‘Challenge’ Accepted Franklin Lakes Seventh Graders Win Big

After more than two months of planning and collaborating and working, a group of seventh-grade students from Alyssa McAloney’s Gifted and Talented science class at Franklin Avenue Middle School in Franklin Lakes were awarded first place in the second annual American Student Assistance (ASA) Solve Together: Tomorrow’s Leaders Tackling Today’s Challenges.

This is a national competition designed to inspire career exploration and skill-building abilities for middle school students. It is focused on project-based learning and teamwork. For their first-place project, the students from Franklin Avenue Middle School created a prototype and blueprints to help improve transportation systems for the bee population. Their project was inspired by lessons they had had about how the current conditions of transportation for bees is one of the causes for the decline in the population.

“The students were so surprised this transportation problem was such a big issue and that’s how they chose this – they were fascinated this is such a big issue people aren’t necessarily aware of, so they were like, ‘What aspect of the disappearing bees can we come up with?’” McAloney said. “So that’s what led them to the transportation, and they were thinking they could build a truck or train that can transport them better and safer when they are being transported.”

The virtual classroom contest went from Jan. 3 to March 18. Putting together the project took about two months of time – at first, it was interwoven with class materials, said McAloney, but leading up to the submission date, they worked on it for three weeks straight.

When initiating the project, McAloney split the class into groups based on different challenge prompts: public health, creating a colony on Mars and a third category was a passion project where the students could decide on a project. From there, there was an online platform that the students could work through that helped with collaboration and research. To help too with information-seeking and feedback, the students also worked with two experts in the field, including an apiarist, which is a beekeeper, who currently transports bees from New Jersey, and “The students were able in interview people who are actually involved in these careers, and they shared what their problem was with the experts and how they were going about what their solution was and what they were able to do, and those gentlemen were able to give them feedback and they got resources and research they wouldn’t be able to find searching on their own,” McAloney said. “It was really cool for them to get that first-hand experience for people who do it and feedback for their project that they were working on.”

As a teacher, McAloney felt this was a really rewarding process to be a part of. While the biggest challenge stemmed from students becoming discouraged, they might not win since it’s a national competition, she said a favorite part was seeing them share their ideas and work together to create the project.

The final project involved a blueprint and prototype for a truck for short-distance transport and a train for longer distances. Their research showed that in transport the bees tend to die due to lack of nutrition and overheating, so there were multiple elements put in to place to counter that problem, including temperature controls the driver could control, flowers to help with nutrients, and smokers to help bees calm down.

One of the best parts of the experience too, according to McAloney, is that they were solving a real-world problem.

“They love doing real-world challenges, solving realworld problems, being able to build and create something of their own. So, I think for all the groups, they enjoyed it and thought it was a useful project. Even the groups that didn’t win, they connected with other people to interview so just getting that experience they thought was really cool,” she said. “They really enjoyed it, especially once they found out they won. Then they enjoyed it even more.”

Submissions for the competition are reviewed by a panel of judges, which include representatives from the Association for Middle Level Education and American Student Assistance. McAloney was notified

Six weeks later, they were told their group had placed, a Zoom award ceremony took place, where third and second place were announced first.

“We knew we won, and all the kids faces lit up,” McAloney said. “They were so excited and surprised. They got to speak and share, and it was really nice. I was so proud. It was the proudest I’ve ever been. They worked so hard, they deserved it, and it was so nice to see that hard work pay off and for them to be so proud of the time and effort and work they put in too was just really great.”

The school was awarded $10,000, and the team of students, which was made up of four students, won $1500. While the school is unsure what they will be doing with the prize money, McAloney said it will be used to “better students’ education.”

For McAloney, this competition really encompassed and encouraged the skills teacher teach throughout the years: communication, collaboration, and listening, all to solve a real-world problem.

“There are a lot of different problem-solving challenges that can be fun, but when it’s real-world problem, you can show them there’s a possibility you can make a difference. So, I think it’s just important to allow the skills they have to solve a problem and also This was McAloney’s first time having her students participate in this competition, and she plans on doing it for many more years to come as long as they keep holding it. She also encourages other educators to look into the ASA Solve Together competition.

“It is such a wonderful experience for the students, and I feel like my students got so much out of it and were able to explore different careers and work on skill building for middle schoolers and really collaborate with each other and make a difference,” she said.

And for students, she loved this experience because of its ability to not only have them explore career opportunities but also to show students at a young age they can really make a change.

“Even if you are young and in seventh grade, it is possible to make a difference. It’s important to just make sure you’re working hard and following their dreams and sharing their ideas and keeping that curiosity going,” she said. “Even if their solution never becomes a thing, I think the amount of people who are now more aware of the declining bee population has drastically increased, and these students have made a positive change in the world.”

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