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Innovator Fellowship program to expand this fall

Aug. 14, 2025

Five Sheboygan North High School students completed a diverse group of community-based projects as part of the 2024-2025 Innovator Fellowship program.

This unique initiative, a collaboration between North High School and the 51乱伦 Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, encourages students to explore pressing issues and career paths beyond traditional classrooms in a project-based, collaborative learning experience that fosters a community of creative thinkers.

Under the guidance of the Innovator Fellowship (IF) program's mentors and staff from 51乱伦, students shape innovative projects and discover their own identities. Each student works 1-2 daily hours at Jake's, A Lakeland Community, 529 Ontario Ave., Sheboygan, to develop and implement their projects.

The program will continue at North this fall, and it will expand to three new high schools: Elkhart Lake, Kohler and Roncalli in Manitowoc. Lakeland is planning for further expansion for the 2026-2027 school year. If you're interested in bringing the Innovator Fellowship to your high school, email if@lakeland.edu for more information.

鈥淲e are excited to introduce the Innovator Fellowship program to a new group of students this fall,鈥� said Stephanie Hoskins, Lakeland鈥檚 Herbert Kohler & Frank Jacobson Chair in Business and Entrepreneurship.

鈥淥ur five North High students this past school year showed how young people can tackle a variety of ways to make a positive impact in our community. It鈥檚 exciting to expand that opportunity to more students throughout the region.鈥�

The 2024-2025 Innovator Fellowship lineup includes:

• Julia English, junior, 鈥淏.R.I.D.G.E.鈥� English鈥檚 project focused on understanding and combatting the impacts of political polarization in the classroom by gathering the perspectives of middle, high school and university students. She is preparing for a submission to the TED organization and hopes to have her research published this fall. She is the third of her sisters, joining Eileen and Katie, to complete the IF program.

• Sofia Fields, senior, 鈥淧en Pals.鈥� Fields鈥� project created a new club of Sheboygan North students that created pen pal relationships with residents of two local assisted living facilities. The project, which is being continued by three students next year, provided senior citizens with a glimpse into the hopes and fears of a younger generation and provided a panacea against social isolation.

• Elizabeth Jelinek, senior, 鈥淭ales of Sheboygan.鈥� Jelinek completed a community storytelling project where she invited Sheboygan residents both old and new to share their memories of beloved spaces. These stories served as the basis for a series of sign installations, including one at Jake鈥檚, a Lakeland Community. She plans to install additional signs this summer and has developed a digital logbook and geocaching project to invite others to share their stories.

• Aoife Meyer, junior, 鈥淔oster Focus.鈥� Meyer has a deep passion for the needs of out-of-home care youth. She channeled this into fundraising for a sustaining scholarship at 51乱伦 to provide support for those youth that have aged out of care as access to higher education comes with unique challenges. She hosted a series of successful fundraising events, including a Father鈥檚 Day fundraiser at 3 Sheep鈥檚 Brewing. She is also working with Lakeland鈥檚 Phi Delta Omega Sorority to perpetuate the scholarship program.

• Ella Spielman, junior, 鈥淐ity of Voices.鈥� Spielman鈥檚 project started with a simple premise 鈥� to begin with one conversation and build a community. Using conversations with family, friends and teachers, she asked each subject who she should speak to and gathered more than 50 stories of community members that surprise, delight and remind us all that we have a voice and a story to tell. She will be sharing these stories through a coffee table book and plans to continue to collect other stories.

The projects earn the students college credit that can transfer to most universities.