Design League Empowers All Students to Succeed in Tech Careers
Mouse Design League is a hands-on Computer Science and Technology Education course for middle and high school students. Students enter the program with little or no coding education and leave with core technology and computational thinking skills, accelerated SEL growth, and a practical understanding of how to access meaningful careers in tech.
Students will:
Create a meaningful original app design, from the ground up, designed to help others in your community.
Develop skills in human-centered design, UX/UI design, graphic design, entrepreneurship, and more.
Empathize with community members and mutual aid initiatives to focus designs on real-life challenges.
Interact with professional design and project management tools from Adobe, Figma, Google, and more.
Collaborate with peers and industry professionals as they learn how to work as part of a design team.
Gain valuable portfolio building experience, workplace skills and greater knowledge of career pathways in the technology and design fields.
Present their product with the broader community at project fairs and competitions.
“Going from a community of learners to a community of tech creators is really powerful.” – Sofia Russo, Principal at High School for Media and Communications
Program Overview
Phase One: User Research & Design-Thinking
Participants begin the Design with Purpose course on the Mouse Create digital learning platform to learn the fundamentals of human-centered design. Students identify a community issue they are passionate about through user interviews, empathy building and research. Then, they brainstorm ideas for an app that addresses their selected challenge. Many groups develop apps that support mutual aid efforts in their neighborhoods.
Phase Two: App Design & UX/UI
Student teams bring their ideas from Phase One to life. They practice prototyping and iterating, learn user experience and user interface (UX/UI) skills, get feedback and guidance from industry mentors, and design the branding and presentation of their projects.
Phase Three: Project Presentations & Competition
At the end of the program in May, Design League schools host local project fairs to select winning teams, which move on to compete at the Emoti-Con NYC Youth Digital Media & Technology Challenge, an annual city-wide competition and virtual project fair where their work will be showcased and reviewed by peers from STEM programs around the city and by judges from applied technology career pathways.
“Being involved in Mouse made me who I am. Mouse taught me to believe in myself and to create something that will have a lasting impact.” – Zainab, Mouse Design League Alum
Student Impact
Career Connected Learning: Access the problem-finding and problem-solving skills required for accessing the jobs of tomorrow.
College & University Pathways Opportunities: Connect Design League students to opportunities to further their STEM education at major academic institutions across the country.
Tech Professional Mentorships: Build relationships with tech professionals who help students see themselves belonging within tech career pathways.
Computer Science & STEM learning: Computational Thinking, Digital Fluency, User Research and Design Thinking:, User-Centric Design Principles, Human-Centered Design Methodology
Design Thinking: Problem-solving and Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Teamwork, Project Management Skills,
Social-Emotional & Career Readiness: Goal Orientation, Growth Orientation, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Critical Thinking, Innovation and Entrepreneurial Mindset:
Communication Skills: Communicate complex ideas concisely and effectively, enhancing their presentation and public speaking skills.
In 2023, Mouse reached 4,000+ students in Design League, with 96% identifying as BIPOC and over 50% young women.
The highest growth for Student's Career Readiness capacity is seen in Goal Orientation and Creativity and Innovation.
Educator Impact
15+ hours of professional development to empower educators with Design Thinking pedagogy, to transform classroom experiences.
Access to pre- and post- student measurement data in SEL & career readiness
Membership in Design League Professional Learning Communities (PLC) for continued growth
Computer Science literacy in Artificial Intelligence, UX/UI, coding, computational thinking
User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) literacy in digital app design, wireframing & prototype development
Design Thinking Educator Micro-Credential backed by Credly
Digital portfolios for documenting their program integration plan, their learning and reflection, and their students’ progress
Community engagement opportunities by leading Design League school Pitch Day
How to Participate?
Questions? Email: designleague@mouse.org
