Posted: Thursday, March 17, 2016

Castle High School was the first place winner at the High School Changemaker Challenge held March 17 at the University of Evansville. Mater Dei High School won second place, New Tech Institute won third, and North High School was the fourth place winner. This was the first year for the event, which was hosted by the Institute for Global Enterprise at UE.

As first place winners, Castle High School team members will each receive a full-tuition scholarship to UE annually for four years.

The second, third, and fourth place team members also receive UE scholarships. Second place team members each receive a $5,000 scholarship on top of their UE merit aid offer; third place team members will be awarded $2,500; and fourth place team members each get $1,000.

The objective of competition was to motivate young people to take the lead in finding innovative and creative solutions to challenges facing today’s world. During the contest, teams of up to three students from each competing high school vied to solve local, national or global challenges.

Castle High School’s team addressed the lack of Wi-Fi and electricity at parks and outdoor locations for their presentation. The Mater Dei team’s presentation focused on homelessness among all demographics in Vanderburgh County. New Tech Institute team’s presentation looked at the issue of veterans who suffer with PTSD and related mental illnesses, along with the awareness of said illnesses. The North High School team addressed the problem of bullying.

The presentations were judged by Vanderburgh and Warrick County community leaders. The winners were chosen based on such criteria as: identification of a need, how innovative the solution is, the feasibility and potential impact of the solution, how self-sustaining the solution is, and effectiveness of the presentation.

Schools who entered teams into the competition included: Boonville High School, Bosse High School, Castle High School, Central High School, Early College at Ivy Tech, Mater Dei, Memorial High School, New Tech Institute, North High School, Reitz High School, Shepard Law Academy, and Tecumseh High School.

For more information on UE’s High School Changemaker Challenge, visit www.evansville.edu/cc-hs, e-mail globalindiana@evansville.edu, or call 812-488-2455.

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