to these challenges is “Design Thinking.”
Students and staff at Forest Hills Eastern High School have been design thinking. Design Thinking is a human -
centered approach to innovating and problem solving in which multi-talented teams (our students) learn to think
like designers. Students discover a problem to solve and then observe, interview, research, collaborate,
synthesize, develop prototypes, seek feedback and apply class content to create innovative solutions. The process
offers students the opportunity to find real solutions to real problems.
Students were first introduced to Design Thinking two years ago in the spring of 2014. For a research and
argumentation project, AP Language and Compositions students were assigned a design challenge: propose an idea
that will improve the learning experience for students at Eastern. One group proposed creating an organic garden
on the school campus--an outdoor space for experiential learning to promote environmental sustainability and
personal health. Students responded to this initial Design Thinking experience with enthusiasm.
Last year, in 2015, AP Language and Composition students were again assigned to a Design Thinking challenge :
design the garden that students proposed the previous year. Teams of students chose an aspect of the garden to
develop – a compost system, an irrigation system, a landscape design, a greenhouse, an advisory board, even a
summer program to sustain the garden. To deepen their knowledge, they initially conducted traditional research.
To then learn how to put their ideas into action, 77 students interviewed various experts – landscape architects,
organic farmers, state legislators. They brainstormed ideas, created prototypes of their vision, and then teams
collaboratively wrote proposals and formally presented them to staff, peers, board members and Superintendent
Dan Behm.
Once again, the Design Thinking process made a strong impression on students. “Using Design Thinking to plan the
edible schoolyard was the first time that I felt like I was a part of my education, not just a recipient of it,” student
Lauren Pham commented at the conclusion of last year’s garden presentation. This is 21st century learning.
As a result of this process, the garden project has burgeoned into a school-wide, cross-curricular project. Last
spring, the Honors Biology class planted 100 raspberry and blueberry bushes on campus. This year, a newly
developed scientific research class is design thinking to move the garden forward – the garden will take root this
spring. Additionally, the AP Physics class is design thinking to develop the irrigation system; another physics class
is designing an alternative energy source; the industrial arts class has built the compost system and cold frames; a
math class is designing an orchard; AP Literature students plan to develop a literary garden. The students are now
considering how they can create a student-run organic juice bar and a salad bar with the produce that they grow.
You may be wondering, “How will all this be funded?” The AP Language students are currently working to solve
that problem. As part of their study of argumentation, they are beginning to design fundraisers and write grants to
sustain the garden.
The intent of these projects is to provide students with authentic opportunities to innovate and problem solve.
The result is student engagement. Emily Zheutlin shared that “It was refreshing to not only hear and see the
changes going on for education, but to be the change in Eastern’s education.”
As a result of the students’ positive response to working with Design Thinking, the Forest Hills Education
Foundation provided a grant for a team of teachers to attend a Design Thinking workshop at Stanford University’s
“d.School.” The workshop enhanced our understanding of how we can lead students in this creative, problem
solving process.
As the students continue to design think, they are now considering how this school-wide project could eventually
be transformed into a community-wide endeavor in which middle school and high school students work alongside
community members to harvest the fruits – and vegetables – of their labor.
In addition to the garden project, other classes are applying Design Thinking to their projects. The American

2. history/American literature project-based learning class creates documentaries about the post-World War II era.
Teams of students interview a person who lived during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Teams work through the steps
of the design thinking process to create documentaries while learning the history of the era, not from a textbook
or a lecture, but from someone who experienced it and from research driven by their curiosity. Students learn
content by applying content, and, maybe most importantly, they are gaining an understanding of, and empathy
for, people who lived during a different time.
These students are designing and writing for an authentic audience. They are collaborating and connecting with
each other. They are gaining creative confidence and developing the mindsets of innovators. Above all, they are
learning that empathy is the heart of successful innovation.
Senior Jack Clark captured the experience of Design Thinking: “It became more than just a school project, it
turned into a real, everyday project. I felt like this spurred me to work even harder and learn about a new topic.
This project brought out my best work.”
The students’ enthusiasm for these projects leaves many of us wondering: How might we foster this mindset and
enthusiasm in all of our learners, creating a culture of design thinkers throughout the Forest Hills community?
This is our Design Thinking project in the coming year.
Lynn Cvengros, teacher, Forest Hills Eastern