Academics

This year I decided to take the Design Thinking course that is offered here at Ramsey High School. Last year, I attended an informational meeting about the course with Mr. Biggan that made me think it would be a great learning opportunity. I definitely expected that I would be required to think outside the box and to go beyond my comfort zone with some of the activities. At the meeting, Mr. Biggan showed us a couple of videos from previous years of the class. The people who had completed the course all said that they really enjoyed it and that it made them think in a different way that would provide connections to the real world.

Even though it is only the third week of school, I can say that I have already learned how to ask good interview questions and design for the needs of others. We are learning the Empathetic Mindset. So far, we have been working on designing products such as backpacks and other everyday items. Each student has a client (another student in the class) whose needs are assessed through the interview questions. During the empathy stage, we had to interview our partners and design a new backpack for them that would improve problems that they face everyday. In the backpack I created, I decided to make smaller pockets since my partner had too many big pockets that he would fill with unnecessary items. I also added three spots for water bottles (since he brings three everyday!) and they would each have a heating and cooling system.

The Design Thinking process really made me go deeper with some topics and to make sure I was asking my partner the right questions involving their life outside of school. Overall, I am very excited for this year and to test my creativity.

By Emma Hali, Senior