inHub Spring 2023 Programs & Activities Recap

With summer programs in full swing, join us as we take a look at all the engagements and activities the inHub team facilitated this spring! From field trips to Invention Convention Worldwide programming, this spring was full of opportunities to impact the next generation.

Invention Convention Michigan 2023

Throughout the school year, 1,036 students across the state of Michigan participated in Invention Convention’s project-based curriculum. As the Michigan affiliate for Invention Convention Worldwide, The Henry Ford hosted the Invention Convention Michigan competition, presented by Delta Dental of Michigan, on April 29th. From 7 regional Invention Convention competitions, 136 young inventors were invited to compete at these state finals where they presented their original inventions to judges and had the opportunity to meet fellow young inventors from across the state. It was an amazing day and our team loved seeing the inventors’ passion for the creative inventions they dreamed up. During the awards ceremony, fourteen top performers earned an invitation to move on to RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals 2023, held at The Henry Ford June 7-9. We’re so proud of all of these inventors!

Be sure to check out the recap video from this year’s event here.

Tinkering for Tots: Inspiring Young Innovators

At Tinkering for Tots young learners explore new ideas, overcome challenges work with others and make connections. In April and May, we welcomed 312 young learners, 19 pre-K classrooms, and 20 educators to Tinkering for Tots where they practiced the Habits of an Innovator through storytelling, play, artifact exploration and a take-home STEAM activity kit. Tinkering for Tots is taking a break for the summer, but we'll be back October-December on the second Tuesday of every month for storytelling, play, and exploration.

DPSCD Greenfield Village Field Trips

The Henry Ford is delighted to be one of several area cultural institutions which make up the Detroit Cultural Passport Program for educators and students of the Detroit Public Schools Community District (DPSCD). With these field trips we hope to inspire innovation, creativity and invention, ultimately helping to reduce the innovation opportunity gap. From April and June we welcomed 2,114 fourth grade students and 257 educators to Greenfield Village where the focus of their experience was centered on Michigan history post-statehood. The question “What leads ordinary people to become extraordinary innovators?” guided their outdoor experience as they collected data for their Innovation Scavenger Hunt, rode the train, visited Henry Ford’s childhood home and the Bagley Avenue Workshop, amongst many other sites throughout our seven historic districts.

Detroit Prep With Liberty and Justice for All Exhibit Takeover

Detroit Prep, a public charter K-8 school in Detroit, brought their fourth graders to Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation on February 13 to specifically visit the With Liberty and Justice for All exhibit. Their field trip marked the beginning of a unit that focused on the American Revolution era with a specific interest in identifying voices that are missing from traditional narratives, for example, women, indigenous people and enslaved people. During their unit of study, students researched the missing voices and put their critical thinking skills and empathy into practice by formulating opinion pieces to argue for why these groups would support or wouldn’t support the revolution. The students’ research and work from the unit were the contents of what they shared with museum visitors as a capstone learning experience during a “takeover” of the With Liberty and Justice for All exhibit on Friday, April 21.

RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals 2023 Highlights

From June 7-9, 336 inventors from all over the country joined us for RTX Invention Convention U.S. Nationals, along with their families, educators, sponsors and partners. While onsite, they were able to enjoy both the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village. They also engaged in hands-on STEM workshops with trailblazing STEAM advocate Dasia Taylor, met famous inventors like Dr. Rory Cooper, journalists, and future astronauts, interviewed with national media including PBS in the Classroom, and gained new knowledge into intellectual property and licensing from our friends at the USPTO and inventRight. The inventors presented their innovations to our wonderful judges and had the opportunity to network with fellow inventors from across the country. The awards ceremony was hosted by Albert Lawrence, correspondent for The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, with a special keynote by Alyssa Carson, astrobiologist and aquanaut. We had an incredible week with our inventors and loved celebrating their creativity and ingenuity. To see a full list of this year’s winners, click here. 

Check out a recap of this year's event here.

inHub’s 2nd Anniversary Celebration

On June 22, inHub celebrated it’s second anniversary! In just two years we’ve welcomed over 5,000 members to the inHub community and our impact continues to grow every day. We are so grateful to the educators and supporters who have joined us on this journey and we can’t wait to share with you the exciting new opportunities we have in development for later this year. If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for our Educator E-newsletter, here.

Upcoming Summer Programs and Engagements

Our Learning & Engagement team is already pushing full-steam-ahead with our summer programming. Here are some of the fun engagement opportunities we have to look forward to this season:

• THF Summer Camps for grades 2-6, June 26 – August 4
• 2023 Educators-in-Residence Onsite Experience: July 11-13
• 2023 Teacher Innovator Awards, presented by RTX, Onsite Experience: July 17-21
• Invention Convention Americas, presented by RTX: August 25
• Invent it Forward Summit, Invention Convention Worldwide: September 11-13