Cultivating Change Agents
From protecting sea turtles to ensuring social justice, we all have a role to play in improving our planet. That was the main takeaway from the recent Impact Challenge Showcase, where students from all levels of the School shared their work as change agents, using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to focus their efforts.
As science teacher and School Sustainability Coordinator Lynne Scott explained at the Showcase, “The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity.” The 17 goals—ranging from “No Poverty” and “Zero Hunger” to “Sustainable Cities and Communities”—can feel like a “tall order,” as Scott put it. “Yet tall orders have to begin somewhere,” she pointed out. Over the last few months, they began at Principia School.
Students from the Early Learning Center through Upper School picked projects related to one or more of the United Nations SDGs and implemented an action plan to address it. Focusing on “No poverty” (SDG #1), the youngest groups (ages 1–5) collected clothing and canned goods to donate to foster families through the St. Louis-based Foster and Adoptive Care Coalition (FACC). The children decorated donation boxes across campus, helped sort the items collected, and pulled many wagonloads of clothes and food to cars waiting to deliver the goods to FACC. Their presentation at the Impact Challenge Showcase featured a slideshow documenting the different phases of their work and the piles of donations they collected.
Classes and clubs in the Lower and Middle Schools developed projects related to the SDGs as well. Second graders conducted a food-waste reduction program for all levels (except Preschool). After creating and sharing an educational video, they weighed students’ food waste by School level over the course of a week. Middle School wasted the least; Upper School, the most. With results in hand, the class shared recommendations to help all students make a lifelong commitment to reducing their food waste.
Fifth graders built on their study of the Underground Railroad and show-way quilts, which showed people the way to freedom. Adapting that idea, they created a sustainability show-way quilt, using recycled materials to illustrate many of the Sustainable Development Goals.
In the Middle School, seventh graders focused on SDG #16, “Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.” They chose five religions that are often stereotyped and created a website to correct misimpressions. In addition, the Middle School Sustainability Club undertook a variety of projects, ranging from attendance at a Climate Strike march to reducing paper towel use in the School.
Upper School juniors and seniors worked in groups of two or three, using design thinking to develop and implement projects based on a particular SDG. During the Showcase, they shared synopses of their projects at stations throughout the Upper School, with a handful of preselected, top projects presented from the Ridgway stage. Upper School topics included reducing plastic waste, raising awareness about endangered animals, exploring the benefits of solar energy for the School, debunking myths about climate change, removing invasive species, providing school supplies to St. Louis-area schools, and increasing awareness about the need for gender equality. Guest experts from a wide range of organizations—local United Nations Associations, the Missouri Botanical Garden, Ferguson Youth Initiative, Saint Louis Zoo, Missouri Department of Conservation, and many others—asked questions of the top presenters, provided written feedback, and scored their projects. Based on the experts’ assessments, Scott and Amy Evans, a math specialist and Showcase supporter, determined the order of the winners:
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1st place: Junior Kaya Equevilley and senior Nick Ismirnioglou
Piggy-backing on what they learned at the 2020 Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Seattle, these students presented a chapel talk sharing key points from the conference. They also conducted a student survey about diversity, equity, and inclusion and encouraged discussion of these topics. -
2nd place: Seniors Keyomri Jordan and Zari Jemmott
Working toward the “No Poverty” and “Quality Education” SDGs, this pair sponsored a showing of For Ahkeem—a documentary about a teenage girl from St. Louis who overcomes considerable adversity to graduate from high school. Keyomri and Zari also brought the film's star and executive producer to campus for a conversation with audience members after the showing and a private, student-only discussion. -
3rd place: Senior Gloria Ishimwe and junior Kaya Nayback
Focusing on the “No Poverty” goal, Gloria and Kaya solicited donations of toiletries, hand warmers, nutrition bars, and socks from the Principia community and area churches and assembled them into Blessing Bags for the homeless. -
Honorable Mention: Juniors Rachel Stewart, Trinity Thomas, Jaiden Vandeventer
In support of SDG #13, “Climate Action,” this group composted approximately 60 pounds of paper towels over eight weeks.
Part of the success of this inaugural Impact Challenge lay in the breadth of SDG topics, making them applicable to all disciplines. Hence the widespread support among teachers from the sciences to the arts, quite literally—Caitlin Heimerl, chair of the Visual Arts Department, co-developed the Showcase with Scott. Spanish teacher Courtney Bradley was a key supporter as well. In addition, the breadth of goals enabled students to find a topic they felt passionate about.
Despite their variety, all the projects focused students’ attention on this key point—the difference one individual can make. As Scott explains, “The most effective thing is for students to see themselves as change agents.”
The slideshow below features several sustainability projects and presentations. You can also watch a video overview of the Showcase filmed and edited by junior Payton Mannerino.