A student-run greenhouse, food kits for immigrant families in need and a program to give students instruments and sporting equipment were all ideas pitched by Akron ninth graders during the third annual Changemaker Challenge in Akron on Friday.
By the end of the afternoon, all of the students received grants of at least $500 out of a $10,000 pool from the Akron Community Foundation to turn those projects into reality. Three students at the I Promise School, which is supported by the Lebron James Family Foundation, won the largest grant, $4,000 for a project to provide bags filled with hygiene products and other assistance for local people experiencing homelessness. The students impressed judges by already getting community buy-in through financial and product donations from the Lebron James Family Foundation, local police and McDonald's.
"This simple act of kindness goes beyond just providing supplies. It promotes dignity and well-being within our community. When we offer these bags, we show compassion and care for those in need, reminding them that they are valued and not forgotten," said ninth grader Trinity Greene.
The Changemaker Challenge is a project of Canton nonprofit TomTod Ideas, which focuses on education and engagement programs for middle schoolers. Patrick Gerber, senior adventure lead with TomTod, said students are reacting to issues they see in their neighborhoods. And students' projects have led to actual change in the community. He pointed to a pitch from student at Innes Community Learning Center in 2024 to redo the basketball court at Prentiss Park in Southwest Akron.
"They won $4,000 to redo the basketball court and their city councilwoman loved it so much that she then took their idea and applied for the Akron Parks Collaborative and got $150,000 so if you ask those students, they got $150,000 to redo the park," Gerber said.
Kennie Green, Akron鈥檚 middle school career and technical education specialist, said the Changemaker Challenge helps students realize they can make a difference.
"The end goal is that they're not just change agents in their community, but that they're change agents even in their lives, in their academics," she said.
Green says it鈥檚 one of many programs at Akron Public Schools that try to get students thinking more deeply about future careers and how they can make their mark on the world. She said it's unusual for districts to focus career-technical education programming on middle schoolers. She said students build up to the Changemaker Challenge with other experiences at local nonprofits. In sixth grade, they do site visits, and then they actually work at some of those nonprofits in seventh grade.
Gerber agreed that a focus on middle school is important.
"Middle school is a time of developing skills and identity, and so having these kids develop the skills to know they can do real things right now through the Changemaker Challenge is incredibly empowering," he said.
Litchfield Community Learning Center Ninth Grader Payton Swingley said her group's idea, to build a greenhouse at her school, was meant to provide a therapeutic activity for students and staff. She said it dovetails nicely with her interest in becoming a therapist when she gets older.
"This project will offer a unique space for hands-on science learning while promoting mental health and with doing a daily connection with nature," Swingley said.
Students' projects tried to attack a variety of problems they saw in the community, with several focused specifically on students struggling with mental health issues. The second-place team at Buchtel Community Learning Center won $2,000 for its pitch to create a wellness room that can be an "oasis of calm" for students, with activities for them to do like painting and sculpting.
