Rise To the Challenge (RTC) is the intensive for our Grade 7 students. Intensives are a concentrated period of study where an entire grade is working on a project or projects, with profound research and preparation, followed by a public event. These intensives are designed with Hamlin’s mission in mind, as our students meet the challenges of their time.
RTC really started in autumn when students began going on various field trips where they volunteered and learned about how nonprofits serve a community. In addition to those engaging experiences, throughout the year students listened to many guest speakers who shared their altruistic wisdom and inspiration.
This preliminary work culminated with Grade 7 students choosing their own RTC topics, doing in-depth research, then sharing their findings, providing short and long-term solutions to various problems.
The topics were: Opiate Addiction, Oceans, Plastics and Overfishing, Teenage Suicide, Artificial Intelligence, Reducing Carbon Footprint, Gene Therapy, Improving Foster Care, Human Trafficking, Reproductive Health for Women, Fake News, Mass Extinction of Insects
This year all of the RTC teams worked online in May using technology to generate awareness through interactive Zoom presentations which included: videos, websites, gofundme campaigns, and a feminine hygiene product drive. Peers, teachers, and family members were able to participate in the 20-minute presentations on June 1.
Special thanks to the following speakers (among others) who met with students via Zoom during our intensive weeks: Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia (District 58), Amy Errett (Madison Reed), Dutta Satadip (Pinterest), Lisa Craig (Matter of Trust), Marty Bennett (Pioneer Technical Services) Attorney Gywn Thiessen (Former Hamlin Parent), and Attorney Amy Stoll (Current Hamlin Parent).