Will, Ronan, Nick, Mayahuel, Kellan C., Kellan R.
In Fall of 2021, a group of high schoolers from Lab51 set out to solve the broad problem of education accessibility, hoping to get more high school students into college to pursue a higher education. They spent multiple weeks watching documentaries and researching various reasons why students can’t go to college, or why they may not want to do so. The team eventually organized multiple interviews in which they learned about an issue facing many people, primarily in the Hispanic community – parents put pressure on their children to get jobs right out of high school. After spending much time learning about the topic through various interviews and research, they eventually scheduled an interview with Lisa Fisher, Lab51 College Admissions Director, and Anna Almerico, Director of the Idaho Out of School Network. These two interviews completely changed the course of their Design Lab. Lisa told the team about the importance of passion in education, and how knowing more about yourself will allow you to apply to a college that is more suited to you. She also said it needs to start at a younger age than you might expect, and middle schoolers often have a lack of passion that can hurt their higher education later on. Anna told the group about the lack of after school activities in rural areas, and the problems this causes. With this in mind, the team then got to work designing something to do with these kids. Inspired by these interviews, the team’s project was guided by this sentence: How Might We help 6th and 7th graders in rural areas to explore passions/interests to create new opportunities in higher education?
