inHub Celebrates 1st Anniversary!
On June 22nd, inHub celebrates its 1st anniversary! We can’t believe a year has already passed since we started our official journey and what a year it’s been! inHub was built by educators, for educators and our team has been following our own innovation journey optimizing after every new resource we launch and every program we run. We’re happy to share a look at all the things we’ve accomplished so far!
Professional Development
Throughout the past year, we’ve had the opportunity to host many programs and professional development events, both virtually and in-person, geared towards introducing educators to The Henry Ford’s educational resources and exploring ways they can bring innovation learning into their classrooms.
We hosted 5 virtual THF Conversations for Educators with thought leaders like Zaretta Hammond, Eunique Jones Gibson, and our friends at Sesame Workshop. We’ve also offered 9 professional development workshops and 2 online courses, involving 280 participants. These workshops, both virtual and in-person, were conducted with incredible partners including the Jacobson Institute, Mosaic Film Experience, Wayne RESA, Henry Ford Academy and the National Council for History Education. Learn more about some of these experiences here.
(Left) Olivia Marsh and Phil Grumm of the Learning and Engagement Team introduced Model i to educators who attended the Wayne RESA Maker-STEM Summit this spring. (Right) Educators collaborate and create their own innovation journeys during the National Council for History Education colloquium this spring.
In 2021 we ran a virtual version of The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation Teacher Innovator Awards, presented by Raytheon Technologies, which recognized 10 innovative teachers across the country. In July 2022, we will welcome 10 new teachers to The Henry Ford’s campus to recognize their accomplishments. We’re also looking forward to running our first Educator-In-Residence Program for 10-12 teachers that will span the 2022-23 school year.
Grand Prize Winners of the 2021 Teacher Innovator Awards participated in a virtual series of THF Conversations for Educators where they shared their thoughts on innovation learning and how they use it in their classrooms. The discussion was moderated by our own Olivia Marsh (center).
Youth Programs & Activities
In addition to providing resources for educators, many of inHub’s programs directly impacted youth and families this year through on-site activation at The Henry Ford sharing stories and lessons of innovation.
Our Tinkering for Tots program, designed for preschoolers, experienced an amazing reception this year and engaged 509 youth, families and educators with a story, mini field trip to a museum artifact, and a take-home craft kit. Additionally, we distributed 450 craft kits to Detroit Public School Community District Grow Up Great classrooms and Brilliant Detroit classrooms.
(Right) Alexandra Erickson of the Learning and Engagement Team leads families in a reading of “The Magical Yet,” followed by a visit to GM’s first autonomous vehicle on the floor of The Henry Ford, led by Phil Grumm (Left).
This spring, the Learning and Engagement team welcomed 5,255 4th and 5th graders from the Detroit Public School Community District as part of the Cultural Passport program. During their field trip to the museum, 5th graders were given a scavenger hunt to work on where they learned about the habits and actions of innovation and connected them to stories found throughout the exhibits. In the village, 4th graders focused on Michigan history, visiting sites like Henry Ford’s home, the Ford Motor Company building and the Bagley Avenue Workshop.
Students in the museum worked on a scavenger hunt to learn about the Habits and Actions of Innovation. In the village, students explored Michigan history visiting buildings like the Ford Motor Company.
Invention Convention Worldwide
The same week that inHub officially launched in June 2021, Invention Convention Worldwide (ICW) celebrated the accomplishments of hundreds of young inventors in a virtual awards ceremony of the 2021 Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals, hosted by Albert Lawrence, correspondent on The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. In August 2021, ICW hosted the first ever Invention Convention Globals, presented by Raytheon Technologies. This virtual competition included young inventors from Singapore, China, Mexico and the United States. Check out the virtual awards ceremony, hosted by Gray Bright of Hasbro Games, here!
In April 2022, we welcomed about 150 young inventors from across the state of Michigan to The Henry Ford for an in-person Invention Convention Michigan, presented by Delta Dental of Michigan. Read more about this event here.
Group photo from Invention Convention Michigan, presented by Delta Dental of Michigan
This year, over 147,000 students participated in Invention Convention programs across the states. After two years of virtual programming, we were thrilled to welcome over 300 inventors to The Henry Ford from June 1-3 for the 2022 Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals! It was amazing to see these young inventors present their inventions on the floor of the museum alongside some of the greatest innovations in American history. This year’s event included an Activating Invention Experts panel and guest appearances by Global STEM Ambassador Jay Flores and former Astronaut Dan Burbank. The live awards ceremony was hosted once again by Albert Lawrence, correspondent for The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation. Check out the awards ceremony here.
Group photo from the 7th Annual Raytheon Technologies Invention Convention U.S. Nationals.
The Future of inHub
In just one year, inHub membership has grown to over 2,600 educators representing all 50 states and 58 countries. In this past year we estimate that inHub has impacted 157,000 educators and students! We are thrilled to see that so many educators and students are joining us in our mission to reduce the innovation opportunity gap and develop innovative mindsets.
To help us reach more educators and increase awareness of our programs, we’ve partnered with MDR Education, creating content such as an article with a former Teacher Innovator Award winner and a downloadable bulletin board kit, introducing educators and students to Model i.
And finally, the inHub team was thrilled to have received two awards in its first year: The 2021 Horizon Gold Award in the Training/e-Learning category and the 2022 Sitefinity Website of the Year Award in the Headless/Multichannel category! Both of these awards recognize the exceptional work done in partnership with Enqbator to provide educators with a seamless user-friendly website.
We can’t wait to see what this next year will bring and look forward to sharing more resources and opportunities with our inHub communities! If you’d like to learn more about inHub or become a free member, visit https://inhub.thehenryford.org/ and check out this video!