Middle school students describe design-thinking projects and food drive at board meeting

Students from Sandpoint Middle School told the Lake Pend Oreille School District board about their Community Service Club and how they use design thinking to run projects.

Crosby Tagen, the school's assistant principal, introduced the group and students explained the five-step process they use — identify, research, rapid ideating, implement and evaluate — to plan service projects. “We usually meet 2 or more times a week before school,” one student said, and described how the club used rapid ideating to generate ideas and sticky notes on classroom whiteboards.

The students reported results from a recent schoolwide food drive, saying they "raised 1,124 items" for the county food bank and that their original goal was 800 items. They described incentives used in a December house competition — red cards, recess/lunch behavior, and spirit days — and showed a plan for a positive-friendship chain, where students write names and reasons on colored slips to create a hallway display. Chair Williams thanked the students and praised their work, calling the presentation "great work." The board recognized the students before moving on to business.