Fort Lauderdale Campus
Sign in at the registration desk and pick up your event resource bag. The conference organizers (Dr. Lisa Ockerman, Vice President of Academics and Strategic Initiatives; Jessie Metzger, Executive Director of Educational and Technology Design and Upper School Dean of Faculty Services; and Dr. Wendy Swanson, Director of Faculty Learning and Recruitment Coordinator) will provide a welcome presentation and overview of Day 1 events for the Innovation Institute.
What does it take to turn an idea into an app, and where does the thinking happen when AI helps build it? In this session, participants will use Imagi and Lovable to explore how students in grades 6–12 can design and build an interactive app. Along the way, they will consider how their instructions and the AI’s assumptions shape the final product. Participants will practice defining a purpose, setting requirements and constraints, testing what the AI creates, and making intentional revisions they can bring back to their classrooms.
In this interactive workshop, participants will explore how empathetic innovation can empower students to identify challenges diverse learners face and design practical solutions using the Adafruit Circuit Playground microcontroller. Attendees will work through the design thinking process and learn to program this versatile, beginner-friendly device using accessible block-based coding to support diverse learning needs. Participants will leave with a framework for integrating empathetic innovation into their own classrooms, a physical prototype they create and practical ideas for implementing similar design challenges with students.
No coding or electronics experience is necessary.
Are you curious how upper elementary students can use natural-language prompts to build real interactive websites and games? This hands-on session introduces the concept of "vibe coding" using Canva Code to create dynamic, no-code websites and educational games. Participants will learn a classroom-proven prompt-engineering framework to support student-designed learning tools, including functional web apps, word searches, and memory-match games. Attendees will use structured prompt templates, test sample student sites, and learn how to review the generated code with students, leaving with customizable student templates, teacher resources, and lesson progressions to bring AI-powered site design to your classroom.
Explore how AI tools can support purposeful curriculum integration across grades six through 12. In this hands-on session, participants will consider ways to use AI to support instructional planning, adapt learning experiences and engage students in meaningful work. With opportunities to experiment and connect tools to their own teaching contexts, attendees will identify practical applications aligned with curricular goals while keeping teacher expertise and student learning at the center. Participants will leave with ready-to-implement strategies and increased confidence in using AI to enhance instruction, streamline workflows and prepare students for an AI-powered future.
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Discover how virtual reality (VR) can transform learning into an immersive and engaging experience for students. During this session, participants will explore gamified VR technology to learn practical strategies for integrating VR into lessons. Attendees will leave with ideas and resources to bring gamified VR experiences into their classrooms, create meaningful learning and use immersive environments to support student curiosity, problem-solving and skill development.
(Continue learning about virtual reality integration in part two, during Session 3A.)
During this session, participants will explore how circuitry skills are introduced, developed and built upon as students progress from pre-kindergarten through grade eight. From introducing our youngest learners to basic concepts through Squishy Circuits to developing more advanced skills such as soldering in Middle School, attendees will experience projects that integrate the circuitry continuum into the curriculum. Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how intentional skill progression supports student learning, ideas for integrating circuitry across subject areas and inspiration for continuing their own hands-on learning.
Are you curious about ways to use unplugged activities to teach computer science? This session introduces the basics of physical computing, focusing on inputs and outputs. During the session, participants will build paper robots, construct paper computers, craft inputs/outputs and create a circuit board. Attendees will leave with a lesson progression and resources needed to bring craft computing to their classrooms.
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Immersive technology offers interactive, three-dimensional environments that extend learning beyond the physical classroom and engage students in unprecedented ways. In this session, participants will learn how cutting-edge Virtual Reality (VR) technology can integrate seamlessly into various subject areas to enhance student learning and engagement. Attendees will hear from classroom teachers about their successes and challenges in implementing VR to enhance their curriculum.
(Attending Virtual Reality Part One in Session 2B is encouraged but not required.)
Discover how to launch and sustain a hands-on microgreens operation that integrates agriculture, nutrition, economics, math and real-world business skills. In this interactive session, participants will experience the full cultivation process, from preparing initial growing trays to observing key stages of plant development and sampling the final harvest. Beyond the agricultural experience, attendees will learn how students take full ownership of the venture and create an actionable plan to launch a flexible, long-term microgreens project tailored to their school's scale and context.
(Repeated Day 2 Session 5)
In this session, participants will use Python programming and artificial intelligence to design an app solution to address a real human need. Attendees will learn how to guide students through the project, with a focus on creativity and human-centered design. This session includes hands-on coding with the Tkinter library to make Python more engaging for app development.
During this session, participants review curated selections from our Lower School computer science book list, spanning topics such as artificial intelligence, computational thinking, design thinking and maker education. Attendees will evaluate sample texts for current industry trends, educational value, readability and cross-curricular potential. Participants will collaborate, share ideas and take part in hands-on extension activities, including a featured building challenge inspired by Antoinette Portis’s Not a Box, where participants will turn simple cardboard into creative physical prototypes.
Experience the power of empathy-based design thinking in a hands-on, collaborative challenge. During this session, participants will move through the design thinking process by building empathy, defining a problem, brainstorming solutions, creating a quick prototype and gathering feedback. Working in teams, attendees will tackle a real-world challenge and experience the same collaborative, creative and student-centered learning process used in innovative classrooms.
Boca Raton Campus
Educators and school leaders are examining emerging AI trends through the lens of schoolwide strategic initiatives.
During this keynote session, participants will receive a macro-level overview of AI trends and the institutional frameworks required to foster schoolwide AI literacy and fluency. Attendees will learn about the evolving educational landscape and examine how emerging AI capabilities impact teaching, learning, and systemic operations. Key topics include institutional readiness, strategic initiative planning, policy development and building faculty and staff capacity.
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Teaching students to write code that reacts to user input differs from writing code that measures real-world input using sensors. In this session, participants will use active sensors to collect data such as temperature, sound and images. Attendees will learn simple yet powerful programming techniques to process the data. These techniques adapt to different programming languages and apply to all learners, from Lower School students to those in advanced Upper School computer science courses and on robotics teams.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming education, making AI literacy an essential skill for both educators and students. In this interactive session, participants will explore the foundations of AI literacy and learn practical strategies to build classroom readiness. Attendees will examine opportunities and challenges associated with AI use and explore approaches for fostering critical thinking, ethical decision-making and responsible AI practices. Through hands-on activities and real-world examples, attendees will gain the confidence and foundational knowledge needed to begin integrating AI literacy into their teaching and learning environments.
With an entrepreneurial mindset, students can engage in low-tech, low-cost activities to address real problems in the classroom community. During this session, participants will utilize structural cardboard techniques and low-fidelity physical prototyping to complete a rapid design sprint. Through hands-on collaboration, participants will prototype practical solutions such as modular, flat-pack desk dividers for quiet focus spaces, customizable material management centers to reduce shared clutter and ergonomic tactile supports like angled book stands, footrests and tablet holders. Attendees will leave this session with practical strategies to empower students to solve spatial and instructional challenges in school environments.
During this session, attendees will connect computational thinking and robotics to the Lower School curriculum. Participants will receive a one-on-one consultation with experts on tool choices, have time to play with various devices and interact collaboratively with other educators. Samples will include Intelino Smart Train, Pixel Art Sponge Cubes, Pixel Art Magnet Cubes, Sphero Indi and more at our interactive testing table. Attendees will leave with the feeling that there are “doable” creative coding projects available at the elementary level.
Why start from scratch when you can automate repetitive tasks? During this training, participants will build a simple reusable AI skill for a task they do repeatedly. Attendees will define clear instructions, provide relevant context, incorporate examples and establish desired outcomes to improve the skill's performance. By the end of the session, participants will leave with a practical AI assistant ready to streamline repetitive workflows.
Building on core foundational concepts from part one, this collaborative session focuses on practical, subject-specific strategies for embedding critical AI literacy directly into classroom instruction. Attendees will explore how generative AI tools can enhance the teaching and learning process when deeply rooted in existing standards and pedagogical goals. Key concepts covered will include curriculum-aligned lesson creation, disciplinary thinking with AI, task-specific ethical integration and formative assessment design. Participants will leave with subject-area lesson frameworks and actionable instructional strategies designed to empower students to leverage AI as a sophisticated learning tool across disciplines.
Merge physical cardboard engineering, robotics, physics and gamified decision-making simulations in this cross-curricular session inspired by classic survival narratives like The Oregon Trail. During this session, participants will connect reading and the social sciences curriculum with physical making and robotics to engage reluctant learners through competitive, narrative-driven gameplay. Attendees will use Sphero robots to transport supplies across simulated Mars terrain and mousetrap cars to move materials from the trading store to home base on Mars while exploring practical physics concepts like friction, weight distribution and center of gravity alongside space exploration history.
During the session, participants will experience low-prep morning warm-ups designed to foster computational thinking and digital citizenship and to teach students to critically evaluate AI-generated media. The session will highlight the following tools for morning routines: image-prompting challenges (Twin Pics), AI media literacy tools (Slop Detective), interactive games (Two Truths and AI, Semantris) and digital mascot voiceovers (Stickerbot). Attendees will leave with a comprehensive repository of ready-to-use lesson slides, media samples, book recommendations and customizable weekly templates to launch AI bellringers in your classroom immediately.
Take learning to new heights in this interactive drone workshop for educators looking to blend engineering, coding and problem-solving while having a blast flying the coolest educational gadgets. This session is designed to explore how drones are changing the world. Participants will learn the basics of aerodynamics, programming and the foundational STEM skills needed to fly and navigate a drone safely. Attendees will also tackle real-world challenges, including using a flight simulator, designing a drone delivery route, or capturing aerial photography.
Bring woodworking fundamentals, shop safety and precision measurement into your cross-curricular units. This hands-on "make and take" session builds educator confidence in managing shop and trade-skills activities while integrating practical applied geometry, physics and measurement standards into real-world fabrication. Participants will create durable, long-lasting classroom organizational tools and lab equipment from wood rather than disposable plastic. Attendees can choose from three fast-build projects to complete during the session.
Test your problem-solving skills in this interactive, cybersecurity escape-room-style experience. Working in teams, participants will tackle a series of challenges involving encryption, password security, phishing detection, binary code and digital forensics clues to unlock the final code. During this session, attendees will explore key cybersecurity concepts through engaging, collaborative learning strategies that build critical thinking, communication and perseverance. Educators will leave with ready-to-use activities and lesson ideas that can be easily integrated into Middle School and Upper School classrooms.
No programming experience is required.
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Wrap up learning at the institute with an interactive reflection closing session. Attendees will reflect on their conference experience and make plans to take the learning back to their school communities. Learn how you and your colleagues can partner with Pine Crest neXt to support your school’s innovative initiatives with unique in-person professional development offerings, online learning, and consulting services. Make plans to continue learning with Pine Crest School as you think about “What’s neXt?”
