To identify, foster, and celebrate high school innovators in the world (grades 9-12) whose contributions are exceptional or inspirational. Additionally, CHSI strives to support the innovative interdisciplinary curricula designed to foster student initiatives.

Throughout history, people who are willing to work outside the box and experiment have shaped their respective fields. From Pablo Picasso pushing the boundaries of art, Mark Twain “testing the waters” of fiction writing, Marie Curie’s experimentation and persistence, and Louis Pasteur’s work in germ theory and food preservation, to Mark Zuckerberg changing the way we connect with the world, Salman Khan’s resolution to make knowledge accessible through Khan Academy, and Steve Jobs transforming not only the technology industry but everyday life as we know it, innovators have revolutionized and impacted the world for the better.

Today, society appears to be looking even harder than usual for innovators and entrepreneurs to provide unique solutions to our current economic and social problems. Innovation is high in demand in today’s increasingly global economy.

However, before these great successes occur, there often comes lots of trial and error, challenging the status quo, and approaching problems in non-traditional manner. This can be seen as disruptive in high schools and colleges, where testing and grading rule the day.

High school and early college students with aspirations to change the world, solve major social problems, create great new products, and push the boundaries of our organizations and communities, are often forced to work outside the system or are encouraged to skip college all together and “do it on their own”.

Recognizing this as a major issue, InnoVators, has begun to look at ways to include innovation and creative problem solving in the state curriculum. The InnoVators initiative will be a key feature of this endeavor. Our event in the spring will bring together some of the most innovative high school students in the world, giving them the chance to network with other young minds and highly innovative professionals, engage in projects together, speak with high-level university and government officials about their ideas, and gain insight into resources available to them across the state.

By highlighting existing innovation at the high school level, and using student success stories to identify where they found inspiration, encouragement, or support, we hope to learn how we can do a better job of inspiring and enabling the minds behind some of the great ideas of the future.