Concerned about the health hazards of vaping, North Junior High and Apollo High School students, Fatuma Hassan, Nathan Nichelson and Quynn Meister have worked two years on Don’t Juul, It’s Not Cuul!!!, their Community Problem Solving (CmPS) project, an anti-vaping campaign with resources, curriculum and marketing ideas.
CmPS encourages students to become “agents of change in their communities” and a “part of the solution.” These students took the challenge to heart.
“The reason … we came up with this project and website,” explains ninth grader Hassan, “is that it’s an issue that we can most relate to. A lot of people our age are the ones that are vaping and getting addicted, so we wanted to spread more awareness about it.”
The project name of Don’t Juul, It’s Not Cuul was eighth grader Nichelson’s idea. They originally established a YouTube account under another name, but the channel didn’t really take off. So, they migrated their content and built a website instead under the Don’t Juul, It’s Not Cuul!!! header.
They did their own research, created their own content and laid out the pages.
“It [website] was pretty challenging,” describes Nichelson. “It took two months to get everything for the background and logo for the website. All the research was time-consuming.”
Nichelson created the graphics for the website as well.
In addition to the website, the team created curriculum for teachers. If they couldn’t get the information in students’ hands, they knew teachers could. So, they partnered with EVERFI, an education-based company that supports “social impact initiatives through meaningful digital education programs” as well as the director of secondary curriculum for St. Cloud Area School District 742, Jessica Moore.
“We wondered if teachers could do it [share anti-vaping information] in health class,” says Hassan. “So, we partnered up with EVERFI and got it into North in health classes. EVERFI is an online learning tool that helps teachers and pre-plans for teachers. All teachers have to do is add it to their course, and students can go online and explore and find information about vaping for themselves.”
The CmPS team didn’t stop there. They worked with the state legislature on raising taxes on vaping products as well as changing the packaging and labeling of the products.
This year, the trio met virtually at the annual Day at the Capital with other organizations and groups who assembled for the same cause. As a result, the team joined the group Escape the Vape. Together, they did a week of action where they rallied (virtually) and shared social media messaging.
The team takes advantage of all exposure on their project. More exposure helps build their report for submission to the Minnesota Future Problem Solving (FPS)/CmPS State Competition as well as the International FPS/CmPS Competition in June.
The next step for the team is to create a video prior to the international competition as well as update their report on the things they’ve worked on until the point of submission, which includes working with Moore to expand the curriculum at South Junior High School and Kennedy Community School.
“It’s hard to try and fit two years’ worth of work in six pages,” says CmPS coach and North Junior High teacher, Karlyn Doyle. “There’s even a further limit of 5,500 words. And then with the addendum, you have to put your entire project of pictures and visuals in six pages. It’s tough.”
The team is hoping that they can expand the curriculum to other school districts, too. It’s free to use and easily accessible.
“It’s really nice for the teachers,” says Doyle. “Because as a teacher, you don’t have to create anything.”
Within the coming weeks, Nichelson, Meister and Hassan will continue their work to submit to the international competition. However, after two years of working on the project, each will continue to promote the project they created. They may just find themselves in local government or politics in the coming years. With these students working to create a better community, the future looks a little brighter.
Update 6/30/2021: Hassan, Nichelson and Meister took first place in their category at the International Future Problem Solving and Community Problem Solving Competition for their Don’t Juul, It’s Not Cuul project!
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