How many days?
3 days per week, enough time to collaborate, build, and revise without screen fatigue.
Pilot Summer Innovation Camp Proposal
Smart City STEM Lab with Tropikana
A Minecraft Education experience where students redesign the future of their neighborhood through STEM, storytelling, civic leadership, and collaborative world-building.
Hartwell Edition
Rising 4th-6th Grade
Optional Rising 7th Grade Leaders
June 2026 Pilot
Prepared for Cyril Martin III, Resource Coordinator via Activities Beyond The Classroom, Hartwell Middle School, Carthage Elementary School, and Hartwell Recreation Center.
Build Specs
Answers to Your Questions
How long?
3 weeks total, giving students time to learn the platform, build community, and prepare a final presentation.
How many students?
5 students per cohort, aligned with the 5 computer workstations available in the Hartwell Recreation Center lab.
Session Times
Cohort A: 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Cohort B, optional: 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Each cohort receives 18 instructional hours total.
Age Group
Primary audience: rising 4th-6th graders, with limited space for rising 7th grade student leaders.
If two cohorts are offered, they may be organized by age dynamic, engagement level, or overall student interest.
Why It Matters
Why This Program Matters in Hartwell
Students today are growing up in a world shaped by technology, rapid change, and constant conversation about the future, yet many young people rarely have opportunities to imagine themselves as active participants in shaping the communities around them.
Rather than fighting against the platforms students already love, Smart City STEM Lab intentionally uses Minecraft Education to transform screen time into leadership, collaboration, civic imagination, storytelling, and STEM-based problem solving.
Through collaborative world-building and civic leadership roleplay, students will work together as one city leadership team to redesign and reimagine Smart City Hartwell through the eyes of youth.
Students Practice
- critical thinking
- creative collaboration
- leadership and communication
- teamwork and problem solving
- public presentation skills
Students Become
- future builders
- innovators
- planners
- community thinkers
- leaders with voice and vision
Game Features
Program Highlights
STEM + Minecraft
A 3-week collaborative innovation experience built around Minecraft Education.
Small Cohorts
5 students per team for deeper engagement, technology support, and every-child participation.
Civic Leadership
Leadership roles modeled after real city government structure.
Community Design
Students collaboratively redesign Smart City Hartwell through youth imagination.
Story + Presentation
Students learn to explain their ideas, solutions, and design choices publicly.
Final Reveal
Parent and community showcase featuring a student-led Smart City walkthrough.
Player Roles
Student Leadership Council
Each student serves in a civic-style leadership role modeled after actual city government, giving every participant ownership, voice, and a clear contribution to the team.
Mayor
Public vision and leadership.
Vice Mayor
Community engagement and collaboration.
City Manager
Operations and city planning.
Director of Parks, Recreation & Environment
Wellness, green spaces, recreation, and sustainability across the city design.
Director of Transportation & Community Development
Roads, transit, housing, schools, businesses, and the overall flow of community life.
Quest Arc
The Three-Week Arc
Week 1
1
Imagine
Students explore what makes a community thrive, identify neighborhood challenges, and orient to the digital build environment.
Week 2
2
Build
Students construct Smart City Hartwell, applying STEM and design-thinking concepts to parks, transportation, schools, sustainability features, and gathering spaces.
Week 3
3
Reveal
Students refine their builds, develop presentations, finalize the city, and prepare for Smart City Reveal Day.
Final Showcase
Smart City Reveal Day
At the conclusion of the program, students invite parents, family members, rec center leadership, and community guests to experience the world they designed.
Students Will
- welcome guests as the official student leadership team
- lead walkthroughs of the collaborative Minecraft world
- present their leadership roles
- explain the ideas behind their design choices
- answer questions from parents and community members
The Celebration May Include
- student-led city walkthroughs
- certificates of completion
- pizza party and community celebration
- photos and program documentation
The heart of the program is watching students walk adults through their vision of what is possible for the future of their community through STEM, leadership, and imagination.
Player Rewards
What Students Leave With
Students leave with more than a completed digital city. They leave with leadership experience, collaboration skills, presentation confidence, STEM exposure, and the belief that they can imagine and help shape better futures.
Continued Access
Students retain continued access to Minecraft Education for up to one year, allowing them to keep building, exploring, designing, collaborating, and expanding their ideas beyond the summer pilot.
Future Build Sessions
Students may also be invited to future Smart City build sessions and community meet-ups throughout the year to reconnect, continue building, and further develop their ideas and leadership skills.
Resources
Required Program Materials & Technology Support
Approximately $75 Per Student
This support is required to cover Minecraft Education licensing, technology setup and access, instructional materials, snacks or light refreshments, certificates, showcase materials, ongoing access, and future Smart City build sessions.
Required Pilot Support
One Cohort, 5 Students: Approximately $375
Two Cohorts, 10 Students: Approximately $750
This support ensures students have the technology, materials, and collaborative learning environment needed to fully participate.
Facilitation & Program Leadership
Program facilitation, curriculum implementation, leadership, and staffing support may require additional funding support or partnership discussion depending on final cohort structure and program scale.
Proposed Pilot Window
June 2026. The pilot cohort is tentatively planned to launch during the second week of June, allowing students to kick off the summer by collaboratively designing and reimagining Smart City Hartwell.
Next Steps
What’s Needed to Secure the Pilot
Facility Support
Access to the computer lab, scheduled program days or times, internet access, and workstation availability.
Student Coordination
Student outreach, registration coordination, parent communication, and cohort confirmation.
Showcase Support
Smart City Reveal Day setup, parent and community invitations, pizza or celebration, certificates, and final presentation logistics.
The goal is not simply to teach technology. The goal is to help students see possibility, innovation, and leadership within themselves and within the neighborhoods they call home.
Proprietary Notice
This proposal, curriculum concept, program structure, presentation language, and supporting creative materials are proprietary to The Parks Collective Agency and 31B Innovation Studios and are shared solely for review in connection with the Smart City STEM Lab with Tropikana pilot.
No part of this site or proposal may be copied, reproduced, distributed, adapted, taught from, or repurposed in whole or in part without the prior written permission of The Parks Collective Agency and 31B Innovation Studios.