Project Me
What if a project could help a child understand not only who they are, but what they might be capable of?
That was the heart behind Project Me. Students began by discovering their own strengths through Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences. They identified two “smarts” that felt most like them and then connected those strengths to someone in history who used similar qualities to make a difference. This gave students a way to connect an abstract idea about their own strengths to a real person and examine how similar strengths can be used in different ways.
Each student selected one person to study. Their research focused on the problems that person faced, the challenges they had to overcome, and how they used their strengths to respond. Students had to identify information that was relevant to those questions, rather than simply collect facts about the person's life. Then, they used their research to design and create something they believed their person would be proud of.
Their research became part of the design criteria: what they created needed to connect to the person's experiences, strengths, work, or impact. Next, students wrote a letter to the person they studied. They explained what they created, why they made their design choices, what they learned from that person, and how they could use their own strengths to make an impact. Writing the letter asked students to move from research into reflection, connecting what they learned about another person back to their own strengths and choices.
Finally, students presented their research, creations, and reflections to their families during the Project Me Showcase. Sharing with an authentic audience gave students the opportunity to explain their thinking, communicate their choices, and take ownership of their work. Students moved through the full process of identifying their strengths, researching how those strengths appeared in someone else's life, applying that research through design, and reflecting on what it could mean in their own lives.
My hope is that students left Project Me seeing their strengths a little differently. Not just as things they’re good at, but as things they can do something with.
If your child joined us, ask: What were your two strongest “smarts”? Who did you study that shared some of those strengths?
-Cristina
