Episode 58: Mixing What You Love with What You Want to Change with Bornblum Middle Students

What do cooking, racism, jewelry, the Israel-Hamas war, podcasting, and animal abuse awareness have in common?In this episode of The Spark, Dr. Weiss sits down with three Bornblum Middle students—Jacob, Bennett, and Rosie— who share their remarkable year-long Design Thinking Capstone projects built through design thinking principles. They explain how they transformed their passions into meaningful projects addressing real-world issues.Jacob combined his love of cooking with addressing racism by creating a cookbook that connects Jewish holiday recipes with African food traditions. Bennett channeled his interest in technology to create a podcast raising awareness about animal welfare after interviewing representatives from the Humane Society. Rosie designed symbolic jewelry with laser-cut charms to raise funds for families affected by the Israel-Hamas conflict.Each student discusses their creative process, challenges, mentorship experiences, and key learnings. Their stories highlight the power of persistence, the evolution of ideas, and how middle school students can make meaningful contributions to causes they care about. This episode offers a glimpse into Bornblum's Design Thinking approach that encourages students to connect personal interests with societal problems to create enduring solutions.