Bringing the Real World Into the Classroom
- Jan 1, 2017
- 3 min read
One of this year’s new courses offered at Derryfield is Mr. Powell’s Global Issues: Sustainable Development class. The course explores problems relating to sustainability by reading different articles and books, watching videos, and engaging in discussions. As a part of the course, our class participated in the University of New Hampshire Social Venture Innovation Challenge (SVIC). Every year, UNH hosts the SVIC program for members of the community, and this year was the pilot for high schools to get involved. Derryfield, along with Portsmouth High School and Phillips Exeter Academy, opted to compete in the challenge. Our class of fourteen divided ourselves into three groups, and were all given one task: to identify a problem in society and past efforts to address it, and create a new, fund-driven solution to help solve the issue. With our idea, we had to create a four-page write-up and a three-minute video, as well as prepare for a Q&A at UNH in front of a panel of judges. The UNH prompt was purposely vague - each group could tackle any problem they were passionate about, and we all came up with our own distinct focuses.
One group decided to challenge male gender role stereotypes. Composed of Gabrielle Brummett '17, Madison Kochanek '17, Christina Smith '17, and Paige Voss '17, this group called themselves Open the Box. Their mission was to stop the perpetuation of masculine stereotypes, known as the “man box”, which argues that males cannot show emotion, must be aggressive, and must act tough, among other things. The group created a website that aims to promote Gender Equality in Media (GEM). Companies can apply to have their media GEM certified, and after a third party review, if the media meets the gender equality criteria, the piece receives the certification. The underlying idea of the project is that if parents see a book or movie with the GEM certification emblem, they would be more inclined to buy it. Therefore, Open the Box creates an outlet and incentive for gender equality media, limiting the growth of gender stereotypes. Paige Voss ’17, a member of Open the Box, stated, “Even though it was just one project, the UNH challenge combined business, research, communication skills, and ethics in a new way that we don't experience in other classes.” Voss emphasizes what a lot of students took away from the project: an opportunity to create an idea that entailed various dimensions beyond just research. The judges, compelled by the relevance of this topic and the creativity of their project, awarded Open the Box with second place at the event.
Another group, Sol Connection, focused their energy on creating a company that provides data for potential solar garden subscribers in the New Hampshire area. Solar energy providers would pay Sol Connection for the data that they collect. The group, made up of Alex Alfano ’17, Samuel Anderson ’17, Shannon Chen ’17, Victor Li ’17, and Johnny Zhang ’17, took a trip to Whole Foods in Bedford to gauge general interest on the idea of solar garden subscriptions and found that many people would be interested in that form of energy. Alfano discovered that “the opinions of people outside the classroom is essential for research, and I learned about the complexities of trying to solve a statewide issue.” It is these complexities that make the UNH challenge so compelling and rewarding.
The final group, Latrine Team: Uganda, consisted of Christopher Benson ’17, Harrison Mahan ’17, Spencer Neville ’17, Lauren Rohlfs ’17, and myself. Our goal was to increase health and sanitation in Uganda by limiting the practice of open defecation. Our idea was to install latrines that had boxes of tokens inside of them. When someone uses the latrine, they receive a token, which can be redeemed for a Poland Springs water bottle at an adjacent vending machine. With increased health because of the access to water and the decrease in open defecation, our hope is that the Ugandan government would see small scale success and employ the project throughout the entire nation.
Although only one of the three teams placed at the competition, all found the event to be extremely helpful and rewarding. We discovered that social issues have many layers to them, and it takes a team full of motivated people to analyze every angle and possible pitfall in their solutions.
I found it extremely valuable to get the chance to tackle a real-world problem, and I hope more Derryfield students opt to participate in the class and challenge next year.
Richie Tarpey is currently a senior at Derryfield and is Lamplighter's Management Editor
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