As we continue to highlight the seven Ventures running this quarter, we're starting to see many student products begin to take shape. This week, we take a look at what Bonnie and Sam and their students are up to.
Pressure, Selection and Change Venture
In Sam's venture, students are taking a deep dive into the mechanisms, history, and consequences of evolution. Students chose from a variety of projects to explore different parts of evolutionary theory. They are making predictions about future evolutions, examining the consequences of human impacts on evolution, building models that show how evolution, via natural selection, functions. Biology, scientific theory, modeling, history, and design thinking abound in this upper school Venture.
Global Impact Challenge Venture
Upper school students are working with Bonnie to write a mental health and wellness curriculum for teens by teens, with the goal to build resilience through knowledge and sharing stories. This is a continuation of last year’s Global Impact Challenge Venture where Compass was awarded first place in a nationwide competition challenging students to create a project that addresses diversity and inclusion in their communities. Compass students chose to focus on the ‘invisible’ struggles of adolescent mental health and wellbeing, researching/discovering that this topic is often overlooked in school curriculums. Students will complete a final product that will be hosted on the No Barriers website.
Content lessons students are learning and translating into lessons to help other adolescents increase understanding include:
- Defining mental health and wellness
- Current statistics highlighting the issue
- Breaking stigma through sharing stories
- Expressing and regulating emotions, SEI
- Inherited—acquired influences on our wellbeing
- Biology—the brain, neurons, neurotransmitters and hormones
- The stress response system
- Research on how technology influences our behavior
- Coping and protective factors
- Signs and symptoms of mental impairments/disorders
- Treatments/therapies
- Ways to help and community resources