The Community

Changemaker

Challenge

In partnership with the University of New Hampshire, we offer the Community Changemaker Challenge, an ideas-based design competition open to all high school students throughout New England. Students identify a local, national, or global problem; create an innovative solution to address it; submit a paper and video; and come to UNH in May to explain and defend their work in front of a panel of judges, while competing against other schools. Teachers incorporate the CCC into their classes as a project-based learning experience, because it cultivates 21st-century skills, deep content knowledge, and career-connected learning.

There is no cost to the school or the students to enter, and projects can be completed anywhere from 3-6 weeks. We offer teachers a curriculum, training, and coaching to ensure their existing classroom goals are enhanced by the experience.

The program has been running since 2016 and has served hundreds of students and nearly 20 schools. Some students in the past have landed internships, developed key contacts, and written their college essays about the experience.

Schools commit to participate in the fall and the Presentation Day at UNH takes place in May.

Over the last two years we’ve polled teachers and students on their experience. 100% of teachers say they “want to return the following year” and 97% of our students say they “would recommend the program to a friend.”

  • Teachers, ELO coordinators, and school administrators express interest using this form . Our team will follow up to discuss your interest, answer questions, and share more about the program. Because the DCN is founded by teachers, we realize that each school is unique, and so we work with you in ways that fit your priorities and needs. If the CCC sounds like an attractive program for your students, we sign you up and share our Educators Playbook with you, so you can get started when the time is right.

  • The prompt, “identify a problem,” allows a teacher to keep the options very open-ended or place their own boundaries on what students choose to address. Professionals working in any field need to be effective problem solvers, collaborators, and critical-thinkers. In this way, teachers can have their students focus on a “problem” that historians, diplomats, public-policy experts, scientists, and engineers work on. In addition, teachers can define the length of time they give to the project, allowing for more or less content exploration and skill development depending on their priorities. In short, the CCC framework allows for personalization for both teachers and students.

  • We provide each teacher with the Educators Playbook, a digital resource that guides them through the process of incorporating the CCC into their classroom. The resource provides detailed guidance, lesson plans, activities, models of student work, the rubric the judges use, and a calendar to follow if they choose. We have built the Playbook to be highly flexible, so teachers can incorporate their own resources and activities and/or modify ours. In addition, we provide an orientation for all teachers and offer school visits and individual coaching on-request. Many teachers are successful with very little support, but we are here to help as needed. Our Director is a former high school teacher, who has led multiple professional development workshops, and was one of the first participating teachers when the CCC started in 2016. We believe this gives us a unique perspective on meeting all teachers and students where they are and understanding that the best support is highly personalized.

  • Our teachers and schools return year-after-year. We started in 2016 with three schools and all three schools are still with us in 2024. 100% of the teachers who participated in 2023 are returning in 2024 and we are doubling the number of schools involved. Teachers tell us they return each year for two reasons: 1) because of the learning their students do and 2) because the students enjoy the process and engage in unusually high ways.

  • The day runs from approximately 9am-2pm. After some opening remarks students are divided into separate rooms (typically 6-8 student teams / room) with each room having 5-7 judges. Each team shows their 3-minute video to the audience and then takes 10 minutes of questions from the judges. These questions are developmentally appropriate for the team, meaning they push the team to defend their research and solution, but they are asked in ways that affirm and uplift the work of the students. Every year the judges are impressed with how innovative and thoughtful the students are, and they share those feelings during the Q&A.

    Once all teams have presented, we break for lunch and the students hear from a visiting speaker who works in the field of social entrepreneurship and is an inspiring example of a local changemaker. In 2024 our speakers included a local oyster farmer and the founder of an outdoor recreation company which balances profit, people, and planet. At about 1pm we reconvene to hear from the judges and honor the best projects. This is followed by time for the students, teachers, and judges to meet each other, get feedback, and informally discuss their projects and work. The event ends at 2pm, with one judge in 2023 remarking how she hoped to take, “the positive feelings and creative energy back to her team at work.”

  • Registration has started for 2024-25. With all of our 2023-24 schools wanting to come back, we have limited spots open for this school year. The sooner a teacher / school expresses interest, the more likely we are to have a place for you.