Press Release

The Henry Ford’s Innovate Curriculum Accelerates an Innovative Mindset Among Students

(Dearborn, Mich. – Oct. 15, 2019) – The Henry Ford announced today the launch of Innovate, a brand-new interdisciplinary online curriculum geared toward middle school students designed to accelerate a student’s innovative mindset and provide opportunities to identify and solve problems in their own school, community and world. The four-course curriculum leverages primary sources from The Henry Ford Archive of American Innovation, an unparalleled collection of 26 million artifacts that sheds light on the way people have innovated across 300 years of history.

“At The Henry Ford, it’s our fundamental belief that inside every child is the potential to change the world,” said Patricia Mooradian, president & CEO of the institution. “This revolutionary curriculum provides educators with a ready-made tool that activates an innovative mindset within young students and nurtures their creative adaptability to successfully solve real-world problems.”

Developed through a unique collaboration with award-winning educators, historical experts, everyday innovators and other partners in innovation, Innovate promotes interdisciplinary learning that connects core subjects like STEAM, Social Studies and English, to real-world applications. Innovate helps students collaborate with people to identify and critically think through real-world problems, design creative solutions and prototypes that address those problems, and effectively communicate and pitch entrepreneurial solutions.

Innovate’s four courses build upon each other, offering a practical understanding of what it takes to go from idea to action. Throughout the courses, students will uncover key insights and proven techniques by engaging with digital artifacts, exclusive interviews with past and present visionaries, segments from The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation, learn-by-doing activities and interactive content that helps prepare students and their prototypes to participate in competitions. It also includes a facilitator guide aligning each course to Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Standards.

The curriculum is designed for educators to teach to an entire class through their teacher user account and offers the flexibility for a blended learning experience. The annual subscription fee for the four-course 20-hour curriculum is $499 and includes 10 student user accounts and one teacher user account. Additional student user accounts are $25 each. Educators looking for an introduction to the curriculum can download the Model i Primer, a free facilitator guide that introduces the actions and habits of innovators, real-life stories and learn-by-doing activities. For more information, visit thf.org/innovate-curriculum.  

About The Henry Ford

Located in Dearborn, Michigan, The Henry Ford, a globally-recognized destination, fosters inspiration and learning from hands-on encounters with artifacts that represent the most comprehensive collection anywhere focusing on innovation, ingenuity and resourcefulness in America. Its unique venues include Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village, Ford Rouge Factory Tour, Benson Ford Research Center and Henry Ford Academy, a public charter high school. Together with its online presence at thehenryford.org, its national television programs, The Henry Ford’s Innovation Nation and Did I Mention Invention? and other resources, The Henry Ford helps individuals of all kinds to unlock their potential and help shape a better future. The Henry Ford advanced its role as a catalyst for change in education with the acquisition of The STEMIE Coalition, a growing affiliation of organizations dedicated to fostering innovation, invention and entrepreneurship in students, K-12. With this merger, The Henry Ford is now home to the Michigan Invention Convention and the Invention Convention U.S. Nationals, during which thousands of students from across the United States participate.

For more information:
Melissa Foster, Media and Film Relations Manager
melissaf@thehenryford.org, 313-982-6126