Catholic Memorial principal Bob Hall selected to lead new innovative program at Elmbrook Schools

The Elmbrook School District will be pulling from local talent for a new program meant to help juniors and seniors experience real-world, hands-on education.

The district is planning to launch a new Innovation Collaboratory in September 2017 and has selected Catholic Memorial High School principal Bob Hall to serve as executive director of the initiative.

"The first thing that you'll notice when you meet Dr. Hall is just his unbridled enthusiasm and commitment to kids. He's one of those personalities that is all-in," said Elmbrook Superintendent Mark Hansen.

The district's new Innovation Collaboratory will work to create partnerships between Elmbrook students and local businesses and organizations.

Hansen noted that the idea came from a desire to expand the students' opportunities for education outside a traditional classroom setting.

"The idea was born out of conversation and observations around how do we add unique learning experiences to our junior and senior years that provide our students with real-world, hands-on projects," Hansen explained. "Can we help build our partnerships with local businesses and leaders so they're mutually beneficial to our students and their learning opportunities?"

Program launch

Hall's first day as executive director of the new program will be July 1. He will spend the first 14 months of his employment at Elmbrook working with a team of leaders, teachers, parents, students and community partners to prepare for the launch of the Innovation Collaboratory in September 2017.

"I think Elmbrook's ahead of the curve. There are a lot of schools looking for creative ways to engage students in their learning," Hall said. "If we look at the college and university model in Milwaukee right now in terms of giving kids opportunities to display their mind-set and their creativity and innovation, I think that is where we're trending."

Hall has served as principal at Catholic Memorial for the last seven years. He previously served as principal at Swallow Elementary School in Merton and as an assistant principal at Waukesha North High School. Hall's 23 years in education began with him teaching middle school and high school math.

"I'm humbled because I've had the greatest job the last seven years, and I've met some remarkable students, and I've worked with some incredible teachers," Hall said. "Hopefully that indicates how powerful I feel this mission and vision is. When I looked at this opportunity, it really appealed to my sense of purpose and my mission, which is just to help kids develop into awesome people."

An innovative approach

Hall brings a wealth of experience into his new role within the Elmbrook School District.

He was instrumental in the creation of Catholic Memorial's new Innovation Wing that opened earlier this year. The $2 million Innovation Wing, which consists of seven labs and allows for multifunctional, collaborative and active learning areas for every subject, was built in part to assist in the school's Memorial Propel mission — CMH's trademarked design-thinking process.

Hall has been the driving force behind Memorial Propel, a concept in which students develop brainstorming problem-solving skills through project-based learning within teams in an effort to model real-life situations.

When developing the Innovation Wing at Catholic Memorial, Hall said he worked with a developer and talked with local businesses, one of which was Johnson Controls, to see what companies look for in employees and how they go about a team-approach model.

Each lab within the Innovation Wing is equipped with an attached breakout room to accommodate multiple group activities and meetings with specialist student mentors. The labs also consist of smart TVs and white boards spread across each wall, giving students and teachers the freedom to write and brainstorm ideas throughout the classroom.

Hall is a Waukesha North graduate who attended the University of Wisconsin-Parkside on a baseball scholarship. He earned his master's degree and doctorate from Marian University.

For more information on the Elmbrook Innovation Collaboratory, visit www.elmbrookschools.org/district/innovation-collaboratory.

— Christopher Kuhagen contributed to this article