Newton Montessori School Hosts Family Cardboard Challenge

On Saturday, October 14, Newton Montessori School will host its first ever Family Cardboard Challenge, part of Imagination.org’s Global Cardboard Challenge, and an extension of the school’s Design Lab curriculum.

“We’re so excited to be able to finally share our Cardboard Challenge curriculum with families,” says Newton Montessori Head of School, Beth Black. “It’s one of the most popular Design Lab units for our elementary students and opening it up to our families invites a new level of involvement and excitement for parents,” Black remarks.

The Global Cardboard Challenge is the flagship project of Imagination.org, an organization whose mission is to “raise a new generation of innovators and problem solvers who have the tools they need to build the world they imagine.” The project, and the organization, grew from the success of Caine’s Arcade, a short film documenting one child’s imaginative brilliance in creating a gallery of games made completely of cardboard and housed inside his father’s auto parts shop in East L.A.. The filmmaker, Nirvan Mullick, happened upon the arcade and bought a ticket from the young inventor, Caine Monroy, who was 9 years-old at the time. Mullick, astounded by Monroy’s creativity and ingenuity, made a film about the experience, which, according to the Imagination.org website, “sparked a worldwide movement celebrating creativity, play and the power of imagination.”

Newton Montessori School, a longtime pioneer in educational innovation, found out about the Cardboard Challenge and decided it would be a perfect fit for its Elementary students. “We knew the kids would love the process,” says Merav Rosen, Newton Montessori School DesignLab teacher and lead planner of the school’s Cardboard Challenge curriculum, “It fits in perfectly with the ideas they’re exploring in DesignLab.”

The school’s DesignLab class is for students in Grades 1 through 6 and is inspired by the Stanford University Design Thinking model of problem solving. “Essentially, the students begin with identifying a problem, or challenge,” says Rosen, “and from there there imaginations take over to come up, and test out, creative solutions,” she explains. “It’s amazing to see the ideas the students come up with.”

Noting the success of the Cardboard Challenge’s success with students, Head of School Beth Black decided to open it up to the school’s family community. “NMS parents are so involved with their children’s educations,” says Black “and they’re always looking for fun, educational activities to do as a family.” She added, “We’re really looking forward to seeing families think, create and have fun together.”

Newton Montessori School is a diverse, thriving co-educational community serving students in Pre-K through Grade 6, where students are encouraged to explore their natural curiosity.

For all coverage requests please contact Newton Montessori School Director of Marketing, Enrollment and Parent Engagement, Mason Sand at mason.sand@newtonmontessori.org.