Last Tuesday, June 20, teams of Year 7 students from St George's School pitched products they've researched, designed and costed to a panel of industry experts.
It was the culmination of months of planning, strategy and creativity for the children, who have been tasked with finding a 3D solution to a live problem in the bee industry, as part of the school's innovative Young Business Enterprise Programme.
The project began in March with a visit to Tweeddale's, Taihape, one of New Zealand's largest beekeeping operations, introducing the children to the bee industry, the extraction process, key products and industry issues. A session at GDM Retail Systems in Whanganui, global retail design specialists, focused on entrepreneurship, design and engineering while a visit from Kai Iwi beekeepers showed bees and hives close-up, with local businessman and apiarist Rob Bartley bringing his award-winning Hiveplus hive tray into the classroom.
Out of this immersive first stage packed with hands-on experience and inspiration, emerged a compelling brief, identified by the children. Discovering that many bees die during feeding, falling from the feeder into the sugar syrup, their challenge would be to design and produce a new, improved feeder to prevent this from happening.
With tips on how to turn ideas into products from global manufacturer, Axiam Plastics, the children began to transform their learning into action. Working in teams of four, each with a clear role - Financial Analyst, Communications Manager or Product Designer - they first produced mock-ups then fully-costed prototypes and proposals for their final designs to present to the experts, Mark and Kim Tweeddale of Tweeddale's and Brad Williamson of Axiam Plastics.
With independent research, TEDx talks from cutting-edge product designers (even a ride on a YikeBike) to complement the hands-on experience and exposure to business leaders and experts, this was a rich - and fun - learning journey for the children, a clear context for their critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, collaboration, teamwork and entrepreneurship.