What makes a city healthy?
That is the question James Osorio—known to his students as Coach Oso—asked his eighth graders at Connect Community Charter School in California to investigate.
With support from World Savvy, Coach Oso designed a learning experience that connected classroom instruction to real challenges in students' communities. Using World Savvy's Knowledge to Action process, students explored the conditions that shape the health of young people in their community. They examined issues including access to youth sports, parks and park design, nutrition, and sleep, looking beyond the symptoms of a problem to understand its root causes.
Students then chose the issues that mattered most to them, researched why those problems existed, and developed possible solutions. They presented their findings and ideas to community experts.
One group focused on a simple but important question: How can schools help students drink more water?
Their research led to a practical proposal: requesting that the school district install water bottle filling stations on existing fountains. The students hope this change will encourage their peers to drink more water while reducing reliance on disposable plastic bottles. Plans are now underway to bring that request to the district.
For Coach Oso, one of the most meaningful outcomes was seeing students take ownership of the issues they were investigating.
"It was really incredible to see students find problems they were interested in and become experts about the reasons those problems existed in their community," James shared.
As James observed, "Students definitely feel more confident in identifying problems and working to be a part of the solution, instead of waiting for an adult to create a solution for them."
Nearly 25 years separate World Savvy's earliest work from this classroom. The setting, educator, students, and questions are different. The original idea is still visible: young people learning to better understand the world around them and recognizing that they can contribute to it.
This is Story #2 of 25 Years, 25 Stories.
