Young students in Sacramento painted a bleak picture when they marched to the state Capitol to deliver their artwork and protest cutbacks in school funding especially in the arts. Their goal was to put the pictures on display as a constant reminder to the governor and the legislature to stop making reductions in education funding.
While that's one way to fight the battle, students and teachers throughout the state and the country are finding other ways to get money. Got Pepsi? Or can you Walk the Walk?
It's competitive for sure but corporate America is offering students the chance to win big for their own school by challenging kids to show off their commitment and creativity. The reward? Money for programs that would otherwise be cut or are in desperate need of support.
There's more to reading, writing and math. There's teamwork. Creativity--that's how new ideas are generated. And it's exactly what these "contests" are teaching students.
"It helps us fight for what we want," says Lincoln High School graduate Samantha Saravong of San Diego who's competed in Hurley's "Walk the Walk" challenge for the last three years she's been a student there. The competing schools put together a fashion show of Hurley inspired outfits, Converse shoes and Skullcandy headphones.
Lincoln High is defending its West Coast championship and hopes to win the national title and $25,000. Last year's win of $10,000 partly helped the art department put on productions and buy costumes. "We have fun and it gives us the opportunity to express ourselves and discover what we have a passion for, " says Saravong who is so stoked about this year's finale at the U.S. Open of Surfing in Huntington Beach.
"It's really depressing," says Coach and math teacher Paul Swanson of Mira Mesa High School is competing in the "Pepsi Refresh Project." He's come full circle now working at the same high school he attended as a teenager and doesn't remember it being this bad when he was in school. It's pretty pathetic when you have to tell a high school kid in track and field who stands 5'10", weighs 185 pounds that the only size uniform that's available is a "small," Swanson told me. Or that the uniform is faded and falling apart. And equipment is even worse. They don't have pole vaults to train with, so the school is already at a disadvantage when they compete in track and field events.
"Athletics isn't just a way to keep kids off the street. It's team building, responsibility," says Swanson. And it's not just the school, other community youth groups share the equipment and resources. Swanson outlines what the $50,000 prize will be used for on the Pepsi Refresh Project website.
If you don't like something, stand up and protest like the kids in Sacramento. Make your argument and in the meantime be creative, "Walk the Walk" or find a way to "Refresh" the situation with great ideas like these kids and teachers seem to be doing.
