The CIS Ontario and Future Design School Future Prize Challenge for Middle School Girls is a design thinking challenge for students in Grades 6 to 8 to find solutions to a real-world challenge and pitch their ideas in a competition with other CIS Ontario Schools.

This is the second year for the competition and it took place on January 31 at Upper Canada College where two teams from HNMCS along with all the competitors were asked the following question: How might we leverage innovative technology to solve a meaningful problem in our local community?

One team focused on teenage stress/anxiety; the other on safe and effective use of public donation bins. Girls used the design thinking process to define the problem, interview those affected and prototype an original app that could be used as a solution. They pitched their ideas to peers from other CIS member schools, as well as a panel of experts from technology and industrial design related fields.

Team members included Clarisse Carcao ‘24, Meredith Steep ‘24, Lauren Peralta ‘24, Victoria Zhang ‘24, Leslie Wang ‘24, Joy Saliba ‘24.

It was a good opportunity to practise 21st century learning skills including creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication. Great job everyone!