Grade 8 students in the Design Thinking elective recently ended their semester. They diligently created projects with an emphasis on human-centered design. Human-centered design comes from students working with a client (teacher) to solve a problem. To start the process students needed to first empathize and ask others what their problems were, rather than assuming a preconceived solution. One Hamlin student worked with Ms. Curran to solve the problem of floor space in our science rooms. Together, student and teacher came up with the need for vertical shelving to store laptops.

Creating iterations and prototypes, the student eventually finalized the product design with regular input from the client/teacher. Band, miter, and circular saws, and other tools, were used to make the computer cart (shown in the photo).

-My project was to build a computer cart for the science labs. I was able to work with wood while having fun with my friends. I really liked using power tools and I would definitely do another project like this again in the future.