3 Ways to Celebrate Your Students’ Creativity and Innovation This School Year

How are you celebrating student creators and changemakers in your community this school year? Join us in amplifying students’ voices with the YouthMADE Festival, Digital Promise’s global celebration of youth creativity and innovation.

By showcasing students’ work and amplifying their voices, we can show young people that we care about their perspectives on the topics and issues that matter to them, create opportunities for students to receive recognition for their work, and foster connections in our local and global communities. Leading up to the 2024 YouthMADE Festival, we’re offering new opportunities for educators, students, and advocates to showcase students’ projects and share what they’re learning along the way.

At the heart of YouthMADE are the inspiring stories of youth creators and changemakers around the world. We invite you to share a story from your classroom or organization, or nominate someone whose work deserves recognition. Stories will be featured on the YouthMADE blog, social media, and monthly newsletter.

We are looking for stories that meet the criteria below:

• Students featured are between the ages of 5-24. If the student is under 18, an adult teacher, mentor, or caregiver must submit a story on their behalf.
• Students are creating something related to their interests and issues they care about. Their project could be a product, service, campaign, a piece of media, a system, artwork, or something else. Their project can be completed or in progress.
• Students must be able to offer reflections on why they are interested in their topic and what they are learning through working on their project.

We are looking for a diversity of stories and encourage students underrepresented in STEM, students who are addressing issues in their community from non-dominant perspectives, and students who have never received recognition for their work to share their story with YouthMADE.

If you have a story from your classroom or organization to share, or would like to nominate someone, send a brief description to youthmade@digitalpromise.org.

The YouthMADE Festival is a two-week celebration of youth creativity and innovation worldwide. Participants have hosted in-person and virtual events including panels, flash talks, workshops, open houses, and more. We invite you to host your own event showcasing the students in your community and will support you with resources to help you promote your event.

Join our next YouthMADE Festival Info Session on the last Wednesday of each month to learn more about how you can organize a YouthMADE Festival celebration in your community.

Edcamps are free, unconference-style professional development for and by educators. Each Edcamp leverages the knowledge and experiences of attendees who submit session topics of interest to guide the discussions and learning of the day.

At Edcamp: YouthMADE, educators will connect to discuss ways to facilitate the creativity and innovation of students in their school or community. Together, we will hold space for discussions, sharing, and networking as we build a community among educators interested in designing learning experiences that foster youth voice, creativity, and innovation. Sign up for our monthly newsletter to be notified when Edcamp: YouthMADE registration goes live.

• Sign up for our monthly newsletter to receive opportunities and resources for facilitating youth creativity and innovation
• Register for the next YouthMADE Festival Info Session
• Share a story with YouthMADE by emailing youthmade@digitalpromise.org
• Follow YouthMADE Festival on Instagram