This weekend, the Explorers students at my Plano and Frisco schools, along with their families, teachers, and school leadership teams came together to make TONS of bags for the children at City House!
City House is the ONLY children's shelter in Collin County, serving those through age twenty-three, and this year marks their 30th anniversary in our community. They also offer free individual and family counseling, and they have a Youth Resource and Outreach Center where at-risk and homeless children can come for help, referrals, counseling, food, clothing, DART passes, and other necessities. What a joy to be a blessing to those who need it most, and what a great teaching opportunity for us to model good character for our students. Using the Primrose Design Thinking Process, our Plano and Frisco students solved problems and helped their community by supporting and partnering with City House.
Simply stated, design thinking is a process used to solve complex problems. While there are many different definitions and models of design thinking, the process generally follows this pattern:
Understand and define the problem that needs to be solved. This involves empathizing with the problem and taking the perspective of the person experiencing it.
Use creativity to come up with potential solutions, prototypes and ideas. This phase is characterized by brainstorming ideas, trying out various prototypes and solutions, and adapting them based on the results of various tests (trial and error).
Share potential solutions with others. This includes sharing the thinking and reasoning behind possible solutions with others, discussing successes and failures, asking questions and sharing feedback.
-- Dr. Gloria Julius, Vice President, Early Childhood Education at Primrose Schools
Our Explorers Community project resulted in hundreds of welcome bags and snack/lunch bags for the children at City House, Plano. We are so appreciative of all the wonderful donations from our amazing Primrose families! Thank you to all those who gave their time, money, and energy to helping us make this project happen, we are truly thrilled with your generosity. It is because of our amazing partnerships in our community that we can continue to have such a great impact.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. -- Theodore Roosevelt