How might we teach kids to see the connection between food and being healthy?

In the summer of 2014, One Stone students met with residents from the Idaho Youth Ranch’s Hays Shelter Home, and identified a mutual passion for helping families affected by cancer. Using the design thinking process, they pivoted to a more specific prevention-focused goal, zeroing in on the connection between a healthy diet and prevention. After extensive research and empathy work in the field, the team designed a project to teach kids to make healthy, disease-fighting snacks and meals that were easy to prepare and easy to incorporate in their day-to-day lives.

Your Relationship, Your Choice.

How might we raise teens’ awareness of signs of unhealthy relationships?

The statistics relating to relationship violence are alarming:

• One in four women will experience domestic violence her in life.
• 40% of children are exposed to violence every year.
• Each year, 1.5 million high school students experience physical abuse from a dating partner.

A team of One Stone students took on this complex public health crisis, with a particular focus on raising awareness of the issue amongst teens. Unhealthy or abusive relationships can have significant lasting consequences for teens, as they are heavily influenced by their relationships. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that youth who experience dating violence are more likely to experience the following:

After delving into the staggering data about childhood obesity, One Stone students took action to create an experience that would motivate kids to unplug, get off the couch and get outside. Working in partnership with St. Luke’s FitOne, a team of One Stone students staged Outlet, a day of "playcation" that encouraged kids to unplug and get moving. More than thirty wiggly little kids spent the day learning about healthy eating, unplugging, and the finer points of tree tag. These games reinforced a message of 5-2-1-0: Everyday, aim for five servings of fruits and vegetables, less than two hours of screen time, one hour of exercise and zero sugary drinks.

Fifteen refugee families from the Glenbrook Apartment community received a very warm Boise welcome from One Stone students who spent Saturdays in September and October exploring all the city has to offer. With a focus on access to learning resources and free fun, the team connected families with new library cards, maps, computer lessons and a science fair. The design thinking approach helped the One Stone team plan these learning opportunities with their end user in mind, understanding the possible transportation, cultural and language challenges, and working through them for a highly successful community building project.

Explore Camp, a healthy lifestyle and self esteem building project, is an example of what’s possible when you believe in yourself. The camp, in collaboration with St. Luke’s Health System YEAH! Program, Bogus Basin, Boise Parks and Recreation and One Stone, came to be known as the Think, Believe, Explore, Dream, Build, Commit, Discover, Act, Choose, Live Camp, where we did just that.

After extensive empathy work with special needs kids and their parents and teachers, we learned that positive mentorship and play are often difficult to access. Because of this, the kids and their parents can experience a sense of marginalization. To address this need, a crew of One Stone students, in partnership with Cynthia Mann Elementary, created an end-of-year celebration event that provided the opportunity for play, movement and creativity for kids with special needs.

After learning about some of the challenges kids in the foster care system face, a team of One Stone students went on a mission to create a project that would provide a sense of community for these kids. They worked with foster care parents and program experts from the Department of Health and Welfare to develop Bright, a three-part project focused on building self-esteem and confidence—encouraging each person to be their “brightest self”.