Exploring the science of creativity through self-expression and technology; Creative Thinkers Lab

BY LA SHAWNA GRIFFITH

Norman Mayers is the founder of Creative Thinkers Lab, which operates as a collaboration between Red Mango Studios, the Caribbean Dyslexia Association and Ten Habitat. The free after-school workshop caters to children thirteen to nineteen years of age living in the Caribbean region.

Mayers who is a creative director, entrepreneur, design writer, and teacher with more than twenty years experience is the co-founder of REDMANGO which is a creative studio based in Barbados and Germany.

Speaking with our Barbadian reporter La Shawna Griffith, Mayer’s said the mission for the lab is not to cater to dyslexic children solely.

“It is not about dyslexic children. I started with kids who think differently, creative kids, neurodiversity and it just so happened that I am dyslexic, and I saw the relationship between the two. Thus, when I started the actual programme I met Yvonne Spencer who is the Director of Caribbean Dyslexia Centre and I told her my idea.”

Mayers added the initial conversation he had with Spencer in London, led to her telling him his idea was best suited for dyslexic children. He realized that in the Caribbean and Barbados in particular dyslexic children are left at the wayside, and not given the opportunity to reach their full potential. This is something that he is hoping his programme can help curb as he believes every student thinks and learns differently.

“Every child, every person is unique [as] it is not about dyslexics it’s about if anything that we are all different. We think differently. We are not put out like factories. Every child, every person is unique.”

However, the creative director who has achieved many accolades said one of the problems with traditional benchmarks in our schools is that schools often only accentuate challenges while ignoring or even penalizing the special skills of students who think differently. Many of these students have a full range of strengths, including problem solving and communication skills.

Creative Thinkers Lab’s purpose is to help students who think differently identify their unique strengths and build self-confidence. We now need more young people who can think creatively and solve problems in unconventional ways.

Using an example of a thirteen-year-student that is still a part of his programme, he stated that the young lady was valued by what she could not do well, which in her case was reading and spelling. Mayers started working with her to identify her unique strengths, and discovered it was visual thinking, designing and art. With their help she began to explore and display her own brilliance, while building self-confidence in school and beyond.

The Creative Thinkers Camp will begin on August 10^th, 2020 and will run for two weeks. It will consist of blended learning where the participants will have live sessions in a classroom setting as well as sessions via Zoom. The sessions will explore the theme of Exploring the Science of Creativity through Self-Expression and Technology.

The students who participate will learn foundational skills and the mind-set of: creational thinking, problem solving and communication. They will be introduced to: the eight essential attributes of being a creative thinker, how to think differently, how to cultivate the art of being unique together, as well as the science of creativity.

The Creative Thinkers After- School Lab will begin accepting applications for their fall term in September 2020. For more information visit their website: www.thecreativethinkers.org