Isl and Ne w s
Students Thrive in I-Tri Program
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ight seniors stepped away from their regular classes and daily schedules this spring to tackle real-world challenges and offer innovative solutions to problems faced by four business and educational leaders in Connecticut. Through Loomis Chaffee’s Innovation Trimester (I-Tri) program, the students seized the opportunity to connect with accomplished professionals and focus on project-based learning. Although they initially questioned how they, as high school students, would have anything to offer their partners, the students learned that, as senior Winston Ware noted after the group’s final project presentation, “there is always a way to innovate, and a way to push things forward and to make things better.” Joining Winston in this year’s I-Tri were fellow seniors Thierno Diallo, Ethan Lavalley, Kariuki Massio, Simone Moales, Max Clemens, Matt Tombaugh, and Tom Zhang. Together they partnered with Eric Shrago, managing director of operations at Connecticut Green Bank; Gratia Lee, director of land management at Loomis Chaffee; Leticia Colon de Mejias, author, founder, and chief executive officer of Energy Efficiencies Solutions, president of Green Eco Warriors, and chair of Latino Affairs for the Connecticut Commission on Equity and Opportunities; and Jay Lewis, a local chef and author. While each of the partners and the challenges they presented were different, all four projects shared the theme of sustainability, a common thread that the students didn’t know when they signed up for the I-Tri in spring term of their junior year. “And that is part of the program,” explains Simone. “We are surprised by our partners, we are surprised by our peers, … and we are surprised by the theme.” According to I-Tri lead teacher Jennine Solomon, dealing with ambiguity is one of the important skills the program helped the students develop as part of a focus on the “8 Design Abilities of Creative Problem Solvers,” a concept
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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Summer 2021
This year’s I-Tri group: (back) Director of Innovation Scott MacClintic ’82, intern Taylor Douglas ’19, senior Winston Ware, senior Tom Zhang, senior Ethan Lavalley, lead teacher Jen Solomon, senior Kariuki Massio, and teacher Julia Hinchman; and (front) seniors Max Clemens, Thierno Diallo, Simone Moales, and Matt Tombaugh. Photo: Cassandra Hamer
that originated at Stanford University’s School of Design. Jen, co-teachers Julia Hinchman and Scott MacClintic ’82, and intern Taylor Douglas ’19 also integrated Systems Thinking and Liberatory Design concepts, which focus on issues of equity in design. The emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion was particularly meaningful for many of the students. “A lot of the work that I feel most proud of doing in the I-Tri was making sure that underrepresented communities are represented in our presentations … and our projects,” Tom shares. “My favorite part of the program was meeting partners who look like me,” notes Simone. She explains that working with Ms. Colon de Mejias and Chef Jay, people of color who are change-makers and thrive in their chosen professions, showed her what is possible for students of color. When designing each year’s I-Tri, Jen strives to plan a program that meets the students’ interests, that will be meaningful to them, and through which they will see themselves in the partners and projects. To meet these aims, Jen starts to get to know the students through conversations a year before they begin their program. As a result, the I-Tri is different every year not only because the theme changes, but also because the students and their needs change. “Somewhere in the I-Tri,” Jen explains,
“students see where they can bring their unique skills and abilities to projects in a valuable way, and they also find moments to stretch themselves out of their comfort zones.” In addition to growing their communications, group-work, and design skills with each project, students expanded their understanding of their own strengths and weaknesses. Developing this self-awareness is an intentional aspect of the program. After the first project, Jen and Scott met with each student individually and asked, “What do you need to work on? What is your weakness?” For Ethan, self-reflection and finding a way “to develop my weakness into more of a strength,” became an important part of each subsequent project. “[At] a school like this whose mission is always looking out for others, being selfless, doing everything for the common good,” notes Simone, “sometimes you never look inward.” Thierno and Ethan agree, sharing that when the students were asked at the beginning of the term to note on a board what they are good at, what they like, and what they are passionate about, all of the students struggled to name more than one or two things each. “I feel if we did that now,” says Ethan, “I could fill a board.”
