Facing the Dragons

Story appeared in the 2017 issue of QMS Connections Magazine.

BY LEANNE SCHULTZ, OPERATIONS & HR MANAGER

Imagine facing down a den of dragons…you have the best idea for an amazing classroom space for you and your fellow students. So you work hard with a team to come up with the complete design, potential costs, and the impacts. Now, you have only 10 minutes to pitch your ideas to a discerning panel of judges (aka, Dragons) consisting of the Head of School, the Facilities Manager, the Head Girl, and a few guest Dragons. They want to know why your idea is the best. Welcome to the Den!

At last, Room 10 is ready for staff and students to enjoy as a new, innovative common space. This student-designed room is a reality due to a generous donation from the Xiao Family.

This was the experience Grade 8-11 students faced last fall, when they were asked to join a Dragon’s Den competition for the re-design of Classroom 10. With a working budget of $10,000, teams of students collaborated to create presentations for a learning space that would inspire creativity and innovation, and perhaps be a model for future classrooms in the Senior School. Students had to work within the current structure of the classroom and meet key safety standards: exits had be kept clear, furniture had to be movable, and surfaces had to be easy to clean. After researching inspirational educational spaces online, students worked in teams to develop their presentations. This process included researching costs of materials, creating design boards, and practicing their pitch. Then the designs went to the first phase of the contest, where each grade determined its strongest design idea by student votes. The winning proposals from Grades 8, 9, 10 and 11 would face the Dragon’s Den.

On September 29, 2016, the Dragons came to the Senior School to hear the final presentations. In the end, the calibre of the designs made it difficult for the Dragons to choose a winner, so the panel decided to pull in elements from all of the groups’ designs making the process and out-come truly collaborative. To the delight of all of the Senior Students, Room 10 opened on March 3, 2017, and is now a sought-after learning space for students and staff alike.