Adopt-A-Family: 8th Grade Mini Quest Project

In 8th grade, in preparation for the Quest capstone passion project that starts in semester two, the students are tasked with working in groups to complete a mini quest. The mini Quest is a short version of a Quest and works to familiarize students the expectations and requirements of the Quest. It helps students to understand the process of working towards a finished product, how to create and work within a timeline, and all of the small pieces within the project.  It helps students discover what is possible.

This year for the mini Quest process, we introduced the idea of “Project Pitches” from members of the community. Community members were invited to come into the 8th grade thematics classroom and pitch possible project ideas for the students to take on for their mini Quest.

The project idea in the slideshow below was pitched by a former Green School student who is a native to the island.

A group of five students were touched and inspired by Sweania’s story and so decided to take on this project for their mini Quest. At Green School, we utilize the United Nations 2015 Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for thematic based teaching in our social studies classes.  The students were encouraged to connect their mini quest project to at least one of the seventeen SDG’s. During their group discussions, the group determined that their work connected to three SDG’s:

Over the course of three short weeks, these students visited two families in East Bali to uncover their needs, held various fundraisers in which they raised a total of Rp. 19,000,000 (1,786.53 CAD) and returned to East Bali to provide these families with some much needed help. The money they raised was used to buy roofing materials for the home of Nyoman and his family and to buy cleaning supplies, bedding, paint and other materials to help turn Terna’s home into a more liveable space.