On November 9, 2023, fifty middle school students from the Diocese of Camden gathered at Camden Catholic High School in Cherry Hill, NJ to compete in the annual iDesign STEM Challenge. Their mission was the "innovate the device stand" in four hours. That's right--four hours to learn about the design process, brainstorm and choose a target demographic, prototype a functional device, and prepare a presentation for an audience of friends, classmates, families, teachers, and esteemed judges in the Grandi Auditorium.

For me, I loved working with the high school students to prepare them to lead the event. We had a workshop where they learned prototyping skills using hand tools to make complex objects with everyday materials. I told them the importance of mentorship and helping the middle school students bring their ideas to fruition, without imposing or being overly critical.

The middle school students also impressed me with their ingenuity and compassion. The design process starts with empathy, and the students, though competitive, were equally empathetic! They presented on the stage of our auditorium, a nerve-racking endeavor for most adults, let alone pre-teens. I was also moved by the encouragement they received from our judges: Chris Anderson, an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey and Rutgers University and James Calcagni, CEO of Liquid Limbs.

Additional coverage:

• Camden Catholic High School via LinkedIn

• Christ the King students win STEM challenge, $1k scholarships by Star Herald