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According to Deer Valley School District in Arizona, 20% Time originated in the 1950s when 3M allowed their employees 15 percent of their time to work on projects they were passionate about that did not fall in their job description.  50 years later innovative giants like Google adopted the idea and requested that their engineers spend 20% of their time working on creating products, tools, and apps that they believe consumers would value.  This adoption paid off in multitudes for Google as through 20% time products such as Gmail, AdSense, Google Sky, Google Transit, Google Talk, and many others were created.  The adoption lasted until 2013 when CEO Larry Page started to limit 20% Time projects ultimately ending the innovative strategy for product creation.  

Since then teachers, schools, and districts around the United States have adopted 20% time as a way to give students choice and voice in their education.  Allowing students to use 20% of their time to work on applying the standards they learn in real-world scenarios and situations is a wonderful way to prepare them for their future and extend their thinking and application beyond the classroom walls.  Students are challenged to reach out to community members, experts in the fields they are researching, and learn to become experienced researchers themselves as they have unlimited information at their fingertips.  Spending over an hour a week on this project will allow students to apply and synthesis countless Language Arts standards; it will teach and sharpen the ever important skills of critical thinking, problem-solving, researching, analyzing, innovation and more.