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IT'S THE KIDS!

Educating Future Generations

by Barbara Barnes

A Real-World Learning Framework Teaching K-12 Students Skills for Life, Work, Citizenship and Service

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PROJECT LIBRARY

Water

Implementation examples that show how specific schools have adapted the Projects and implemented them with their students. These examples include elementary, middle, high schools and home schools.

World
One teacher, a STEM coach, partnered with the Assistance League of Laguna Beach who provided funding for Makerspace materials from Two Bit Circuits for students to design and build structures. Due to the size of the campus on the Marine Corps Base, a Smartcart was donated for use by administrators and custodians.

Design & Build

One teacher, a STEM coach, partnered with the Assistance League of Laguna Beach who provided funding for Makerspace materials.

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A teacher and classroom partnered with the Medtronic Foundation to study health and fitness. The students used pedometers, tested blood pressure, and dissected heart valves to study health issues in relation to fitness. The students also researched the heart valve work being done at Medtronic Corporation and created a CD of their fitness investigations for the corporation.

Investigating Fitness

A teacher and classroom partnered with the Medtronic Foundation to study health and fitness.

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A partnership opportunity happened in the fourth grade Just Cookies company, where students created a business plan, estimated the number of cookies they needed to sell to raise enough money for an overnight ocean trip, and determined the number of customers in the school and the number of sale days. They produced a TV commercial for Just Cookies that was shown on SOS TV throughout the school. When the students reached their profit goal they "leased" the business to another class who took it under "new management."

Just Cookies

San Onofre 4th graders created a business: Just Cookies. Students created a business plan, estimated the number of cookies they needed to sell, and more...!

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Sabin Magnet School in Chicago, Illinois, under the leadership of Ed Peacock also implemented the “Well Into The Future” project. Teachers matched the project guidelines with the Illinois Health Goals. Their wellness project targeted body, mind and societal attitudes. The students participated in several field studies, including one undertaken at the Cook County Jail, where they interviewed inmates. Learners in each grade level at this K-8 school concentrated on a different aspect of health, including nutrition, exercise, drugs, quality health care and social/emotional issues.

Well Into the Future

Sabin Magnet School in Chicago, Illinois, implemented the “Well Into The Future” project, targeting body, mind and societal attitudes.

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Robinson Elementary School in Jacksonville, FL partnered with the Jacksonville Jaguars football team and created a project called "Jag Jam". The students studied all aspects of a professional sports team in their community.

Jag Jam

Robinson Elementary School in Jacksonville, FL partnered with the Jacksonville Jaguars football team and created a project called "Jag Jam".

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“Business and Industry” was implemented at Eastern Avenue School in Bettendorf, Iowa. Students investigated all business, industry, trade and transportation associated with I-80 and ways that Bettendorf benefited from this interstate highway. They studied the positive and negative aspects of I-80 and used the Internet to link with Bellflower High School to compare I-80 with the freeway system near BHS.

I-80

Students at Eastern Avenue School in Bettendorf, IA, investigated all business, industry, trade and transportation associated with I-80, and how it related to their town.

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Students in Rupert, Idaho, using “World Food”, studied the Idaho potato industry. They learned all aspects of growing, marketing, and delivering the product to the community and world. They also learned valuable information from the Farm Bureau and local potato growers.

World Food

Students in Rupert, Idaho, using “World Food”, studied the Idaho potato industry.

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Hoku’ula Homeschool, in Hawaii, implemented “Food for the Hungry.” They brought families together to create baskets of food for distribution to homeless organizations in Hawaii. Learning experiences included managing a bake sale, donating allowance money for the project, learning about well-balanced meals and making public service announcements on a local radio station.

Food for the Hungry

Hoku’ula Homeschool, in Hawaii brought families together to create baskets of food for distribution to homeless organizations in Hawaii.

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The partnership between Weyerhaeuser and Washington County Union School District in Plymouth, North Carolina helped the students at Washington County Union Middle School develop and implement “Forestry, Pulp and Paper.” Students researched and learned about a major industry in the area, investigated the human need for logging, and recognized Weyerhaeuser’s responsible practice of planting more trees.

Forestry, Pulp & Paper

Students at Washington County Union Middle School researched and learned about a major industry in the area, the human need for logging, and the responsible practice of planting more trees.

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Technology and training by Toshiba executives at San Onofre K-8 School evolved into a student-produced news program titled SOS TV. The students wrote reports on world news, local news, sports and weather. They also wrote letters to Marines deployed in Iraq, asking them to be world reporters from that country. The Marines were asked to write about people, food, living quarters, weather, environment, transportation and other aspects of that part of the world. The students received over 180 letters from Iraq; one was written on the back of a MRE (Meals Ready to Eat) package, another contained sand, and others contained stuffed camels and a prayer rug. The students had many first-hand stories to report on SOS TV. Through this experience they learned future TV/ communication career skills, as well as interviewing techniques from local TV news reporters who came to the school.

SOS TV

Technology and training by Toshiba executives at San Onofre K-8 School evolved into a student-produced news program titled SOS TV.

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“The Arts” project was originally implemented at Sabin Magnet School in Chicago, IL. The students studied the Monet Exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago. Students learned about Monet’s life and paintings. They studied the history of Impressionist art, researched the economics of the exhibit, including the cost of tickets and record attendance, and compared this data to past and future exhibits at the Institute.

The Arts

Students from Sabin Magnet School in Chicago, IL, studied the Monet Exhibit at The Art Institute of Chicago.

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A school nurse at Vista Verde K8 School, Irvine CA, designed a school-wide health exploration model entitled “2010 Health Odyssey” to help the students develop good mental and physical health habits. Those participating in the “Odyssey” were challenged to become aware of their present state of health as it related to their chosen topic, to collect information about that topic, project their life into the year 2010, and formulate a plan for their optimum health lifestyle. Topics included diet, nutrition, physical fitness, avoidance of major health problems, dental health, the brain, artificial hearts, social problems and stress reduction. Teachers worked with multi-age groups to select a topic for investigation. - One group of 4th and 5th grade students studied the effects of sugar on the brain together with some college students in a University of California, Irvine laboratory. - Another group of students went to a senior citizen center and asked the residents: “What do you wish you had done to have better health than you have today?” All their investigations were presented and documented. One teacher coordinated the videotaping of all student presentations while another teacher photographed special events. This was long before the advent of the Internet! The partners for this project included University of California, Irvine, senior citizen centers, dentists, doctors, hospitals, sports centers, local police, accident investigators, paramedics, and health insurance companies.

Health Odyssey

A school nurse at Vista Verde K8 School, Irvine CA, designed a school-wide health exploration model entitled “2010 Health Odyssey”.

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Copyright © Barbara Barnes, It’s The Kids, 2025

It's Just Kids, Inc. 

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