NuVu was a finalist for the THE EDTECH AWARDS 2019 in "Edtech Company Setting a Trend!" We are thrilled to be a part of this group of innovative educators pushing the field forward, and using technology as a tool for creative learning and social betterment.

More on the winners can be found online at:
https://edtechdigest.com/2019-finalists-winners/

The EdTech Awards "recognizes people in and around education for outstanding contributions in transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of learners everywhere.

Featuring edtech’s best and brightest, the annual recognition program shines a spotlight on cool tools, inspiring leaders, and innovative trendsetters."

NuVu was a finalist for the THE EDTECH AWARDS 2019 in "Edtech Company Setting a Trend!" We are thrilled to be a part of this group of innovative educators pushing the field forward, and using technology as a tool for creative learning and social betterment.

More on the winners can be found online at:
https://edtechdigest.com/2019-finalists-winners/

The EdTech Awards "recognizes people in and around education for outstanding contributions in transforming education through technology to enrich the lives of learners everywhere.

Featuring edtech’s best and brightest, the annual recognition program shines a spotlight on cool tools, inspiring leaders, and innovative trendsetters."

Our students spent a week in Glasgow, Scotland at the end of March installing "Fern Gardens," an interactive art piece, at our NuVuX partner school, Kelvinside Academy. There was a grand opening reception of the installation with invited guests from around Glasgow. It was an exciting build-up to the opening, as our students spent 6 weeks conceptualizing, designing, and building the piece as part of a larger student exchange program with Kelvinside Academy.

Fern Gardens

The Scotland installation, Fern Garden, is an interactive installation designed for Kelvinside Academy in Glasgow, Scotland. The piece consists of a spatially fluid field of reeds, leading to a central clearing under an overarching canopy of lights. This inviting space is warmly lit and provides a peaceful area for students of Kelvinside to come together in a unique context.

The goal of the installation was to design a space where people can connect to others outside of their normal circles. The installation creates relaxing and comforting space where students can interact. It consists of a field of bamboo "reeds" that will be placed in the heart of the Kelvinside school. Each bamboo piece is attached to a self righting base made out of concrete. This allows the user to push through the reeds without knocking them down.

In the field of reeds is a secluded clearing with warm lighting. This creates an environment in which the students can feel relaxed and distant from the stressful school environment, while also providing a space for students to convene.

Our NuVuX Program at All Saints Academy is giving students a platform to design, make and innovate. Check out this piece in Lakeland Mom on how our Innovation Studios are creating students who are problem solvers, critical thinkers, and self-starters.

Read the full article here:
https://lakelandmom.com/innovation-studios-at-all-saints-academy/

Reprinted with permission from “NuVu: An International Mission to Cultivate Creativity and Collaboration” by Betsy Scotto-Lavino, 2019. WINTER 2019 InterED, Volume 45 No 126-3, Pages 18-21. COPYRIGHT 2019 by InterED.

In the recent issue of InterED journal, NuVu was highlighted in a featured article called "NuVu: An International Mission to Cultivate Creativity and Collaboration." The piece includes interviews with our Co-founders, Saeed Arida and Saba Ghole, discussing the last 8 years of NuVu and what's ahead - the critique process, how international schools are working with NuVu and integrating the studio process, the challenges and opportunities of running a studio model side-by-side with a traditional model within schools, and expansion plans for the future.

Two NuVu Students, Leighton Gray and Alex Shigueta, won Boston's Play Around the Snowy City design competition, a competition that sought ideas for "playful, temporary design installations and events throughout Boston this winter." Their winning entry, called Snowman Spin Seat, will be will be tested and integrated with programming from the Franklin Park Coalition at Franklin Park this Winter. Congratulations to our students for a fun and creative project!

Read more on the competition and winners here: https://www.boston.gov/news/winning-proposals-announced-play-around-snowy-city

A blog from Allan J. Mucerino, veteran Superintendent of Schools and experienced facilitator, about equity and innovation in action with our NuVuX partner school, Odyssey STEM Academy. 

"When the Paramount Unified School District launched an ambitious effort to reimagine high school in 2017, their mission was to empower learners by awakening their curiosity and passion to transform themselves and the world. They valued, above all, providing an equitable education. To that end, they built an inclusive, culturally-connected community of learners where the mind, hands, and heart are united, in addition to the community, to educate high school students beyond the brick and mortar model that has characterized traditional education programs. The Odyssey STEM Academy breaks the mold. But they didn’t do it alone. 

Superintendent Ruth Perez,  Assistant Superintendent Ryan Smith, and science teacher turned principal Keith Nuthall co-founded the school and built it with partners NuVu, the innovation school for middle and high school students based on the architectural studio model and geared around multi-disciplinary, collaborative projects, Big Picture Learning, with their sole mission of putting students directly at the center of their own learning, and the AltSchool, which has been building a technology-enabled network to empower and connect families, students, and teacher since 2013."

Read the entire piece at:
https://www.allanmucerino.com/blog/innovation-squared

This past January, three NuVu students were selected to present their projects and work at the LearnLaunch Across Boundaries Conference. LearnLaunch brings together the edtech community – from New England and beyond – "interested in driving innovation to transform learning and increase achievement using digital technologies. Educators, education administrators, entrepreneurs, investors, education companies, and technology innovators are all part of the community that attends this yearly event to authentically learn, educate others, and discuss the burning questions of the day."

Jakob Sperry, Tinna Gronfeldt, and Stefano Pagani presented their work at the Learning Innovation Showcase (LIS). This is one of the most popular aspects of the conference and highlights educators and students that are leveraging technology to enhance learning experiences. Congrats to all the students who participated in the Showcase.

Students from the Rooted Installations studio at our NuVuX partner Woodstock Union High School presented their final projects in a gallery style exhibition that was open to the wider community.  In this studio, students examined the relationship between craftsmanship and sustainability in Vermont’s Upper Valley and created functional sculptures that highlight the area’s unique culture.  The projects were designed for specific areas around town, and students plan to install them later in the spring.

Three Upper School students from our NuVuX partner school, All Saints Academy in Florida, were selected for their outstanding work in Innovation Studio and awarded the 2019 All Saints Innovation Studio Prize. In recognition of their outstanding work during the 2018 calendar year, the three winners were awarded a three day trip to NuVu in Cambridge, MA. In addition to working on their projects with expert coaches and presenting to the NuVu community, they also toured MIT with NuVu co-founder David Wang, and ate their first authentic Boston Cream Pie.

Lauren Paffrath dazzled coaches with her achievement in creating the Digital Dessert Designer, a chocolate 3D printing device, in the Spring. While at NuVu Cambridge she worked on her independent studio project, the Interactive Chess Board, which includes a robotic arm and custom designed chess pieces to create a unique playing experience. In the Fall, Elly Evans demonstrated her commitment to easing the animal shelter experience for large dog breeds, specifically German Shepherds, with her Essential Collar, a device designed to reduce anxiety for dogs through light therapy, aromatherapy, and pressure points. She continued her work on this project in Cambridge, exploring ways in which the collar design geometry could continue to integrate with the triad of stress-reduction methods she had fastidiously researched.

In a collaborative studio with Karam House in Rehyanli, Turkey, in the Fall, Emily Foppe captured the spirit of her studio by designing a responsive lighting object, intending to connect people across continents to create a global community. Her interactive light artifact, the Human Scale, was informed and inspired by her experience as a gymnast, and invited users to place lighted orbs along the spine of an abstracted figure balanced on one leg. Inspired by the pulsing of a heartbeat, she developed this work further in Cambridge by aspiring to program the orbs’ pulsing light to respond dynamically to touch and movement, beating slowly when at rest, or more quickly when in motion.

Congratulations to Lauren, Emily and Ellyn for their hard work and dedication to furthering their projects.