AfroFuturism Challenge Kit
Join hundreds of students to explore African Heritage Month and beyond!
Empower your students with a deeper understanding of Black history and culture, fostering pride, inclusivity, and a sense of belonging in every classroom.
Applications have now closed.
Why AfroFuturism?
Every year around the world and in our classrooms we observe African Heritage Month also known as Black History Month. During the month of February we too often only talk about the past, and often historical stories rooted in trauma. Some folks also celebrate Black Futures Month, shifting the narrative into how to celebrate our present and invest in Black futures. It’s important to remember, and for many to experience, that African and Black history is about more than just slavery and tough times.
This Challenge Kit is our first to explicitly use art as a way of exploring designing African Heritage Month. Students will leverage Afrofuturism, this is a creative genre found in books, music, art, and more to imagine the future while centering Black culture and heritage. A great example of Afrofuturism that many students would know is Black Panther.
Students’ guiding challenge is: How might we make African Heritage Month and beyond meaningful to our school community?
Why a Challenge Kit?
Young people deserve to have a say in the world around them; to engage with real-world problems that don’t have answers in the back of a textbook. Challenge Kits are the building blocks for many remarkable possibilities—there are no right answers or predicted outcomes. It’s the curiosity and creativity of students and staff like you that bring challenges to life in impactful ways.
FAQ
✅ Only if you are new to I-Think: Attending an Introduction to Real-World Problem Solving professional learning on October 28th, this is done in-person.
✅ Attending the Challenge Kit Orientation on October 30th with the other teachers in your school, which is mandatory for all participating teachers. This is done virtually.
✅ Joining Virtual Events and using the Activity Plans to support students in being mindful of their own schemas and building schema around the challenge themes.
✅ Facilitating students through the Real-World Problem Solving Journey between November 4th-January 10th, 2024.
✅ Having students present their thinking and recommendations to school administrators the week of January 6th, and sharing that work with I-Think.
✅ Joining the teacher celebration event.
You’ll be supported by:
1. Professional Learning | Those new to I-Think, will receive professional learning on Integrative Thinking, the methodology that underlies the Real-World Problem Solving Journey. Professional learning orienting you to the experience is mandatory for all participating teachers — this is where you’ll get everything you need to bring the experience to life in your classroom.
2. Coaching and Mentorship | You’ll have access to an I-Think Coach throughout this experience, who can help and support you in all the little and big things (really! Just ask – anything from logistics to how to get student thinking unstuck, and everything in between).
3. Resources and materials | When you join the challenge, you’ll have everything you need to get your students solving a real-world problem. Together with our educator community, we’ve created a comprehensive facilitator notebook, customizable slide deck, reflective handouts and meaningful empathy lesson plans to take the guess-work out of bringing real-world problem solving to your classroom.
Over 8 weeks your students will engage in a real-world problem solving journey. Each week will be between 1 – 2 hours of work. Your school leader will launch the challenge by customizing a letter to students. You will also attend a virtual Launch Event hosted by I-Think. Students will engage in I-Think’s Real-World Problem Solving Journey to guide their thinking and present back to the admin team and adults in the school who will implement their thinking.
Students: This is an opportunity to build capacity in problem-solving pedagogies and take learning outside of the four walls of the classroom. Research shows that when students engage in deep learning they develop a curiosity and passion for learning that can’t be taught, they develop the skills to be future-shaping problem solvers who are creative, collaborative and think critically.
You: Because you actually don’t have to have the answer. There is a wonderful freedom of being a facilitator of student insight when you don’t have the answer. You also get to connect into a generous, curious and relentless educator community while building pedagogical capacity. In this experience, you’ll learn and utilize the tools of Real-World Problem Solving which teachers continue to find new and interesting ways of using across grades and curriculum
The Real-World Problem Solving Journey is a step-by-step process for moving through complex problems without being overwhelmed by them. Weekly emails, a Facilitator Notebook and Teacher Coach will support you at each stage of the process.
Through the Real-World Problem Solving Journey, students will:
– Frame the Problem
– Ignite Curiosity
– Drive for Insights
– Build Better Models
– Celebrate Success
Your class will move through each stage weekly (roughly! It may take your students more or less time at each stage and our Teacher Coach will support you when you need help). 
Young people deserve to have a say in the world around them; to engage with real-world problems that don’t have answers in the back of a textbook. Challenge Kits are the building blocks for many remarkable possibilities—there are no right answers or predicted outcomes. It’s the curiosity and creativity of students and staff like you that bring challenges to life in impactful ways.
A Challenge Kit from I-Think is a classroom resource designed to engage students in solving real-world problems by providing tools, prompts, and partnerships with people and organizations facing actual challenges. These kits include Integrative Thinking tools, customizable educator resources, and hands-on learning experiences for students to engage critically with authentic issues. Each Kit revolves around a specific problem, such as building community, or addressing climate change, or AI – encouraging students to think critically and creatively. The kits also include professional support for educators through learning and coaching.
What are some of the things I’ll receive?
– A physical and digital copy of a Facilitator Notebook and Classroom poster
– A Letter (that you can customize) from your school leader to the students issuing the challenge.
– Slides that you can customize to guide your students through the experience.
– Activity Plans with resources.
– Virtual Student Celebration.
– Curriculum Connections
Filling out a Pre and Post Survey
Professional Learning in Real-World Problem Solving: (Mandatory for those new to I-Think) Join the I-Think Real-World Problem Solving Institute. The Institute is taught by I-Think Mentors, educators who started their journey just like you are.
Orientation: Here you will get your Challenge Kit and have time to get familiar with the materials and the experience you’ll facilitate in the classroom.
Facilitating the Challenge Kit: A Teacher Coach is here to support you throughout. You can reach out at any time.
Cost: $1,000 per teacher
Whats Included?
- A 6-week, step-by-step Real-World Problem Solving Journey supported by classroom-ready materials you can download and use as is, or customize.
- Support to launch the challenge, including a customizable letter from your school leader, and a virtual launch event hosted by I-Think.
- Virtual speaker series or videos and activities to foster empathy and deepen students’ understanding of the challenge themes.
- A certificate of engagement for you and your students, who will become eligible for I-Think’s RJS Scholarship, after participating in the experience.
- Students will engage in the Real-World Problem Solving Journey throughout November – January. Professional learning will be provided before, mentorship and support will be provided throughout and you’ll be invited to celebration afterward.
*The AfroFuturism Challenge is about celebrating Black students through thoughtful exploration. Due to the depth of this work we want to make sure we are working with educators, classrooms and student groups that are prepared and have support (in school and/or outside of it) to take on this exploration. In the application form, we are going to ask you about the type of work you, your classroom, and your school has taken on/done that has prepared you for this Challenge Kit.
This could be lived experience, anti-Black racism learning, field trips, meaningful engagement with community, and more.
Applications are now closed.
