August 12, 2024
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Four phases of the Innovation & Impact Program
Phase 1: Students work to identify what it means to be a strong and productive global citizen.
Phase 2: Students work through the design process to ideate and prototype ideas.
Phase 3: Students start measuring their impact in the real world, gathering feedback and iterating on their idea.
Phase 4: Students curate a portfolio of work, share their ongoing impact, and engage in a showcase of learning to defend their expertise and idea.
At EF Academy Pasadena creating real-world solutions that support UN Sustainable Development Goals is all part of the curriculum.
Just outside Los Angeles, you’ll find the Pasadena campus of EF Academy. Dedicated to the ideals of global citizenship, EF Academy Pasadena provides students from more than 60 countries with a transformational, international high school education. The Innovation & Impact Program is a cornerstone of that curriculum.
The program supports students as they develop game-changing ideas, build prototypes, and create practical applications aimed at delivering real solutions to today’s challenges.
Students start by identifying a subject or problem that inspires them and to which they can apply their unique strengths and skills to develop a solution. The teams are supported by mentors and coaches across different academic disciplines as they ideate, test, and further strengthen their ideas. Successful completion of the program is a prerequisite for graduation and a centerpiece of their academic experience.
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As a result of the program, students learn to identify innovative, practical solutions to major global problems. This inspires them to move beyond the classroom and see themselves as entrepreneurs, innovators, and future global leaders. The pride students have in their ideas gives them the self-confidence and resilience needed to face the world after graduation.
“Throughout this experience, I felt I could do anything with my efforts. My biggest accomplishment is that our Innovation & Impact team worked with our Campus Director and the recycling company American Reclamation to make our project a reality."
Through this program high school students develop essential skills such as collaboration and leadership. Working in small groups challenges them to cooperate and bring together different perspectives to reach a common goal. These competencies are crucial for meeting the challenges the next generation of global leaders will face.
“The Innovation & Impact Program is a pathway to empowering students to be the architects of a more sustainable, compassionate, and equitable world. By bridging knowledge with purpose, we are preparing our world’s future leaders to actively engage in creating solutions for global issues,” says Mike Morales, Co-Director of the Innovation & Impact Program at EF Academy Pasadena.
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