Inspired by our commitment to the foundational pillars: dual language immersion, global perspectives, social justice, and community engagement; students engage in Think Lab class which culminates in the ""Four Pillars Project"" at the end of eighth grade.  This project centers on experiential, project-based, and multidisciplinary learning that promotes generating questions and ideas as well as exploring possible solutions to transform our local community.  

Students are engaged in a process to identify their equity commitment, understand the complexity of community challenges, design, and try potential solutions though these phases:

Empathize- Talk to people in your community to understand their perspective and their needs. 

Define- Identify what makes your community unique and what it needs. 

Inquire- Explore community dilemmas and identify which matter to you … and why. 

Imagine- Come up with possible solutions to those dilemmas and plan specific actions that you can take. 

Prototype- Create something! 

Try- Take risks, make mistakes, and refine your creations 

As a result, students learn through reflection,  tap into their core beliefs, and identify their place in the community.

• Who am I in my community?
• What do I notice in our community that needs to change? 
• How will we transform our community... and the world?
• What steps do we need to take to bring about the change we want to see? 
• How will our work reflect the CVLCC Pillars? 
  (Bilingualism, Social Justice, Global Perspectives, and Community Engagement) 

Another intentional purpose of Think Lab class is to connect and extend the experiences students bring from Academy and Service Learning at CVLCC elementary and to prepare them for more advanced experiences at CVLCC high.  

Visit the ThinkLab page to see what our students are doing now!