Innovation Academy (IA)
The Innovation Academy at Basehor-Linwood High School is a transformative program where students learn through projects that are hands-on, client-focused, and real-world. By integrating design-thinking, creativity, and collaboration, we prepare students to tackle complex challenges and make a difference in their communities and beyond.
The Innovation Academy empowers students through a step-by-step design-thinking process. This proven approach enables learners to tackle challenges with creativity and confidence.
- Empathize: Understand the needs, challenges, and perspectives of the people you’re designing for.
- Define: Clearly state the problem you’re solving based on insights from the empathy phase.
- Ideate: Brainstorm creative solutions and explore innovative ideas.
- Prototype: Create a simple model or representation of your idea to bring it to life.
- Test: Gather feedback on your prototype and refine it to better meet user needs.
Why Choose the Innovation Academy?
- Student-Driven Projects: Choose your own projects and explore your passions.
- Work With Clients: Partner with local businesses, nonprofits, and community organizations.
- Diverse Learning Options: Earn both CORE and CTE credits across a variety of classes.
- Real-World Problem Solving: Tackle meaningful challenges that make a difference in your school and community.
- Flexible Schedules: Balance your coursework and projects with a schedule designed for creativity and exploration.
- Career-Ready Skills: Develop critical thinking, leadership, and collaboration skills essential for the future.
Become a Community Partner
The Innovation Academy connects Basehor-Linwood High School students with businesses and organizations that want to make a difference in our community. As a client partner, you’ll collaborate with students as they apply creativity, problem-solving, and innovation to design real solutions for your real challenges.
If you have a project idea, opportunity, or problem our students could help with, complete our Community Partner Form to get started. Once submitted, a member of our team will reach out to discuss your goals and find the best fit within the program.
