We empower middle school students to launch absurd ideas that enhance the common good.
I've had an idea on my mind, specifically the sweet, furry, sad and lonely idea from the GE commercial called "Ideas Are Scary" below. Every time I see this, I feel so sorry for the poor idea and think he's scared - not at all scary. I love ideas so much, I need to find a stuffed version of him so I can truly hug an idea.
You know who else loves ideas? TomTod Ideas in Canton, Ohio. TomTod stands for tomorrow's ideas today and has several programs fostering ideas, problem solving, and implementation for middle schoolers.
What If You Could (formerly Idea X) : 6-12 month long experiential mentorship adventure. Middle schoolers think about stuff, but sometimes it seems like no one wants to hear about it. We do. Students can apply to What if You Could September 10-October 10. We are looking for ideas that cause the betterness of others.
Camp What If (formerly Dreamoratory): A week long summer camp for middle schoolers centered on the assets and challenges of a specific city center. Students spend the first half of the week learning about the city through experiential field trips and then spend the second half of the week creating ideas to enhance the city. The week culminates with a Community Ideation Celebration where students present their ideas to community leaders.
What If 101 (formerly Grasp. Go. Grow.): An in-school program that walks students through the ideation process. In the 2015-2016 school year, the program is at The Early College Academy, The Career & College Readiness Academy at Lehman and North Canton Middle School. http://tomtoddeas.org/faqs/
The stories and press room have a multitude of great stories, but the mission page makes me happiest, I feel like the TomTod mission page may be my favorite mission page I've ever seen.(http://tomtodideas.org/mission-values/) I am copying each section below so you don't miss it. I will wrap it up there, so if you're short on time, maybe you can save it for later and get on with your wonderful day.
Imagination We exist to harness the power of a dream, to fan the flame of possibility, and to shape hope into reality. Most middle school students are taught to leave their imagination at the door as they transition from being a child to a young adult. We believe that imagination is integral to a life worth living. Albert Einstein once said, “I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” We believe that the imagination of a middle student can not only encircle the world, but change it for the better.
Belief We believe in middle school students. We believe in their ideas. We believe in their ability to passionately be others-centered, noble, and giving.Middle school students get brushed aside in society far too often. We genuinely believe that middle schoolers have a passion for life and the ability to change the world with their ideas, passions, excitement and intelligence. We show our students that we believe in them by pairing them with mentors who are wholeheartedly convinced that the adolescents they are working with have ideas not only worth hearing, but ideas that deserve to be acted out in tangible ways.
Development We value the planting, the growing, and the end product, encouraging gutsy stick-to-itiveness through holistic experiential opportunities. TomTod Ideas is both a “now” and “next” proposition. We help students dream and launch ideas in real time. But we also provide training with an eye to preparation for future job interviews, positions of leadership and project management. Students have the opportunity to develop an idea from beginning to end allowing them to see something that began in their minds become an actuality.
Practice Compassion & Justice We seek to enter into a broken world, equipped with Love and selflessness, to create hope and repair. TomTod Ideas recognizes that the world we live in has injustice in it. Because of this, our team and our students work to enhance the common good by ending injustices in our communities, families, schools and beyond to generate hope and repair.
Celebration We foster fun & play, honoring the electric spark of epiphany and sharing the stories of our students and innovators everywhere.One of the most important parts about TomTod Ideas is our desire to have fun with the students we work with. We want to celebrate in their successes and build an atmosphere that encourages laughter, play and youthfulness. We do this through the ways we interact as a team. We do this through more specific celebrations of our students and their projects. And we do this through embracing a mindset of play.
Ripples We create space for a series of expanding impacts, catalyzing ideas into personal change, community-wide engagement, and societal movements. For every student who goes through the TomTod Ideas process, our hope is that their ideas will have a ripple effect on those around them. From the people they directly work with, to their family members, their peers, their city, and the world, we believe the work that our students do will not only cause a personal life change, but will impact many spheres of society and inspire others to take world changing action as well. -
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