21 Oct Launch Lab Recap
This past Saturday, October 19, 2019 CivTechSA hosted the first-ever Launch Lab to kick off Year 3. This event catered to both educators and entrepreneurs while engaging them on how they can get involved in CivTechSA.
With roughly 50 attendees CivTechSA kicked off the event with a warm welcome followed by an overview of what CivTechSA has accomplished in the prior two years. The team broke down CivTechSA’s three pillars education, entrepreneurship and the residency to highlight the many ways individuals can impact the growth of San Antonio through solving civic challenges. After hearing all about it, the audience broke into their respective tracks after a short break.
Educators heard an amazing presentation from Naomi Woods who works for ESC Region-20 and expressed all of the resources that are available not only for educators but students as well. Her presentation was followed by a panel discussion with David Vequist at UIW and Samantha McCubbinns at Wagner High School. With this panel, the audience was able to ask questions and engage with educators who have successfully been able to implement solving civic challenges in their yearly curriculum. After the panel discussion, it was time for an activity; the audience was broken up into four teams where they ideated ways in which they could solve challenges from the prior two years. They then designated a spokesperson and pitched their ideas to the other three teams. After hearing from all the teams CivTechSA presented the solutions that came directly from the students that tackled those challenges in the prior two years.
Meanwhile, entrepreneurs heard a great presentation from CityFlag, a company that has broken down barriers for local companies to work closely with City Governments. Their presentation soon became an interactive discussion as they encouraged questions throughout. Similar to the education track, after CityFlag spoke the entrepreneurs broke into an activity where they came up with their own ideas on how to solve prior civic challenges.
Once both tracks completed their activity we all reconvened in the auditorium for an open Q&A. This time was filled with detailed questions and great ideas on how CivTechSA can engage with students and entrepreneurs further. The clock quickly began to approach noon which meant it was time to announce Year 3’s challenges! Individuals who attended the Launch Lab were the first to view these challenges as our team handed out a hard copy to everyone. These attendees were given examples and resources to pursue solutions to Year 3’s civic challenges, after attending Launch Lab. We can not wait to see what these entrepreneurs, educators, and students come up with in Year 3 as we continue to work towards bettering our City of San Antonio.