What is SOD+A?
Schools of Discovery + Action
SOD+A stands for Schools of Discovery + Action. It is an international design challenge for high school students where they explore ideas through creative uses of technology, share knowledge and collaborate with students in other communities, then bring their different skills and discoveries together to co-design a project that makes a lasting contribution locally.
You may be working locally, but knowledge is global.
Participating schools & labs
What is the challenge?
See how far you can push an idea
It can be exciting to think of something you'd love to make. Sometimes you don't know where to start or how to use your skills to contribute to your community. Either way, the challenge is turning ideas into meaningful action. That is what SOD+A stands for, moving from discovery to action.
Discover.
Instead of a big, defined project, we add a twist. Bring an interest or start from scratch, let the randomly drawn prompts guide you somewhere new, experiment, share what you learn, and see what happens.
Act.
Now you have new ideas and new skills. Put them to work with friends and your school. Co-design a tool, a space, an event, or a service for your community, with each person bringing what they do best. Document it for the world to see.
Scroll to the criteria to see what to aim for...
How to Participate
Connecting Students to the Challenge
This pilot year, participation is by invite, or you can reach out using one of the forms on this page.
Participating schools and labs have a facilitator, teacher, coach, or mentor to help a student group take part in the SOD+A Challenge, encouraging them to iterate, experiment, share, and document their creations and attempts on our global board. Participating schools and labs also help connect students to co-design opportunities where their newly discovered skills can be put into action to make a difference.
From last year
Learn across borders
Share your process with students in other communities, remake and adapt each other's work, and build relationships through making.
How it fits
Run SOD+A as a co-curricular activity, a class, or a collaboration with another organization. Your group chooses the format and can use the frameworks it already knows, such as IB. Projects can build on work students are already doing for other school initiatives.
Timeline
Sign up in October. Launch in November. Discover until February, then act on a co-design project until the showcase at the end of April. Four to five check-ins along the way, with live global sessions recorded for every time zone.
Who can join
Students aged 14-18 working with a school, a makerspace, or another organization. No Fab Lab is needed. Any level of technology is welcome, from simple hand tools to laser cutters and code.
Participating Schools & Labs
Include a facilitator who runs the group, such as a teacher, coach, or mentor. Student access to computers, tools or fabrication machines, and craft supplies. A project students co-design to make an impact. A willingness to share your process, such as a file, a recipe, or a series of steps, so others can remake, learn from, and adapt your work. Investment of enough time to iterate, respond to feedback, and showcase your efforts.
SOD+A provides
The structure facilitators need to get started, including prompts, criteria, best practices, and a shared schedule for deliverables and feedback. A global Miro board for sharing, and regular group check-ins to compare notes and ask questions. No cost to join this pilot year.
Who is it for?
Students who want to make things with others
SOD+A is for students aged 14-18 in schools, makerspaces, or Fab Labs interested in creative engineering, entrepreneurship, digital and product design, media, creative direction, project management, art and technology, or any field where ideas, initiative, collaboration, and community engagement matter.
Why?
The other side of innovation
School gives you knowledge, skills, and structure. SOD+A gives you the experience of learning through design and community. Hands-on, collaborative discovery that's common in Fab Labs and universities but doesn't always fit into a high school curriculum. Working alongside students, Fab Labs, and universities beyond your own school, you'll dive deeper into what you're curious about, use technology to make something meaningful, and build the many skills the world needs, including creativity, curiosity, resilience, judgment, and collaboration.
Along the way, you build a portfolio that makes your process, decisions, and growth visible, while receiving feedback and recognition from partner schools and organizations that value these skills. It is a chance to get noticed while having fun, discovering what you can do, and learning what it means to bring your talents into the world.
Challenge criteria
Show us what you can do
Each partner sets its own criteria. Meet them to earn that partner's certificate. One certificate earns Bronze, more than one earns Silver, and every partner's certificate earns Gold.
Schedule
October to April
The pilot year, marked on one line. Rest on a dot to read that date.
The bigger picture
Our goal is to grow SOD+A as an international showcase that celebrates student action toward creativity, curiosity, and collaboration. We want to challenge students to engage in the kinds of experiences that build these skills, and to offer real feedback from the world that needs them.
Currently the SOD+A Challenge is a concept in action. We tested the idea last year with two schools and two partners, and saw students get excited to experiment, iterate, share, and act on their ideas through design. We are now looking at a second pilot year to expand on this, and co-designing the experience with our participants and partners.