What an exciting start to 2020 it has been for some students from Tauhara College. The Year 10 Jackson class from the Te Waka S.T.E.A.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Maths) Innovation Hub are working alongside Taupo District Council Emergency Management co-ordinators, Ian Connon and Kate Guthrie to produce an innovative cooking device for use in emergency situations.

The students’ learning journey follows the Design Thinking model which has been used by many international companies such as Airbnb to develop innovative solutions to problems that their organisations experience.

Students began this term by empathising with their stakeholders, Ian and Kate to understand what our community could face in the event of a volcanic eruption or severe earthquake. This process also included a trip to the Volcanic Centre in Turangi. After much discussion, the class finally decided on the idea of producing an emergency cooker as boiling water and cooking food would be of high priority if electricity and gas supplies were cut off.

Students are currently in the ideation phase where they are carrying out background learning in groups to develop a prototype which then gets trialled and tested. The students also get to apply the Tauhara College school values of care, courage and commitment during this process, plus develop future focused skills of collaboration, self regulation and skilled communication.

Presentations of their working prototypes will be made to their stakeholders, whanau and teachers in Term 2. The group with the most innovative cooker might eventually have their idea commercialised for inclusion in Civil Defence Emergency Kits throughout the country.