The Hayot Center for Innovation (HCI)

Upper School French III learned about sustainability challenges, pollution, contaminated drinking water and infrastructure problems facing various French regions around the world. Students were then tasked with developing inventions and prototypes that could be used to help alleviate or solve these problems. They learned how to 3D print, woodwork, laser cut and much more en route to creating these solutions. Their presentations utilized the conditional tense, which was a major part of this unit and reinforced both new French vocabulary and grammar skills. 

Class 7 students worked on an interdisciplinary project combining History, French and Technology, following their grade-wide trip to the United Nations Headquarters. The students discussed the UN's goals in French and were introduced to a related project by their French teacher. Students were provided three options: portray a "day in the life" at the UN; choose a global issue and explain how the UN addresses it and propose an innovative solution; or research how the UN's work impacts their local NYC community. Students developed their projects in the HCI to create a visual or digital representation of their work using laser cutting, woodworking, 3D printing and drawing, programming and virtual reality. They then had the opportunity to present (in French) their final products to members of our community including their older peers in advanced French classes. 

Class 6 students applied their knowledge of cells, microscopes and geology to design their very own extremophile––a microscopic organism capable of surviving in extreme environments like boiling volcanoes, frozen oceans or deep underground. Using virtual reality and augmented reality, students created a 3D model of their organism, showcasing its appearance and specialized adaptations as well as a background depicting how they envisioned Earth looked during the Archean and Hadean eons when extremophiles first existed. Students then shared their work with the community. 

In Intensive Chinese, students learned new vocabulary and grammar that enabled them to give directions and discuss different public spaces. Students then designed their own immersive virtual reality experiences in which they incorporated traditional Chinese architecture, essential facilities and systems, giving the viewer the opportunity to explore an urban area, interact with its residents to find various buildings, landmarks and stores. Each of their towns featured a virtual tour guide––who students coded to lead viewers through; explaining in Chinese what they were seeing––and audible character dialogue. After employing their 3D modeling and programming skills to create these spaces, they had an opportunity to share their work with our community. 

Inspired by this dynamic space, Dr. Olivera spearheaded the creation of Chapin's Maker Faire, an annual event for Class 2-7 students and their families to engage in a wide array of STEAM activities. Led by Upper School students, the younger girls participate in fun stations in the HCI from designing circuits powered by lemons, exploring non-Newtonian fluids while making slime, observing the laws of thermodynamics while making their own ice cream, and building scribble bots to complete simple, colorful tasks.