The project began as the girls were studying bridges in their science class. As the girls learned about forces and balance of weight, it lead them to a discussion of gaps they saw in our Hutchison community. Using the design thinking process, the girls discovered areas that needed improvement and came up with methods to bridge those gaps to make Hutchison an even better place for living and learning.

Part of our mission at Hutchison is to prepare our girls for lives of integrity and responsible citizenship. This project is a clear example of how our first grade girls are beginning their lifelong journeys to become connected, responsible, and active citizens in their communities.

Their ideas for the project included:

• Cleaning up the playground and reducing litter
• The girls put up signs around campus to encourage people to not litter. Girls also volunteered to spend part of their recess time on Wednesdays to help pick up trash on the playground.
• Making the courtyard more beautiful
• The girls met with Hutchison Assistant Head for Operations Mr. Randy Olswing to request the money they needed to buy flowers they could plant in our school courtyard so everyone could benefit from the extra oxygen the plants would provide.
• "Goosinator"
• The girls covered a remote-control car with a cardboard box designed to encourage the geese to stay in areas around the lake instead of the walking paths to minimize the amount of goose poop on campus.

Other ideas included:

• Getting more library books for the lower school library
• Taking the class outside to learn
• Collecting more recyclable materials for the Innovation Lab
• Keeping the water fountains clean
• Spreading joy around campus with beautiful banners
• Respecting the art in the hallways by not touching the paintings

The girls' hard work earned them first place in the Go Green category of The Beautify Your School Channel 3 Go Green Contest for their efforts to better their community. The first place winners in each category were recently showcased on WREG Live at 9. Watch our future engineers as they talk about their project.

Way to go, girls!