Colorado Students In World Affairs Challenge Team With Peers Half A World Away
(CBS4) - On Saturday April 2nd Colorado students are taking part in the Global Finals for the 30th Annual World Affairs Challenge, put on by WorldDenver. Thanks to advances in virtual exchange, many more students now belong to teams that are bi-national.
Students from Longmont's Sunset Middle School teamed up with peers in Uganda to learn how to grow food more sustainably. With a 9 hour time difference, the Longmont students reported to school early in order to engage in real time via Zoom with peers in Kyengera, Uganda.
Sunset student Samara McDermid reported, "When there's barely any humidity, it's really hard to grow crops since the soil's so dry."
Kamuhanda Peter, a student at Mwebaza Primary School responded, "Mulching, that is one way of keeping moisture in the soil, that is one way of improving soil fertility."
The Mwebaza students attend classes for nearly 12 hours a day, Monday to Saturday.
"Students in Colorado, for them they don't spend a long time learning like here in Uganda," student Senteza David said.
World Affairs Challenge participants explore different cultures and aspects of international affairs, develop leadership skills, network with professionals, expand their future goals, and realize the impact and positive power of their ideas, voices, and projects. The students develop project-based solutions to global issues.
"We can look at examples that people are using in other parts of the world and apply them to troubles we're experiencing here," Sunset Middle School teacher Alex Armstrong said.
Both groups of students are growing food for school lunches.
More than 8,000 middle and high school students have participated in the World Affairs Challenge since its founding, with 700 participating this year alone.