After ten weeks of hard work, our second-trimester Innov8 students presented their final projects at the Innov8 Symposium. All Trinity eighth graders participate in Innov8, a class that guides students through problem finding, researching, testing, and creating realistic plans. Students choose a relevant issue in the greater community and design an original solution that brings their personal experiences and interests into the mix. They employ a design-thinking framework, using empathy-based strategies to identify relevant problems, propose ideas, create prototypes, and execute action-based solutions. At the end of the trimester, students present their final projects at the formal Innov8 symposium.

In the Innov8 classroom, students workshop to identify a solution and develop their base ideas. This begins with class discussions, small group work, and brainstorming. To expose students to diverse, real-world perspectives later in the trimester, we enlist our Innov8 Vanguard. The word Vanguard refers to "a group of people leading new developments or ideas." Trinity's Vanguard is made up of Trinity parents and friends who are influencers in their own professional and philanthropic fields and visit students for guest lectures, mentoring, and feedback. Students receive motivational feedback on their solutions so they may develop their projects on a deeper level. 

Some of the topics covered by this year's student presentations included teen mental health, care for postpartum mothers, and preserving Austin's history. As in the past few years, many projects this year center around sustainability, making transportation more environmentally friendly, and potential solutions for homelessness. Though they complete these projects as an assignment, we hope our students also take what they've learned about innovation and use it to improve their communities and those around them.