Upper School Innovation | Lake Highland Preparatory School

Innovation

Upper School

Lake Highland students encounter a myriad of opportunities to develop creative problem-solving skills that uniquely prepare them for careers of the future. By exploring the latest innovations in science and technology, Highlanders engage their curiosity through hands-on learning experiences and enriching co-curricular activities. As leaders of instruction, LHP faculty members frequently participate in professional development to remain at the cutting edge of innovation.

Robotics

A competitive extension of the robotics curriculum, Highlander HAZMAT Robotics teams strategize, design, build, program, and operate robots to problem-solve. In addition to enhancing creativity, cooperative learning, and STEM skills, teams create business proposals, fundraise, market their ideas, and engage community partners.

Upper School student smiling and working on a robot

Recent accomplishments include:

#8 in Florida among 193 teams
Top 4 among all teams at the FTC Florida State Championship
First Place Inspire Award at Orlando Robotics League Championship – the highest award presented to a FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics team selected by judges as a model team on and off the playing field
Finalist Alliance Team at Orlando Robotics Team Championship Competition
First Place Promote Award – presented to the teams that are most successful in creating a compelling video message for the public designed to change our culture and celebrate science, technology, engineering and math
First Place Engineering Portfolio Award – presented to the team the judges feel best reflects the journey of the engineering design process and exemplifies their journey as a team and as engineers

Advanced STEM Program Emphasizing Internship and Research Experiences (ASPIRE)

ASPIRE matches highly motivated science and math students in the Upper School with leading researchers and professionals at research facilities in Central Florida. Under the direction of professional mentors, students gain first-hand analytical and research skills comparable to those learned by undergraduate- and graduate- level students. These in-depth partnership studies have resulted in:

Scientific discoveries
Highlanders listed as co-authors of articles in professional science journals
Presentations to scientific research panels

Lake Highland’s uniquely skilled ASPIRE students win a significant number of top awards each year in local, regional, national, and international STEM competitions.

Upper School student and teacher in a science classroom with a ruler and a beaker