Florida Conference Institute for Leadership and Innovation

Innovation by Design: Luna (8th Grade) and Rihanny (7th Grade), second-year innovation students at Forest City Adventist School, are exploring solutions in the Alzheimer’s space. Inspired by Luna’s grandmother, who is living with Alzheimer’s disease, the duo are working to develop an AI-powered solution that addresses a real-world challenge associated with the condition.

Today, they worked on their MVP 2 prototype and their Innovation Research Brief, continuing to refine their concept through iterative development.

Because meaningful innovation does not happen overnight, nor within nine weeks or even a single semester, the FLCOE Innovation Scholars will have the opportunity to develop their solutions over multiple years, continuing their work through graduation from high school and continue the research at one of our 13 partner universities.

Throughout their journey, they will be mentored by physicians and research scientists from AdventHealth University, Loma Linda University, and the Andrews University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Cultivating Innovators!

Forest City Academy is a member of the FLCOE (Florida Conference Office of Education) AE4™ (Adventist Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution) Magnet Innovation School-within-a-School Network. AE4™ is an initiative of the FLCOE Institute for Leadership and Innovation, the research and development arm of the Florida Conference Office of Education. www.flcoeinnovation.org www.Innovusinnovation.org.org ,

I recently had the privilege of hosting Leona Bange, Superintendent of the Indiana Conference, along with staff from Indiana Academy, for a close-up look at AE4 (Adventist Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution) the Florida Conference Office of Education Innovation Program.
Their visit included tours of the innovation programs at North Tampa Christian Academy (led by Ronnie Pitman and Amanda Darsey), Forest Lake Academy (led by Karlene Perry), Forest Lake Education Center (led by Marina Acevedo), and Innovus, the FLCOE Innovation Center. Each stop showcased student-led innovation ventures in which K–12 learners engage in multi-year innovation pathways to solve real-world problems.
The visit was inspired by a Design Thinking and AE4 presentation that I delivered at the Andrews University / Lake Union Conference STEM training event for educators on September 4, which Leona Bange and Arthur Miller attended.
Grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with forward-thinking leaders who are reimagining Adventist education for a rapidly changing world. I look forward to continuing this partnership and welcoming the Indiana Conference into the AE4™ Network. AE4 is a product of the FLCOE Institute for Leadership and Innovation. Cultivating Innovators! www.flcoeinnovation.com

Adventist Education, y’all! Meet Aiden Forbes, an alumnus of the Florida Conference Office of Educaiton AE4™ (Adventist Education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution) Innovation Scholar Program. Last summer, after completing just his freshman year at Southern Adventist University, Collegedale, TN, where he is pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering, Aiden secured an early industry internship at Osborn Engineering, Inc., an opportunity traditionally reserved for juniors and seniors.
Aiden attributes his ability to earn this internship directly to his participation in the AE4™ Innovation Scholar Program. This experience reflects findings from a recent pilot qualitative study, which found that early industry internships were secured exclusively by Florida Conference graduates who completed two or more years in the Florida Conference AE4™ Innovation Scholar Program and therefore qualified as AE4™ alumni. By contrast, students who participated only in traditional STEM pathways, such as high school STEM coursework, clubs, short term STEM camps, robotics, etc., without the multi-year AE4™ experience did not secure early industry internships.
As an Innovation Scholar, he learned to use industry-standard tools and frameworks, including Autodesk Fusion 360, the Arduino microcontroller platform, C++, Scrum, Design Thinking, additive (3D) printing, etc., to solve authentic, real-world problems.
Throughout his multi-year innovation journey (2019-2023), Aiden, along with fellow Innovation Scholars, co-launched a design company and contributed to the development of products for Minimally Invasive Solutions and Big O Fish Lights. Aiden is one of several AE4™ alumni who secured early industry internships during their freshman year of college. Aiden also credits his participation in the Innovation Scholar Program with helping him discover his calling.
The Florida Conference AE4™ Innovation Scholar Program is a school-within-a-school model developed and operated by the Florida Conference Institute for Leadership and Innovation, a division of the Florida Conference Office of Education, and is available to students in grades 5–12 attending a Florida Conference school or Innovus, the Florida Conference Innovation Center. Aiden participated in the program for four years while attending Forest Lake Academy, building both technical competence and professional confidence. Cultivating Innovators!