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Centers of Human Excellence Innovation Programming

Center for Innovation Programming

What the Center for Innovation Offers

The Jack Shields '79, P'06 Center for Innovation helps students become action-oriented problem solvers with the agency to make an impact. 

Through Wednesday morning workshops, Lunch and Learns with Boston-area practitioners, innovation-embedded courses across departments, field trips, and a formal Innovation Certificate pathway, the Center bridges classroom learning with the real world at every level from middle school through senior year.

BC High's center for innovation

What Your Son Will Gain

Students shaped by the Center for Innovation graduate with skills that are specific and applicable to careers in every field, enhancing college applications and helping students form independence in every grade.

Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy
Opportunity Identification and Ideation
Prototyping and Testing
Creativity
Teamwork
Storytelling and Business Communication
Business Model Development
Systems Thinking

Why Innovation Education at BC High Is Different

The Center for Innovation is grounded in Ignatian pedagogy, which means students don't just acquire skills.

They cycle through experience, reflection, action, and evaluation, building not only capability but self-knowledge. The concrete outcome for students is entrepreneurial self-efficacy: the confidence and ability to identify a challenge and create solutions that genuinely meet a need.

At our private school in Boston, the Center meets every student where he is, from a 7th grader attending his first Innovation Day to a senior presenting original work at the Student Expo.

Over five years, the Center has embedded innovation across more than 18 courses, partnered with 87 faculty members, engaged 350+ experts, and hosted 8 student expos and 13 summits. In FY26 alone, 540 students participated in opt-in programming across 145 sessions.

Innovation at BC High

One question families often ask is what "innovation" actually means at BC High.

In the executive director's own words, it's not coding, or entrepreneurship, or design thinking specifically. Innovation is a mindset: action-oriented problem solving, challenging the status quo, and creating something new and of value. It spans technologies, social challenges, and industries.

No matter what a student goes on to do, he will need to tackle problems. The Center for Innovation at one of the best private high schools in Massachusetts builds that capacity across seven years of formation.

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A Message From Our Director

We start with helping students understand who they are and what calls them. The Center for Innovation believes each student can build their innovation mindset and entrepreneurial self-efficacy.

We create the conditions that form action-oriented problem solvers who understand self, others, and context. Through partnerships with our local and global innovation ecosystems and communities, students engage with real-world, real-time challenges. As students identify opportunities, experiment, reflect, and iterate with those they are serving, they recognize their own agency to make an impact.

— Joseph McNamara ’12, Executive Director, Centers of Human Excellence

Programming Through the Years

Arrupe Middle School

Innovation formation at our private middle school in Boston begins in the Arrupe Division, where five programs build the mindset that carries students into high school and beyond.

Seventh-grade students engage with community leaders as a complement to their Civic Action Project. Students learn about civil discourse, hear from keynote speakers, and participate in student-facilitated sessions connecting BC High's Graduate at Graduation values with civic action.

Takeaway: I can make a difference in my community.

A full-day exploration, application, and celebration of innovation through design challenges, panels, and visits to innovative organizations in and around Boston.

Takeaway: I am an innovator and can access innovation opportunities in Boston and beyond.

Lunch sessions on student entrepreneurship, grit and resilience, and professional etiquette.

Takeaway: I know how to show up, work hard, and create change.

Recurring STEM activities and hands-on challenges open to middle school students throughout the year.

Takeaway: I can create things.

After-school programming where students use craft, woodworking, and maker tools in the workshop space.

Takeaway: I can create things.

High School

The Center for Innovation meets high school students where they are, with a range of entry points from drop-in workshops to multi-year certificate pathways.

 Opt-in programming running throughout the school year, open to all students. A recurring opportunity to explore topics in innovation, entrepreneurship, and design thinking with peers and practitioners. 

Takeaway: I can turn my ideas into action. 

Practitioner-led speaker sessions bringing professionals from across industries into conversation with students.

Recent speakers have included Dr. Helia Jalili, Founder and President of Cavosh and founder of GeLaTo, on AI applications across the Greater Boston ecosystem; Amaan Ali ’20 on building AI companies and the future of the industry; Brian Vizaretta ’13 on drone technology in construction; and James Neal P’29 on global footwear demand planning at New Balance.

Takeaway: I can learn from innovators who are shaping the future. 

Field trips connecting students to companies and organizations in the local and global innovation ecosystem.

Students have visited Draper Lab in Cambridge to hear from alumni working in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and navigational systems.

Learn more about Innovation Treks.

Takeaway: I can experience innovation beyond the classroom. 

Practitioners are brought into classrooms across departments throughout the year, connecting course content to real-world application on an ongoing basis.

Takeaway: I can connect what I learn to the real world. 

Summer programming open to co-ed 8th through 10th graders focused on innovation at the intersection of athletics and industry.

Learn more about Summer Programming.

Takeaway: I can combine my passion for sports with innovation. 

Each June, the Center runs a four-day New Venture Creation program where students form teams, identify a real problem, prototype a solution, and pitch to a panel of judges.

In 2026, 33 students across 6 teams developed businesses ranging from translation services for emergency dispatchers to a web extension that prevents online scams.

Takeaway: I can build something real.

Innovation Across the Curriculum

The Center for Innovation partners with faculty across departments to embed innovation directly into the curriculum, not just in standalone innovation courses.

Examples include venture pitches in the Principles of Socially-Just Entrepreneurship course and a service-learning partnership with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro South through the Models of Leadership class.

Two recent examples illustrate what this looks like in practice:

Cross-grade Climate Change

In Dr. Tom Laakso's cross-grade climate change project, student teams represent imaginary countries and make decisions about whether to allocate resources to decarbonization or economic growth, facing real penalties for both action and inaction on climate issues.

The goal is for students to wrestle with the collective action problem of climate change through a java-based web game they help design.

Coastal Classroom to Global Citizens

In Joelle Medeiros' Coastal Classroom to Global Citizens project, students work across Science, Social Studies, and English Language Arts on an interdisciplinary project connected to real-world environmental action.

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Programming

Student Expos

Each spring, the Shields Center for Innovation partners with the Michael D. White '70 Center for Emerging Leaders to host the Student Expo, the public culmination of the year's work.

The Expo features over 50 group presentations covering service projects, meaningful coursework, and immersion experiences. Students present to a real audience, and the Innovation Challenge feeds directly into the Expo.

Programming

The Innovation Certificate

The Innovation certificate at BC High signals that a student has the skills and mindset to work with others, solve problems, and exercise agency over his own learning – something any college admissions office or future employer can hold up as concrete evidence of formation at this college prep school in Boston.

Requirements

To earn the Innovation Certificate, a student must complete:

  • Two courses with an Innovation Designation across two or more departments
  • Ten sessions across school years
  • Eight experiences
  • Participation in an innovation or entrepreneurship challenge or service-learning project
  • Ongoing reflections
  • Final presentation at the Student Expo
CENTER HIGHLIGHTS

Programming Highlights

In 2025-26, the Center for Innovation launched several programs that have become part of its recurring foundation.

  • Five Year Anniversary

    In October 2025, the Jack Shields '79, P'06 Center for Innovation celebrated its fifth year.

    Since its founding, the Center has run 560+ innovation sessions, supported 28 student-led initiatives, and connected students with experts across Boston's innovation ecosystem.

  • Sports Innovation in Greater Boston Summer Program

    Twenty-one students, including seven from Brockton, participated in a four-day summer program in July 2025.

    Students heard from speakers including the Race Director of the Boston Marathon and a VP at the Boston Red Sox, then presented original fan experience concepts to a panel of judges.

  • 2026 New Venture Creation Program

    Thirty-three students formed six teams and pitched original business ideas to a panel of mentors and investors.

    Projects included an AI-powered emergency services tool and a service connecting hourly workers to jobs, all built by BC High students in four days.

  • Pison Design Challenge

    Following Arrupe Innovation Day, Dexter Ang, Executive Chairman and Founder of Pison Technologies, challenged students to perform experiments using Pison's neural-sensing wearable.

    Mentored by Mr. Ang and facilitated by Ms. Keren Greene, two student teams studied the impact of caffeine and rewards on subjects' reactivity.

  • Shields Fellows at the Center for Innovation

    The Shields Fellows Program, established through the generosity of Kathy and Jack Shields '79, P'06, provides full tuition funding and wraparound support to motivated students from Brockton.

    Fellows are embedded in the BC High community through Day House and have full access to Center programming, workshops, and the broader innovation ecosystem.

    Learn more about BC High's commitment to access and inclusion.

More to Explore

Further Reading

Frequently Asked Questions

There are entry points at every level of commitment. Any student can drop into the Wednesday Morning Innovation Workshops or attend a Lunch and Learn.

Students interested in a deeper track can pursue the Innovation Certificate, starting as early as sophomore year.

Families visiting campus often ask about the 3D printer and maker tools in the Workshop space, both of which are available to students across the Arrupe and High School divisions.

Here, innovation is broadly defined as problem-solving: challenging the status quo, creating something new and of value, and finding better ways to meet real needs. It spans technology, social challenges, and industries. It's a mindset, not a major.

Recent standouts include PaiLingual, an AI-powered language learning platform designed to address the English tutoring waitlist for migrants in Massachusetts; Vamos Apparel, a student-founded Christian streetwear brand; a student-built robot; and the Sax-a-Boom, a new instrument invented by an Arrupe student.