How might vanguard teach innovators human centered design?

Students at Leisure Park interacting with Design Rotation innovators.
Innovators meeting with Joy in the Cause for partnership opportunities.
Innovator Andrew Lucas posing with the donations gained from the Blue Star Mother Donation Drive project.
Design Rotation students on an interactive college tour.
Design Rotation students need-finding in an elementary school classroom.
Innovators working with Leisure Park students during the Toy Design competition.
BAdLab student Jackson presenting information about Vanguard to an elementary class.
The Design Rotation class of 2023-24 on an OSU Stem tour.
The blueprints created for the Broken Arrow Freshman Academy outdoor classroom space.
Children at Leisure Park interacting with the toy prototype 'Story Blocks.'
Leisure Park students enjoying 'The Art Box' prototype created by Design Rotation students.
Design Rotation students presenting their toy 'Master The Notes' to a group of students.
Design Rotation innovators and Leisure Park students pose together after planting a number of trees around their campus.

Projects Highlight

Vanguard Therapy Dog

  • How might we support and improve student mental health in a post-Covid era?

  • Innovators researched mental health solutions for teens in distress. They found supporting evidence to show that a therapy dog improves morale, mental health, and overall student performance in school. In partnership with AVB Bank, Riverbend Doodles, BA Vet Hospital, K9 Manners + more, innovators worked to get Avie, a trained ATD therapy dog.

BAFA Garden & outdoor classroom

  • How might we redesign the courtyard space at the Broken Arrow Freshman Academy to create an outdoor classroom for teachers and students, as well as providing an active space for their gardening club?

  • Innovators researched existing outdoor classrooms to determine optimal solutions and gather additional knowledge over the importance of them. After brainstorming ideas, they reached out to garden experts in the Tulsa area and connected with Carla Grogg from GP Soils. Innovators raised $16,000 through donations, grants, and collaboration with the BAFA staff.

dress donations

  • How might we reduce the impact fast fashion has on our environment by repurposing prom dresses which would have been disposed of in a landfill?

  • Innovators received a donation of 400 prom dresses from a company looking to downsize their warehouse. Working directly with Family and Children’s Service, the Gateway Foundation, and students at Vanguard Academy, an operation was created to give nearly all of the dresses to people in need.

Reading Corner

  • How might we support our Broken Arrow Public School’s student and staff in Kindergarten through 9th grade? Designing and implementing a reading corner for the Reading Recovery specialist, Mrs. Lana Pearson.

  • After getting in contact with Mrs. Pearson, innovators began researching how they could create a special place for her students in order to increase their literacy skills.

Design Thinking Collaboration with the University of Tulsa

  • How might we find ways for Vanguard Academy to connect directly with colleges; keeping in mind the goal of creating pathways for Vanguard students to enter the engineering program?

  • Innovators communicated directly with college programs in the fields of engineering, design thinking, and STEM pathways. A partnership was formed with Dr. Moran from the University of Tulsa Design Thinking program. Vanguard innovators and TU students competed head-to-head in designing an educational toy meant to address issues elementary classes face in their academics.

Leadership BA Community Blood Drive

  • How might we track blood drive donations for a variety of non-profit organizations in an artistic and creative manner?

  • Innovators designed a system for tracking donations using blood drop stickers. Additionally, innovators hand-crafted tracking posters for over 20 non-profit organizations, incorporating their logos and company information.

Design Rotation Website

  • How might we redesign the BAdLab website to create pathways for more partnerships?

  • After reaching out to WRA Architects, we received a donation to purchase a web domain. Once the domain was secured, innovators collaborated to design a visually engaging website with the interest of Design Rotation students in mind.

Tv Design

  • How might we create an efficient way to showcase each pod at Vanguard Academy’s features and achievements all while keeping visual interest in mind?

  • After acquiring TVs and Tv stands for each pod at Vanguard Academy to use for displaying information about classes, CMS, and project photos, we encountered an issue; how should each TV be formatted? In order to tackle this issue, we needed to find out the needs and aesthetics each teacher wanted for their pod, then create a visually-pleasing slideshows for them to utilize.

Joy in the Cause rebrand

  • How might we help the non profit organization, Joy in the Cause, in rebranding their business cards and brochures?

  • Innovators began by reaching out to Joy in the Cause to open communications. After assessing different struggles for the non-profit group, innovators found that they needed assistance in redesigning their promotional materials such s brochures and business cards.