OUR PROGRAMS

Young Jewish Innovators

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

Explore the wonders of 
the natural world through
 science experimentation

The Young Jewish Innovators Challenge invites 9th and 10th-grade young women to use creative thinking and problem-solving skills to seek solutions to real-life issues that impact our community. In this new 12-week program, students will work in teams to develop an innovation and compete against other students in Chicago Jewish high schools.

The program will expose students to:
Collaboration with professionals in the fields of engineering, industrial design, life sciences, and new product development
Engineering design practices and creative thinking
Industrial design practice at a product development firm
Innovation development and presentation skills
Applications of halacha to innovations
Tours of state-of-the-art biotech and medtech labs

Awards include cash prizes and more!

Registration is now closed for the 2025-2026 cohort

Sign up today

Registration and Program Information
  1. The Young Jewish Innovators Challenge is for 9th and 10th grade girls in Chicago Orthodox community high schools.
  2. Participants or their parents must check their email frequently for relevant and timely contest communications from YJIC@walderlab.org (make sure this address does not go to spam). Any updates in scheduling or contest procedures will be emailed out, and participants will be immediately responsible to adhere to them. If a participant lacks email access, please let us know well in advance and we will be happy to make other arrangements for communication.
  3. Students and parents must submit completed waivers before the start of the program.
  4.  The $50 registration fee must be paid by no later than Tuesday, September 30, 2025. If the student does not continue in the program after this point, the registration cannot be refunded. The program fee covers books, supplies, admissions, transportation costs and meals.
  5.  Information and links to the assignments will be distributed at workshops and posted on the YJIC website. Access will be granted upon the completion of registration.
  6. All workshops will take place at Walder Science 3050 W. Touhy, unless otherwise noted.
  7.  Supervised design mentoring assistance and computer lab access on filtered computers is available by appointment. Please email yjic@walderlab.org, call 773-649-5358 or speak to the director to set up times.
  8. All students who complete the contest and all its requirements receive a certificate and a letter of completion, which can be highlighted on a job resume or a college application.
Rules
  1. Academic and scientific honesty, and integrity are requisite.
  2. Safety measures and protocols must be followed.
  3. Classroom decorum protocols and norms are expected to be followed.
  4. All entries must be the contestants’ original work. If the submission is an extension of existing work, citations must be made. Projects that were used in a past presentation or other competitions will not be considered. Mentors, teachers, parents, etc. may ONLY guide the students, but may not execute or create any part of the submission.
  5. Participants will be scored on a total of points earned from attendance and participation at four sessions, two field trips, independent work (readings, videos, assignments, innovation journal), completion of a Slideshow presentation and Oral Presentation of their innovation.
  6. Participants are responsible to complete all school obligations due to field trip attendance on this program.
  7. Assignments are due on announced due dates. Deductions will be made for assignments submitted late.
  8. Details of the slideshow and oral presentation submission requirements, deadlines and rubrics are available
  9. All submissions must be in English. If a language other than English is used, an English translation must follow in parenthesis
  10. For the final project, participants must work in teams of 2 or 3 students. Team member names must be submitted in writing or by email by December 14, 2025 11:59 pm. If a member drops out, replacements are not allowed after the deadline of December 14th.
  11. Participant entries may be disqualified if any rules are not followed. Disqualification of contestants is up to the sole discretion of Walder Science YJIC contest.
  12. The final project and innovation journals must be submitted electronically by 11:59 pm, Sunday, February 8, 2026. No late submissions will be allowed.
  13. If you wish to have your slide presentation reviewed in advance of the due date, make a request of the director for arrangements.