Welcome to Room 4 2015: Genius Hour

Sugar Cubes visit Nelson SPCA

Auriela and Kadeisha; 2 of the members of genius hour group 'Sugar Cubes', visited Nelson SPCA this week to donate their funds they raised during their genius Hour project. The four girls collected Apples from local friends and families properties, made candy Apples, marketed the product and sold at various locations throughout Nelson. The SPCA were appreciative of all the girls efforts and welcomed them to help out in the near future.

The Eco-store visits the Brook Sanctuary

Sam and Reuben donated $45.00 to The Brook Waimarama Bird Sanctuary. They had raised the money from selling chia seeds and designing Eco-friendly book marks as part of their Genius Hour Project. The boys worked tirelessly planning and manufacturing throughout their Genius Hour project.

The Brook Sanctuary does a superb job in protecting the native birds and animals that live in our locality. If you'd like to learn more, please visit the website below:

http://www.brooksanctuary.org

The Eco-store

Spark Energise hits the headlines

The Boys from the Genius Hour project 'Spark Energise' were in the headlines recently. Their project sparked press attention when presenting their homemade low sugar energy drink. The proceeds from their project went to Sporting charity 'Special Olympics New Zealand' and were collected by athlete Lisa Donald.

Special Olympics New Zealand offers a year-round programme of sports training and competition for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The boys are all keen young sports stars, and value the opportunity of sports for all. When interviewed, they explained the project, their product, the problems they had encountered and how they resolved these issues. I

t was also great to see Phil Costley in attendance; the well-known local athlete has been endorsing 'Spark Energise' throughout this seasons race events, and has been a great role model for the Hunter, Ali, Fenlon and Cameron. Overall, Phil, the representatives from the Special Olympics New Zealand and the Nelson Mail were all very impressed by the boys outstanding attitude to their project.

Follow the link below to the full article:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/nelson-mail/news/69656060/low-sugar-doesnt-stop-student-business-buzz

The Apprentice:

For the past five weeks, the senior syndicate have been randomly assigned to groups of five and asked to design and 'market' a product. Each team had to create an innovative team name, slogan and logo and take turns as 'project manager'.

Each team had to design a unique product, with a catchy name and served a solution to a problem. On the final week, each group presented their ideas to the other teams. There was some outstanding creative ideas, designed and presented with confidence.

It was a fine lesson learnt in working with others, the importance of listening, planning, sharing ideas and delegating responsibility.

Genius Hour; presentation Day

The 'Buzz' in the Senior Syndicate was electrifying on Friday when all Genius Hour groups got to present to their peers, parents and younger children from throughout the school. The children have worked really hard on their projects and attempted to be reflective throughout. Every group has been able to identify the challenges they've faced faced along the way, and have discussed the next steps to overcome these. The presentation 'market' just demonstrated how capable and creative young minds can be when they persue a passion in order to solve a driving question.

The Progress of Genius Hour in Room 4

Genius Hour has proved a complete success. All the groups have been well organised in their planning and constantly reflecting on the hurdles they have had to overcome. This video sums up their progress so far...!

Click on the images below to see what each group got up to during their Genius Hour...