Innovation Learning Center, Inc

Innovation Learning Center (ILC) supports agencies and their partners to enhance the social, emotional and academic development of children and youth. Our key programs include: Zero Robotics In partnership with MIT and NASA, ILC has served as the Zero Robotics (ZR) Program Management agency and lead Professional Development Coordinator since 2014. ZR is a robotics programming competition where the robots are satellites inside the International Space Station. The competition starts online, where teams program the Astrobee Satellites solve an annual challenge. After several phases of virtual competition in a simulation environment that mimics the real Astrobee, finalists are selected to compete in a live championship aboard the ISS. An astronaut conducts the championship competition in microgravity with a live broadcast! Creative Minds Out of School The Creative Minds curriculum is designed to foster each child’s confidence in his or her own creative abilities and respect for the creative abilities of others. In partnership with the Mass Cultural Council, ILC has managed the Creative Minds Out of School program since 2014 and offers hands-on professional development for in/formal educators in the nationally distributed curriculum. The ILC team has trained 2,100 educators in Massachusetts who have engaged more than students. Creative CARE Funded by United Way of Central MA, and in partnership with Worcester Housing Authority, Fitchburg Housing Authority and Making Opportunities Count, ILC provides children with incarcerated family members an opportunity to engage in project-based learning that promotes healing and fosters deeper connections through the arts. Leveraging the Creative Minds philosophy, ILC integrates the varied mediums of the arts and principles of art-therapy to affect positive change, growth, and progress for students experiencing post-pandemic trauma and disconnection associated with having an incarcerated family member.