A Partnership with Goodwill Industries
By: Amanda Schuster & Avril Wiers

Project at a Glance :

This project is a partnership between two programs at the Careerline Tech Center and Goodwill Industries.  The project is designed to support the marketing of Good Glass — recycled sea glass collected from unsold glass items. The classes explored two key directions: developing a new product using this recycled glass or identifying creative strategies to sell the raw material directly to local artisans. A central focus of the project is highlighting the environmental value of Good Glass as a sustainable solution that diverts waste from landfills. Instead of discarding leftover glass products at the end of the year, Goodwill repurposes them by breaking them down into sea glass, turning potential waste into a valuable resource.

Driving Question:

What innovative product or campaign can we create to help Goodwill market their “Good Glass” and raise awareness of its value in reducing the waste stream?     

Standards:

• Pricing - B3 - Choose and Apply Pricing Strategies
• Integrated Marketing Strategies -B7
• Integrated Marketing Strategies - B8 
• Product Brand - B4
• Collaboration, Problem Solving, Personal Management Skills, and Communication Skills

Team / Culture Building:

• Inner Heroes​

Entry Event:

• The class Zoomed with Conscious Clothing who makes their clothing in the US and is eco-friendly and/or recycled materials.

• Students visited the Grand Rapids Downtown Market. There students got to know each other using chat boxes. They then researched the next destination, the Kent County Recycling Center and came up with questions for their tour.

Grand Rapids Downtown Market

• The class toured the Kent County Recycling Center where they were able to interact with materials and facts and get all their questions answered. ​

Kent County Recycling Center

• Chat Pack - discussion groups

Stakeholders:​​

• Goodwill Industries
• Community members
  
• Entrepreneurs
  
• Crafters & Artists
  
• Environmentalist
  

Empathy Building:

• Stakeholder Map​​​

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

• Mood Boards - Students made Mood Boards to convey how they  wanted Goodwill representatives to feel when hearing their solution ideas.

• Watch the Story of Stuff video
• Created a Need to Know list​

• We invited in several marketing professionals to talk to students about what it takes to market a new product and what is takes to market a pre-existing product. Our students were then able to ask questions pertaining to their Good Glass ideas. 
• Marketing Panel
  • Lauren DePree Andersch, Graphic Designer
  • Julie Jackson, Harbor and Main Creative
• Shape Up Protocol

Incubation:

• Squiggle Birds
• Idea Quota
• Dot Voting​​

​Affinity Mapping

Checking in:

• Students receied Warm and Cool feedback from various staff members.​​

• Start, Stop, Continue protocol

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Solution Building:

• Students reviewed the results from Dot Voting on top solution ideas.
• Students created a Google slideshow for the final presentation.​

Authentic Audience:

• Goodwill Industries
• Nicole Gitler/futurePREP’d staff
• Administration

Final Presentation:

• Students pitched to the authentic audience.

Visit the Padlet link to view final presentation slides.

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:

• Rubric

Business Partners:

• Conscious Clothing
• Kent County Recycling Center
• Nick, Business Developer, Goodwill Industries

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

Amanda Schuster teaches Entrepreneurship & Global Business at the Careerline Tech Center.
     "This project opened our eyes to the waste stream while challenging us to think like entrepreneurs — blending environmental impact with innovation and consumer needs. Students were excited to help solve a real-world problem for a real organization."