Klager 4th Graders Accept Amcor’s Student Design Challenge
Students, parents and members of the community came together at Amcor on the evening of May 20th for a presentation of students’ 21st Century Global Cyber Pal Student Design Challenge projects and a reception.
The 21st Century Global Cyber Pal Student Design Challenge, also known as The Amcor Student Design Challenge was a new idea that grew from a community grant applied for by Joanne Kemner, mother of a fourth grader at Klager, and a tour of Amcor’s Manchester facilities by Mrs. Van Raden’s fourth grade class. Through collaboration by Mrs. Van Raden and senior industrial designers, Rick Rangler and Greg Hurley, who served as the original tour guides, the project started small and grew, taking on a life of its own until it went global to include students in Greensborough, Victoria Australia.
The students could choose from four different design challenges: designing cereal box graphics, designing a bottle for a juice drink, designing an innovative dry food container, and designing flexible pouch graphics. Rangler said the innovative dry food container design was probably the most challenging and was impressed a few students chose that challenge. Hurley and Rangler were also impressed by how quickly and well the students grasped the concepts. Rangler commented that the students were ready to take on the challenge and start working after watching the first video which was just an overview of the project. “We had to slow them down a little bit because there was more information coming in later videos!”
Developing the project from scratch with no blueprint Hurley and Rangler put together 5 videos outlining the design process. The videos covered the 6 areas of the design process: opportunity, discovery, brainstorming, concept, down selecting, refinement, and presentation. “These videos emphasize the critical roles technology and teamwork play in creating innovative packaging designs,” Rangler said. “It also represents a peek behind the packaging design curtain for students who are interested in learning more about this dynamic line of work.”
Mrs. Van Raden saw the design process as simply solving problems and a process that incorporated the 4 C’s she teaches in her classroom: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity. “I think the excitement and engagement from learning during this project has created a real interest in future careers,” said Van Raden who has taught in Manchester for more than 30 years. “Collaboration with students in Australia has opened a whole new world of excitement made possible through advancements in technology and 21st century learning skills.”
Two of the goals for Hurley and Rangler were to teach the students about cultures across the world and to teach them about responsible packaging. The project also represents Amcor Rigid Plastics’ ongoing commitment to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The mission statement adopted for the six week project was Amcor’s mission statement “We passionately and relentlessly apply art and science to enhance the products people use in everyday life today and tomorrow”.
You can see a video of the students’ presentations here: video
In April, Amcor Rigid Plastics awarded an $8,000 Amcor Community Program grant to provide four Luther C. Klager Elementary School classrooms with technology and furniture to enhance students’ 21st century STEM learning experience. Read more here: Amcor Awards $8,000 Grant to Klager for Classroom Technology.
Joanne Kemner, mother of one of the students who spearheaded the collaboration, and Mrs. Van Raden
Mrs. Van Raden
A presentation of the projects and reception was held May 20th at Amcor.
Senior industrial designers Greg Hurley and Rick Rangler were instrumental in designing the challenge.
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