Four Moravian Academy Educators Earn Design Thinking Certification

Last spring, Moravian Academy began an effort to build the design process into how we teach and learn. That work now has four certified leaders. Mrs. Megan Franzyshen, Director of the Swain Campus; Mrs. Kelley Necioğlu, Assistant Director of the Swain Campus; Mr. Adrian Sauers, Engineering and Design Coordinator; and Ms. Teresa Miller, Middle School math teacher, have completed the Future Design School Certified Design Thinking Educator program. They will help guide their colleagues as design thinking takes root across the Beginning School, Lower School, and Middle School.

Based in Toronto, Future Design School focuses on design thinking, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning, and works with educators and students across North America to connect learning to real-world applications. Its certification asks teachers to practice the full design cycle themselves: understanding the needs of the people they serve, defining meaningful problems, generating ideas, building prototypes, and testing and refining their work. Graduates leave ready to design learning experiences with this process and to coach others through it.

This certification is one part of a larger initiative focused on two areas: Design Thinking Training and Certification for our faculty, and the development of a new Entrepreneurship Program. Our teachers formally launched the work with a Design Sprint during the April 7 Professional Development Day. There, they stepped into the role of designer, working through real challenges together and experiencing firsthand the creative, collaborative process they will bring to their students.

Throughout the 2026–2027 school year, teachers will weave design thinking into their classrooms in developmentally appropriate ways, from Preschool through 8th grade. The goal is not to replace traditional instruction but to blend its strongest elements with student-driven, inquiry-based discovery. Students will be challenged to think critically, refine their ideas, and see complex obstacles as opportunities for creative problem-solving.

Mrs. Franzyshen, Mrs. Necioğlu, Ms. Miller, and Mr. Sauers will serve as guides along the way, offering insight, modeling strategies, and helping colleagues bring design thinking into lessons and units. Their roles give them a view of design thinking from several angles. Mr. Sauers, our Engineering and Design Coordinator, works every day in a space built on making, testing, and trying again. Ms. Miller, a Middle School math teacher, brings the process into a subject where students learn to reason through problems step by step.

Alongside this work, Moravian Academy is developing a signature Entrepreneurship Program for Middle School students. The program will act as an authentic laboratory where students apply their design thinking skills to real-world challenges through collaborative ventures and an 8th grade capstone project.

At its heart, design thinking is about empathy, creativity, and resilience. Students learn to listen closely to others, see problems from new angles, and persist through setbacks. These are the same habits of mind reflected in our core values of Excellence, Curiosity, Integrity, and Community. They also prepare our students to lead with integrity, communicate with clarity, and innovate with confidence.

Please join us in congratulating Mrs. Franzyshen, Mrs. Necioğlu, Ms. Miller, and Mr. Sauers on this accomplishment. We look forward to sharing more stories this year as design thinking comes to life in our classrooms.