Apollo High School senior Fatuma Hassan and freshman Shyla Gordon have won first place in the senior division of the Community Problem Solvers (CmPS) National Competition at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In addition, they were also awarded the Beyonder Award, which is the highest honor a Community Problem Solving project can be awarded and is not given every year. The Beyonder is given to projects that “outdistance the others so far that they are not even on the same scale.” It is the first time anyone from Minnesota has won the award.
Their project, “Who’s on the Other Side?,” teaches students, parents and teachers how to be safe on the internet and to be aware of dangers involving sexual abuse, child exploitation and human trafficking.
Hassan and Gordon have worked on the project together for the last couple of years.
“So many people aren’t aware of it. Yet, half the people I know have received a creepy text message from a random person,” explains Gordon. “Before I went into this project, I knew so many people that this affected.”
“I wanted to do this project because I have a lot of younger siblings, and I don’t want them to be in these encounters and not know what to do,” adds Hassan. “I wouldn’t want anyone to go through that experience which is why I wanted to talk about it.”
Community Problem Solvers started 11 years ago in St. Cloud Area School District 742 when the Future Problem Solvers State Director reached out to coach Karlyn Doyle at North Junior High School. To Doyle, Community Problem Solvers was about amplifying student voice and giving them the platform to do it.
“I love seeing them turn into amazing young leaders,” says Doyle. “They just need that opportunity.”
During the research phase of their project, Hassan and Gordon met with local law enforcement, Patty Wetterling and Alison Feigh from the Jacob Wetterling Resource Center, a forensic interviewer from the Child Advocacy Center in St. Cloud, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In addition, they met with District 742’s Shannon Avenson, director of student services and Ryan Cox, director of innovation and instructional technology, to discover what supports and safeguards were in place for students. The pair also met with a representative from Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer’s office as well as Chief Judge Hennesy to discuss laws relating to their topic.
They began to share their knowledge and create resources for students, families and teachers. They asked administrators at North Junior High School to send information to students through Schoology. Hassan and Gordon also had a booth at North and Apollo open houses to share information with families and students about how to stay safe on the internet.
Their big undertaking was creating lessons for students, parents/guardians and teachers.
“Each lesson is about a different topic,” explains Hassan. “And inside those lessons are different grade levels. Grade levels three to five, high school and junior high. And then we have one for staff and families on each one of our lessons.”
“And for each lesson, to make it easier for whomever is teaching it, we have a teacher plan which makes it very simple,” says Gordon.
“We wanted to make it age-appropriate,” adds Hassan. “Things we show adults, we wouldn’t want to show young students. It can be scary.”
The lessons are on grooming, gaming, social media, who supports you and how to report incidents. The lessons also include videos and cross-reference topics.
The pair surveyed and pre-tested their lessons with some of the junior high students to see what the statistics were on taking the lessons.
Hassan and Gordon met with Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Minnesota to demonstrate their lessons. The organization has decided to incorporate the lessons into its own curriculum for students. They will also train all 250 staff with the adult lessons the pair have put together.
Cheryl Whitesitt, executive director of Minnesota Future Problem Solvers states, “Community Problem Solvers take on the problem-solving skills via a six-step process and apply them to a real-life challenge. These young ladies are truly making a difference in their community and beyond. As the State Director, I’ve had the opportunity to meet these ladies and to support Karlyn (from time to time). I’ve watched … the many students they work with grow into amazing leaders. Our future is in good hands.”
Together, Hassan and Gordon are working to make sure the Central Minnesota community is a safer place for everyone.
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