The inaugural Inspired Journey Summit: Showcasing our students’ authentic learning experiences

The Inspired Journey is the vision we have for each student in Eden Prairie Schools. It’s the implementation of our mission: To inspire each student to learn continuously so they are empowered to reach personal fulfillment and contribute purposefully to our ever-changing world. Throughout each student’s unique Inspired Journey, they discover their talents and interests, explore their options and opportunities, and pursue their goals and passions. These experiences were on full display on May 22 at the inaugural Inspired Journey Summit!

The Inspired Journey Summit was established in 2024 to showcase the individual journeys of students throughout the school year. The first-ever Summit, which took place at Eden Prairie High School (EPHS), was an overwhelming success. Hundreds of Eden Prairie Schools students in grades 5-12 presented projects that showed teachers, community partner judges, families and friends their authentic academic journey during the 2023-24 school year. 

“I think two things made the Summit successful,” explained Ethan Dado, the district’s Pathways coordinator, who co-created and organized the event. “One was the engagement from students. There’s a big difference between turning in an assignment to a teacher and displaying your work for a thousand people to see. So seeing the buy-in from students when they realized what their project could be in this environment was incredible. And secondly, for the first time, our community could really see what the Inspired Journey looks like — from elementary all the way through high school — and the progression of skills students demonstrate on that journey. Families had the opportunity to see why this is a phenomenal place to go to school, because of the unmatched learning environment we’re creating and providing for their students.”

Students displayed a wide range of projects in each of our five interest-area Pathways: Business & Management; Communication & Arts; Engineering, Technology & Manufacturing; Human & Public Services; and Natural & Applied Sciences. 

“At the elementary level, there was a Harry Potter group, a group that put together some plays, a group that started their own business and actually sold some of their products at the Summit,” Dado recalled. “For middle school, students showed off a range of projects inspired by our Pathways, from art projects to cars run on carbon dioxide, metal embossing to pens made on a wood lathe, and even a stock market challenge game. So students really took advantage of the opportunity to showcase some of the authentic learning they did last year.”

Projects from middle and high school students were judged by community partners, who awarded first and second place prizes in each Pathway at the conclusion of the event.

Dado expressed his appreciation for all of the community support the inaugural event received, as well as his excitement to see how students will showcase their Inspired Journey at this school year’s Summit. It is scheduled to take place on Thursday, May 22, 2025, at EPHS.

Wondering how students felt about our first-ever Inspired Journey Summit? Nawal Abdullahi was a 10th grade student at EPHS at the time of the Summit. She and her project partner, then-10th grader Cecelia “Cece” Erickson, won first prize in the Business & Management Pathway for their project “Magnetizing Modesty,” which focused on making wearing hijabs safer with magnets. Read on to hear their story!

A participant’s perspective: A Q&A with Nawal Abdullahi

What was the subject of your Inspired Journey Summit project?
Our project was centered around marketing a product from the company Haute Hijab called the “No-Snag Hijab Magnets.” These magnets are an alternative to safety pins, which are used to fasten hijabs at the neck. Safety pins pose a major safety risk when people put them in their mouths [before pinning the hijab], which can lead to serious injury or, in severe cases, death. Haute Hijab was the first company to offer magnets as a stylish, affordable option, which is why we decided to pick their product as the focal point of our campaign. 

Did you create this project for a class, activity or the Inspired Journey Summit?
We created this project for DECA, a club designed to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Why did you choose to do this project? What about the subject interested you?
One of the biggest reasons we chose to do this project is because the cause resonated so deeply with both of us. I am a young Muslim girl and a product like this one would have been incredibly helpful for me growing up. What interested us the most is how they so effortlessly combined modesty, fashion and affordability. Oftentimes, modest style is either outdated or wildly expensive, so it was refreshing to see a product like this be so easily accessible.

How do you feel about how your project turned out? Why are you proud of it?
I am beyond proud of how our project turned out — I got so much more out of it than I expected to. I learned many different skills, whether it was analyzing different pieces of data, thinking on my feet, or simply managing my time efficiently. Surprisingly, I am not most proud of what I was taught myself, but what I was able to teach others. I had so many judges, parents, teachers and peers marvel at the creativity of our project and commend us for speaking on a topic and issue that many of them didn’t even realize was present. 

How did it feel to display your project to so many teachers, students, families and friends at the Inspired Journey Summit? What did people like about it?
It was awesome! We really enjoyed being able to show off something that we had put so much time and effort into. We had lots of fun being able to share the joy we felt about our project with others. People seemed to enjoy the design of our project display and the magnets we had set out. It made it much easier for them to visualize our project.

What was your favorite part of the Inspired Journey Summit and why? Are you looking forward to participating again this year?
My favorite part was really just being able to share something I am so passionate about alongside my best friend. This was a project we had been working on for months, so by the Summit we knew it like the back of our hands. Being able to see how interested people were in our topic was really rewarding and impactful. I am so excited to do it again!

What advice or encouragement would you give to students who might be interested in displaying a project at the 2025 Inspired Journey Summit?
I would tell them not to stress about it too heavily. You are there to display a project you care a lot about and have worked so hard on! Be proud of yourself, let your personality shine through, and let your knowledge do all the talking!