So it was that Jewish educators from around the country gathered for Summer Sandbox in July to brainstorm on using project-based learning (PBL) and other out-of-box pedagogies to change their schools.

That explains why facilitators presented participants with a Frisbee, a stuffed bear, a paddle ball set, a costume, and other objects and challenged them to imaginatively develop interdisciplinary lessons to cultivate creativity.

One group planned a curriculum that looked at Jewish history through the lens of fashion and what it reveals about culture. It included a debate about modern standards of dress and Jewish notions of modesty.

Another group – leveraging the stuffed bear – explored the sensory-laden story of Jacob and Esau. The group designed an interdisciplinary lesson including a charge to students to design a gift for a visually impaired person.

Summer Sandbox is filled with such PBL components and now in its second year – funded in part by The Covenant Foundation and hosted this summer at Yeshivat Noam in Paramus, NJ – it is a uniquely positioned and remarkably innovative  professional development program for Jewish educators from a variety of settings.

Participants come to Summer Sandbox to instigate culture change, to dream expansively, and to walk away with the tools, ideas, and connections that enable them to be change makers in their schools.

In one exercise, aptly titled “The Ten Billion Dollar Challenge” attendees were asked to determine how to allocate significant dollars towards programs they considered most critical to Jewish schools.  Ideas included a super bus to take students on any field trip imaginable; a department to create apps as needed for all disciplines; flexible learning spaces; quiet learning spaces; interdisciplinary learning; soundproof rooms to record and video; fully-equipped Maker, science, and Fab labs; and, gaming rooms.

Game-based learning – a current topic among 21^st century Jewish educators – also entered the mix as a key creative teaching and learning tactic. Barry Joseph, Associate Director of Digital Learning at the American Museum of Natural History, led participants in a workshop that taught them about game mechanics and how games can enhance student engagement.

Another session examined the different types of learning labs that schools have established. Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island Head of School, Adam Tilove described the school’s Design Lab, a place where students grades K-5 use design thinking to ideate, prototype, and collaborate. Magen David Chief Academic Officer and Summer Sandbox organizer, Tikvah Wiener described RealSchool, an inquiry-based learning program at The Frisch School.

To keep the conversation active, Summer Sandbox 2014 saw the launch of the I.D.E.A. Schools Network for Jewish and independent schools interested in implementing PBL and sparking creativity in students.

The Network, founded by Eliezer Jones, Ph.D., of Valley Torah High School in Los Angeles, and Tikvah Wiener, will be following up throughout the school year with the Sandbox participants, who all received a free one-year membership. For more information about the I.D.E.A. Schools Network, visit http://ideaschoolsnetwork.com.