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VIDEO: Cordova High students innovate, create with Kings’ Cauley-Stein and VSP Vision Care
Video and story by Michelle Broskie and Sydney Northcutt, FCUSD Communication Internship Program
Collaboration often leads to the best innovations. Sacramento Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein recently partnered with VSP Vision Care to lead a fashion design workshop at Cordova High School. The group met with a mix of business, fashion, art, and IB students to engage them in brainstorming activities intended to stretch their creative thinking and potentially provide Cauley-Stein with some ideas for his new fashion line.
Local business VSP Vision Care was looking for a way to give back to the community. They partnered with Cauley-Stein and created a program targeted for students with the purpose of giving them an opportunity to participate in a real world activity that challenges their creative thinking skills.
Ryan Scott, the lead instructor of the Business-Technology Academy at Cordova High School was the liaison between VSP and Cordova High School and brought the program to his students.
“VSP’s collaboration with Cordova High really is going to give students an example of what life is like beyond the walls of campus. They’re able to see how business works and are able to look at different opportunities,” Scott said.
VSP had a very clear vision for their program and what they want to achieve. “As a design-thinker what we’re doing is getting people to engage in innovation and helping them understand how to stretch their thinking,” said George Claire, design-thinker from The Shop (VSP’s innovation lab).
Cauley-Stein fit into the equation as the catalyst for the activity. “What we’re doing with Willie is hoping to gain some insights from the students today, in regards to fashion and what they think is part of the future,” explained Claire.
The workshop was also a chance for Cauley-Stein to grab ideas for his fashion line. He wants students to realize that their ideas are valuable and provide a fresh perspective on the fashion world.
“Maybe their ideas aren’t as far-fetched as they think,” he said. “It gives them a chance to really step out of a classroom setting and put more focus into creating stuff.”
Students were able to see the value in collaborating with their peers and Cauley-Stein in creating new design ideas. “. . . talking to Willie, he says there are things that these students have come up with and talked about that he hadn’t even thought of,” Claire said.