By Rieva Lesonsky
There’s a creativity crisis happening in U.S. schools—and that matters to small business because, if tomorrow’s graduates don’t know how to think creatively, our businesses will be left without an important source of innovation.
What can you do to help solve the problem? Stopp Inc., an international digital creative agency, is sponsoring a challenge called No Right Brain Left Behind (NRBLB) in collaboration with Social Media Week (February 7-11), the program’s goal is to address the creativity crisis in U.S. schools by tapping into the power of businesspeople in creative industries.
NRBLB challenges the creative industry to come up with ideas that will foster and nurture creativity in the school curriculum. “While the power of ideas and creativity is undisputed, the current school curriculum is all about standardized testing, deemphasizing the importance of right brain skills like creativity, inventiveness, empathy and other soft skills,” Stopp Inc. explained in announcing the challenge.
Teams from across the creative community are invited to participate in the five-day challenge, which begins today. Participants will be briefed today at Social Media Week in New York City, and can submit ideas online for the rest of the week. (You don’t have to attend Social Media Week to participate—you can find out more about the program online by viewing the NRBLB presentation, then sign up and submit ideas at the NRBLB site.
An expert panel will judge submissions and select three winning ideas that will be featured online, with the goal to implement the ideas as pilot programs in the 2012 school year.
“This collaboration will demonstrate the ability of our leading creative minds to develop innovative and thoughtful solutions where conventional thinking falls short,” notes Viktor Venson, Creative Director of Stopp LA and creator of the NRBLB initiative. “It is not about creating more artists. It’s about giving teachers and students tools to efficiently and creatively approach today’s problems.”
Inspiring student creativity is not only a noble goal, it’s a key step in keeping U.S. businesses competitive in the world of global innovation. I hope you’ll check out the NRBLB program and participate!
Image by Flickr user Yepy Rustam (Creative Commons)
Google+Web.com is now offering forums designed to support small businesses in cities throughout the US. Learn more about these forums here: http://Businessforum.web.com/
Tags: Innovation, small business success
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