Upper School Social Impact Designated Classes

Julia Weisman (Class of 2022), Olivia Garcia (Class of 2022), and Sydney Kronbach (Class of 2022). Brie Johnson (Class of 2023) and London Rhodus (Class of 2023).

INSPIRING LEADERS THROUGH ACADEMICS

Upper School students are taking the next steps toward leading lives of purpose and impact through our Designated Social Impact Courses

BREAKING THE GLASS CEILING: ECONOMICS AND SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Julia Weisman, Olivia Garcia, and Sydney Kronbach

In our Social Impact class, we were unsure of what problem we wanted our business to address. All three of us were interested in mental health, specifically the lack of resources available to the younger generation. As we continued our research, we realized that the issue not only lies in mental healthcare but in all healthcare. Additionally, many college students are in an area unfamiliar to them and away from their parents. They are having to adjust to this new environment while simultaneously managing coursework and a social life. Getting sick should not be an added stress to their busy lives.

To combat this issue, we designed an app, “College Care,” which links college students to physicians in their area. Our design concept for the app stemmed from Tinder. In the app, one can “swipe to the RIGHT” to match with a doctor that is located near them and covers their exact insurance — streamlining the doctor-finding process. We included a calendar to keep track of appointments, a map to give directions to the office, and a direct messaging service that would make contacting your doctor quick and easy.

Our marketing strategy includes social media posts and publishing on college websites. Once users are on the app, we will be able to make money from advertisers that want access to our college-age demographic, as well as doctors who would like to pay to be featured. This would allow us to cover our fixed costs of building the app and reaching out to doctors and colleges, and our variable costs of advertising the app.

BIOLOGY, IMPACT AND THE ZOO

Brie Johnson and London Rhodus

At first, we wanted to solve the ivory trade crisis surrounding elephants. However, after some preliminary research, we learned that many major coffee corporations are killing elephants and destroying their habitats through their coffee farms. We drink coffee every morning, and we were shocked to learn our daily caffeine boost might be hurting our favorite animals. Throughout the past few months, we have continued to finalize our research and now we are beginning our brainstorming process. We learned so much through the empathy-building process, giving us the opportunity to meet with coffee professionals and elephant experts from the zoo. From learning how coffee transforms from the bean to the tasty drink that so many people love, to how elephant migration patterns work, we created a solid foundation for our project.

We most recently came up with some solutions to our issue, and we are really excited to develop our elephant-friendly coffee brand. Coming up with our solutions was a high-energy and very exciting experience. Using the design thinking process, we came up with really big and crazy ideas! With imaginative prompts like “How could you solve your problem with one million dollars?” we created the initial ideas for our problem.

None of this would have been possible, however, without our “how might we” statement. Our statement was the foundation for our big idea: how might we make saving elephants as necessary as getting your daily dose of caffeine? We look forward to the rest of this process, and we even hope to continue our project long after zoo class is over. So far this has been a life-changing experience, and we know we will take the skills we learn in the classroom into our futures.

NEUROSCIENCE

Anna Gum and Catherine Goglia

What determines your ethical beliefs? This question propelled my thought process this fall and evolved into my 2021 Neuroscience Synthesis Project. Between my Philosophy in the 21st Century and Literature classes, ethics seemed to be a common thread appearing across my first semester as a Hockaday senior. The topics covered in those classes began to pop up in my daily life, and I started to see how many different inputs influence my own ethical views. From my Athletic teams to Spanish class, to the music I listen to, I am constantly receiving information supporting different systems of ethics.

Anna Gum (Class of 2022)

Integrating individual research on the neurological processes connected to moral decision-making and social cognition, I dedicated my synthesis project to understanding what my ethical beliefs are, why they are what they are, and how they impact my behavior. I presented my connections through a collage, filling a silhouette with images representing areas of my life that impact my ethics. I hoped to portray the idea that we are all collections of fragments of our surroundings. This idea, with the help of Ms. Day and Dr. Croft, led me to the realization of why my project matters: brain plasticity. We have the power to rewire and change the neuropathways in our brains, which means the people and ideas we surround ourselves with impact who we become. My project opened my eyes to the power of evaluating the external messages I am receiving and, more importantly, how they influence my views and actions.

I focused on the intersection of light, community, and education. It fascinates me how learning works: what keeps people engaged and invested in their peers or their subjects. I wanted to dive deeper into what makes an enjoyable curious community in a more scientific sense. Tracking different “lightbulb” moments from my life and those around me, certain ingredients helped in a recipe for curious success. Having people who were excited about the subject and invested in your individual future proved to be essential. You want those joyous emotions involved in learning because they create stronger memories. Stronger memories help you learn. If you love the feeling of learning, you will keep at it. My hope is that each of my Hockaday classmates finds that passion that makes them radiate with love and curiosity, and then keeps up that passion to pass it on to the people behind us. Hockaday is great because there exist so many teachers who either have an indisputable passion for teaching or the subject they teach. That passion is infectious. It has become one of the core things I look for in the students and professors of each of my potential colleges. I want to be around people who love to learn. And sometimes I take that for granted within the Hockaday community.

Catherine Goglia (Class of 2022); Scan this code to view Catherine’s video presentation.

SOCIAL IMPACT AND THE WRITING CENTER

Hockaday’s Writing Center, which launched in 2019, helps students become effective critical thinkers, analytical writers, and persuasive communicators so they are prepared for the writing demands of all academic disciplines and of life. Lisa Fisher, Writing Center Director, has been working with the Institute of Social Impact to expand the reach of the Center beyond Hockaday. “Sharing our passion for writing with the community outside of Hockaday aligns with the Writing Center’s purpose of encouraging an appreciation of writing as a skill and way of learning for everyone,” she said. The Writing Center began partnering with the Institute for Social Impact last year through a mentorship program with Foster Elementary School. “I work with a fifth grader to develop his writing skills,” said Libby Warren (Class of 2023). “Every Monday, we discuss pillars of storytelling such as character development, plot, and setting. No matter our neighborhood, age, or background, each of us has an innate love for storytelling.” Writing Center Interns are working with Brighter, a magazine for women affected by cancer. Writing Interns meet regularly with founder Helen Bowles to plan, write, and edit various writing projects. “My experience with Brighter has taught me how to empower others and myself,” said Warren.