In 2019, the Oakland Schools Career Readiness team and the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s office (WRC) formed a partnership to help K-12 teachers and students across Oakland County learn a problem-solving method called “Design Thinking.”
At the same time, they were also learning about the problem of increased wet weather events and the damage that can be caused by stormwater. In the five years since this partnership began, more than 70 teachers and 1,000 students have participated.
What is Design Thinking?
Design Thinking is a problem-solving process that teaches how to reach your solution by working through five detailed steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Teachers and students start with being presented with a challenge statement provided by: “How can we educate and incentivize the public to help reduce the problem of stormwater runoff?” However, providing the challenge statement is just the first step of many in this fruitful partnership.
Introducing Educators and Students to Stormwater
Once a teacher or student group has selected the WRC’s challenge statement, they must become familiar with the subject matter: stormwater. The staff at the WRC help with this part of the process by giving presentations about and tours of the George W. Kuhn Retention Treatment Basin (GWK). In addition to learning what happens to stormwater after it hits the ground, program participants are introduced to the importance of keeping stormwater on your property and out of the underground infrastructure. This is done by having conversations and asking questions of engineers and environmental planners from the WRC. Lastly, educators are taken on a local rain garden tour by the Clinton River Watershed Council. This tour highlights the steps that both municipalities and homeowners can take to help stormwater infiltrate the surface instead of entering pipes underground, which can lead to basement backups, street flooding, and in some cases, combined sewer overflows. A wealth of knowledge from past Stormwater Summit presentations is also made available to participants, and classes can request a demonstration from the WRC Dirt Doctors to enhance their understanding of stormwater runoff in a kid-friendly way.
The Final Product
After months of collaboration, students are invited to present their solutions at a student showcase hosted by Oakland Schools. Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash enjoyed talking with the teachers and the students and seeing their creative solutions and genuine interest in the problem of stormwater runoff.
“I was truly inspired by the young people I met here, fifth grade through high school. They studied the issue, reached conclusions, came up with ideas, built prototypes and developed solutions. Their enthusiasm, imagination and curiosity developed understanding and led them to good ideas. One class even developed a mobile app and another class a website.” Nash said.
Since the Design Thinking program began in 2019, the following school districts have participated:
2023-2024
- Birmingham
- Ferndale
- Pontiac
- Southfield
- West Bloomfield
2022-2023
- Birmingham
- Farmington
- Ferndale
- Holly
- Lamphere
- Madison
- Pontiac
- OSTC-SW
- Southfield
- West Bloomfield
2021-2022
- Ferndale
- Lake Orion
- Novi
- Pontiac
- Southfield
- Troy
2019-2020
- Oak Park
- Pontiac
- Royal Oak
- Southfield
- West Bloomfield
The Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner’s office is dedicated to protecting public health and safety, preserving natural resources and a healthy environment, maintaining reliable, high-quality service, ensuring the value of investment and contributing to economic prosperity. To learn more about the Oakland County Water Resources Commissioner Jim Nash’s Office and his work, follow along with them on Facebook and LinkedIn.
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