Perhaps you're wondering how past Christopher Columbus Awards teams have carried out their solutions in their communities after National Championship Week has drawn to a close. Good for you — you're thinking ahead with confidence! Since we like nothing more than a positive spirit, we're pleased to present these four progress reports, proof that a hard-working, dedicated team can accomplish extraordinary goals.

Even though this team didn't place in the competition, the team members decided to pursue their idea on their own. Beginning in September 1998, the team began the nearly three-year process of developing a park for the school and community. First, they obtained permission from the Fort Wayne School Board to commence the project. Then, an attorney drew up a lease between the school system and the owner of the land. To raise funds, the team wrote grants and sold engraved bricks, which now form part of the park walkways. More than 30 organizations and individuals, including Boy Scouts, local politicians, landscapers, architects, surveyors, contractors and others, volunteered labor, services and supplies for the project. An alumna of the school donated a large sculpture, and a local artist made, donated and installed a sundial. "Summit Environmental Park" was officially dedicated on May 10, 2000. It is maintained for most of the year by the school's Landscape Design class, which is part of the district's Career Education program.

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Determined to bring their idea to the public, the team traveled to Tallahassee in November 1999 to meet with the Florida Governor's Office, the Commissioner of Education and the Secretary of Transportation, gaining support for their idea and the need to address the safety hazard that loose objects present on school buses. In December 1999, Pak-Rax was installed on four Seminole County, Fla., school buses for field testing. The team will soon incorporate a business, Pak-Rax. In 2000, the team submitted another entry to the competition that was again selected as a finalist.

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Beginning in June 1998, the team worked tirelessly to strengthen local support for the creation of a preserve where native prairie grasses and indigenous creatures could flourish, and students could study and experience the prairie habitat. Their dreams were realized in September 1999 when they dedicated their "Prairie Restoration Area," a 10-acre plot that, together with other students and local residents, they have secured, cleared and planted with native plants.

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After National Championship Week, the team promptly set to work to complete the courtyard, which was dedicated in spring 1998. A school-wide contest was held to name the area; the winning selection was "The Learning Nature Center." Science classes use the courtyard each year to study concepts such as ecosystems, composting, populations and solar energy, among others. The Learning Nature Center is also opened up for lunch occasionally as a privilege for eighth-graders. The Courtyard Crew, a student club, convenes three times a week to mulch, weed, prune, plant and otherwise maintain the area. The school also coordinates with the community's Childwatch Program so that kids in the program, along with an adult chaperone, can enjoy the area and help out with maintenance. Community residents are quick to lend a hand whenever necessary — most recently replenishing the pond's fish supply following a stork attack. A local nursery donated a cherry tree in spring 2000, and the Girl Scouts have adopted a section and filled it with geraniums and local shells. At fall harvest, the Learning Nature Center is decorated for the season with scarecrows, bales of hay, gourds, pumpkins and mums. Produce from the garden beds, including cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, are shared with school staff and students' families.

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  • Judging Process
  • Assignment of Points
  • What Makes a Good Entry?
  • Sample Entries
  • Progress Reports
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Click on any item below to download the PDF:

• ENTRY FORM
• STUDENT'S GUIDE
• COACH'S/TEACHER'S GUIDE