The Thornburg Center for Space Exploration has announced a fantastic contest for middle and high school students called Futurework 2020. I spoke with David Thornburg at the Innovative Learning Conference, and he has agreed to accept entries from 6th graders, so Saugus 6th graders (and others) get to work inventing the future!
From the announcement:
If you are a student in Middle or High-School, there is a very real chance that one day you'll be working in a field that does not even exist today. For example, you might want to open a restaurant on the Moon, or work as a designer of a method to safely remove old satellites and other space junk from orbit. The possibilities are endless and as we continue to explore space, there will be literally hundreds of new career paths open for you – if you have the right skills.
The big challenge is that, since we don't know exactly what these new jobs will be, how can we define what skills will be needed to do them? Alan Kay, one of the original researchers who envisioned the creation of personal computers once said: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” He is right, and that is exactly what this project is going to let you do – invent a new job that might exist in the year 2020 that will be a career that will attract people like yourself. In defining this job, you need to explain what the job entails, and what skills you think are needed in order to do the job well. To make this activity even more fun, we've decided to create a contest, with a grand prize.
I can't wait to read about the exciting ideas the youth of the world come up with. Spread the word and get involved!
Keywords: Futurework 2020, TCSE, Thornburg Center for Space Exploration, Writing Contest
Posted by Jim Klein
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