Ideas from Students
Creative ways students have contributed to identifying problems and crafting solutions in their school communities.
Student Created
Student Story: A Cheating Problem
A student shares the impact of Challenge Success to reduce cheating at her school.
Don’t Ask Me Where I’m Going to College
Series of posters designed by Challenge Success students to promote a healthier approach to the college process in their community.
Let’s Lift Each Other Up
One student’s take on what success has meant to her.
Race to the Bottom
Students from St. John’s in Houston share their peer’s reflections on why students ‘race to the bottom.’
Reflections on Stress & Success from a Challenge Success Student Alum
Now in my fourth year of college, I
It’s Time to Rethink How We Pick Our Classes
This article was originally published in The Piedmont
One Senior’s Reflection: Three Elements to a Meaningful Education
In June of 2018, I graduated from a small independent school in Southern California, which I attended from kindergarten through twelfth grade. My thirteen years there were a journey filled with struggle and joy, anxiety and curiosity.
Dear My Freshman Self
I recently read the letter you wrote to me, your senior self, when you were about to start high school at Menlo. You were long-winded, idealistic, and, yes, very nervous. You included two pages of motivational quotes, a long list of goals including a 4.0 GPA and a desire to start on the water polo team, and even predictions about the four years that lay ahead.
Overriding the Game:A student’s perspective on creating school policy change to improve engagement and well-being
(Some) parents felt as if our proposal was lowering the standards to make it “easier” for students in high school. But we aren’t lowering the standards: we are redefining them. We are “challenging” what they define as a child who is “successful.”
Fostering Health and Well-Being in Student-Athletes
Student-athletes at Head-Royce School face stressful challenges balancing the demands of school and sports. As an initiative to improve student-athletes’ health and well being, Challenge Success Club members decided to host a student-led H block discussing the issues and struggles of being a student-athlete in November 2017.
A Senior’s Perspective: Success in High School
Everyone wants to be successful in high school. Success comes in a variety of ways: academic success, social success, financial success (except babysitting hasn’t really been cutting it). But the kind of success that I’m describing is not something that comes in the form of a transcript or an Instagram post with this or that person. A couple of weeks ago, as college notifications were rolling out, my friend and I had a long chat and reflected on the end of high school. The conclusion we came to was one that will always stick with me: the people who truly succeed in high school are the ones that can look back and say “Wow, I had a blast doing the things I loved and I would not change a single thing.”