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Dear John,
It is week 240 in our new reality and if you are like many of us at 50CAN you have been immersed in the upcoming elections. If you haven’t already, we hope you make time to vote tomorrow. But today, we wanted to provide you with a break from the endless stories about the polls.

Regardless of what happens in this year’s elections, one thing we know for sure is that America’s kids will need great advocates more than ever.

Since we started this newsletter back in 2020 we have had a tradition of finishing each edition with a “moment of resilience.” So we decided that for this last newsletter of the election season we would create an issue that’s all moments of resilience about America’s kids.
Best,

Marc Porter Magee, PhD
50CAN Founder and CEO

@marcportermagee ([link removed])

A new, four part documentary from PBS called “Citizen Nation ([link removed]) ” follows students as they prepare for the “We the People” national civics competition. Journalists in eight states followed teams of students for nine months as they prepared for the competition by delving into the Constitution, holding mock congressional hearings and answering questions from competition judges on democratic principles.
An all-girls team of teenagers in Colorado at the STEM School Highlands Ranch are utilizing infrared cameras that can detect body heat even in poor weather conditions as they work to build ([link removed]) a wildlife tracking device that could prevent accidents. The team continues to refine their design but has had at least one initial success: their working prototype accurately identified the school dog and sounded an alert. We are sure the entrepreneurial experiences and STEM skills the students are learning are putting them on a path to do even more in the future.

Sean Atitsogbe, better known as Sean the Science Kid, is a 10-year-old who has gone viral for his educational TikTok posts where he teaches his peers science. “He wants to teach the whole world,” his mom told ([link removed]) ABC News. “And the whole world came to see the work he’s doing. As parents it gives us a lot of joy.” Sean explores everything from physics to biology in his videos through experiments and diagrams on a child-sized chalkboard. “Science is 99% curiosity,” he informed ABC, tapping the side of his head with a finger.

The nation’s newest national park, it’s 430th, isn’t located at a canyon or peak but at a historic schoolhouse ([link removed]) in Marfa, Texas. The Blackwell School is emblematic of institutions throughout the Southwest where Mexican-American children were once forced to attend different schools from their white peers. Daniel Hernandez, president of the Blackwell School Alliance weighed in: “We’re deeply grateful for all who have contributed their time and talents to this grassroots effort over the last two decades — especially our alumni, whose experiences will forever serve as the foundation for telling this story.”
Google has donated $10 million to a number of organizations, including pop-star Selena Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund, to focus ([link removed]) on teen mental health. Gomez said, “We want to expand access to mental health services by meeting young people where they are: the classroom. We’re proud to team up with Google to help achieve that goal. I also know firsthand that caring adults who really get it can make all the difference in a teenager’s life. As young people find their way through the world, it’s crucial that they get guidance in building healthy, positive and productive mental health habits. Few people are in a better position to help do this than teachers.”

A mobile STEM lab, known as the Curiosity Cube, is coming ([link removed]) to a number of schools in cities across the country in an effort to engage more kids with hands-on, excitement-inducing activities. Currently in Philadelphia, coordinator Danielle Chavis noted the appeal: “To be able to have a field trip dropped off in the parking lot for your students, it’s awesome.”
Elementary students in Asheville, NC were surprised with teddy bears ([link removed]) from their teachers on their return ([link removed]) to school following an extended delay in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Students across the city are back in school now, reconnecting with peers after a difficult and scary month.

Utah is at the front of the country ([link removed]) when it comes to giving serious consideration about how to prepare students for the Age of AI. State officials are embedding AI tools, tutors and resources into both instruction and student resources at the K-12 level and investing over $100 million at the university level. “We were talking to an employer just two weeks ago who said to us, 'People should not be worried about losing their job to AI, people should be worried about losing their job to people who understand AI,'" said Salt Lake Community College President Greg Peterson.

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ABOUT 50CAN

50CAN: The 50-State Campaign for Achievement Now is a nonprofit organization that works at the local level to advocate for a high-quality education for all kids, regardless of their address.

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