Innovating for student wellbeing: Behind the scenes of our first annual ideathon

Written by Victoria Bush

10.28.2024

Last week, our team gathered in New York City for an energizing onsite filled with fresh ideas, thoughtful discussions, and, of course, a bit of friendly competition. The highlight of our time together? Our first annual August Ideathon!

The inspiration

To prepare for the ideathon, the August Schools team read Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation, which explores the rise of anxiety and mental health challenges among young people today. Haidt’s insights add urgency to the work we do everyday: building tools to help schools better support student wellbeing. With learnings from the book in mind, everyone split up into teams and were tasked with developing a new platform feature that would make it easier for schools to proactively support student mental health.

Brainstorming solutions across NYC

With the ideathon prompt in hand, teams dispersed across the city, sitting on rocks in Central Park, taking the subway to Brooklyn, and finding inspiration in NYC’s energy and creativity. Teams had just three hours to brainstorm and come up with an innovative idea, put it into a mini presentation, and prepare to pitch it to the rest of the company.

The big ideas

Each team was composed of members from across August. From Sales to Marketing to Customer Success to Engineering, everyone brought unique perspectives and presented incredibly thoughtful solutions. Every single team presented impressive ideas that would make a real difference for schools. The diversity of thought and creativity on display emphasized what makes our team so special. 

And the winner is...

One team’s idea stood out and was voted the winner! Without giving too much away, let’s just say it’s an innovation we’re excited to bring to life in the coming months. Our engineers are already hard at work turning this concept into reality, and we can’t wait to share it with our schools!

Looking forward

Our ideathon was a great reminder of the power of collaboration and shared purpose. Seeing everyone come together, exchange ideas, and learn from each other was inspiring. And, most importantly, we’re excited to keep pushing the boundaries of how August Schools can support schools and students. Here’s to the first of many ideathons, we’re already looking forward to next year’s!