Edu Theory

Lemonade Alley
lemonade alley’s

Approach to education

Lemonade Alley blends many of the best themes of modern education into a single system.

When we started this program in 2011, entrepreneurship and Project-Based Learning were little known topics in education. Through trial, error and deep inquiry on emerging education themes, Lemonade Alley was squeezed, adjusted and stirred until it became the refreshing and delightful concoction that many look forward to each year.

Active Ingredients: STEM, STEAM, PBL, design-thinking, entrepreneurship, Soft Skills, SEL, cultural/social studies, multi-disciplinary integration. 

foundational CONTENT

“STEM” / “STEAM” Mastery

Lemonade Alley scales foundational content mastery in a way that encourages students to self-pace their own learning. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) are all celebrated at Lemonade Alley as is STEAM (same as STEM with an “A” for Art… but here in Hawai’i we like the “A” for the values of Aloha:

  • Elementary: basic reading, writing sales signage, oral pitch presentation, store and marketing art.
  • Middle: chemistry through culinary prototyping, recipe production and cost/sales math.
  • High School: design-thinking, market-ready innovation, business / entrepreneurship, digital literacy.
hands-on creativity

“PBL” & Hackathons

Lemonade Alley is a culinary hack, designed as a Project-based Learning (“PBL”) experience that increases engagement, knowledge retention and connection to specific career pathways. As a PBL experience, it’s also designed to meet the needs for various grade levels:

  • Elementary: “Play Space Learning” targeting student self-expression.
  • Middle: “Problem-Based Learning”  targeting maker outcomes including identification of problem, solution and goals.
  • High School: “Innovation-Based Learning” targeting market-ready outcomes in the form of deep learning on entrepreneurship and the development of career pathway relationships.
Employer-Demand

“4C” Soft Skills & Leadership

Lemonade Alley delivers employer-demanded leadership and 4C skills:

  •  Leadership Roles: team members assume 5 roles (President, Treasurer, Maker, Marketer, Server) to lead key topics.
  • Creativity: entrepreneurship as real-world creativity includes business concept, product invention, promotional communications, customer empathy and goal setting.
  • Critical-Thinking: entrepreneurship is a multi-disciplinary integration of many essential themes.
  • Collaboration: team-based experiences are inherently collaborative. 
  • Communication: entrepreneurship offers a variety of communication contexts include internal team communications, promotional communications and customer service.
Sharing Aloha

“SEL” Social-Emotional Learning

Lemonade Alley is a cooperative creative environment that fosters giving hearts through a real philanthropic experience.

  • Creative Expressions: right/wrong answers are ditched in favor of unique, quirky, vivacious student expressions. Multitudes of non-hierarchal awards and prizes underscore that all participants win together in supporting their community.
  • Be Cool Rule: Lemonade Alley has a clear code of conduct that manifests in every detail of the program.
  • Charity Support: The ultimate evidence that we are succeeding as a SEL are the levels of connection and financial support that teams attain for their charities.
History & Social Studies

Cultural Context

Lemonade Alley is a natural for themes, and the teams never disappoint. Key cultural contexts we foster:

  •  Local Culture: in the State of Hawaiʻi, we have a very specific mandate called Nā Hopena Aʻo Statements or HĀ: BREATH which stands for six key outcomes to be strengthened in every student (Belonging, Responsibility, Excellence, Aloha, Total well-being, Hawaiʻi).
  • History & Social Themes: Teams are also at liberty to explore other themes.
Relevancy & Application

Multi-disciplinary Integration

Lemonade Alley combines many real-world career paths:

  • Culinary: mixology, food business.
  • Ecology: lemonade stands from recycled materials.
  • Entrepreneurship: business operations and startups.
  • Agriculture: See our associated program, Project Lemon Tree at projectlemontree.com »
The Chief Lemon Head ON

Next-Gen Education

There’s a tectonic shift happening in education today. Specifically, search engine technology now makes knowledge instantly available. The result is a new view that it’s not as imperative to load one’s “hard drive” with vast amounts of foundational knowledge memorized by rote. In its place is a new emphasis on knowing how to frame questions and being creative. Soft Skills rule.

At the same time,  technologies are driving change in the job market. While many are fearful that automation like robotics and AI may replace jobs, at no time in history has technology resulted in a reduction of overall jobs. In fact, while jobs change, they have always gotten more interesting and higher paying. For example, Henry Ford’s assembly lines ended up creating massive demand for engineers and team managers. The result was the largest growth cycle ever seen in the education industry. In turn, today’s drive for business automation has has once again exponentially raised the bar for engineers and managers ~ just look at your nearest technology center.

The future is here and it’s bright with opportunity and a new heroic generation. Please join us in empowering success through Lemonade Alley. For more, see About Us »