190 students and educators from across the city spent eight weeks innovating solutions to issues in their communities
Contact: Jon Purves
Senior Media Relations Associate
202 736 2111 | Jon.Purves@aspeninstitute.org
WHAT: The Aspen Challenge — a program of the Aspen Institute founded in partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation — teamed up with the Dallas Independent School District for a second year on Aspen Challenge Dallas, an opportunity for youth across the city to design solutions to issues in their communities. Aspen Challenge Dallas kicked off with a daylong youth leadership development forum, where teams of students and teachers heard from leaders pioneering change. These leaders presented challenges around topics including immigration, civil discourse, the environment, preventive health and access to care, and mental health.
Teams had eight weeks to create innovative solutions to their chosen challenges. The teams present their solutions to a panel of judges on March 28. One winning team will be chosen to present its work at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, CO, in June.
WHO: Challenge participants include 19 high school teams of eight students ranging from grades nine through twelve and two teachers (the coaches for the program), totaling 190 participants from the Dallas Independent School District. Participating schools are:
Bryan Adams High School
David W. Carter High School
Emmett J. Conrad High School
Franklin D. Roosevelt High School
Grady Spruce High School
Hillcrest High School
Justin F. Kimball High School
G. Pinkston High School
Moisés E. Molina High School
North Dallas High School
Seagoville High School
Skyline High School
South Oak Cliff High School
Sunset High School
Thomas Jefferson High School
W.H. Adamson High School
W.T. White High School
Wilmer-Hutchins High School
Woodrow Wilson High School
Guest speakers include Michael Hinojosa, superintendent of the Dallas Independent School District, Mercedes Fulbright of Local Progress Texas, a project of the Center for Popular Democracy, Xavier Allen Henderson, who co-founded the organization For Oak Cliff to work with resdients to cultivate a culture of education and liberate that community from systemic oppression, and Eva Arreguin, who co foundedDe Colores Collective, an Oak Cliff-based arts group focused on lifting up and uniting marginalized communities.
WHEN: March 28, 2019 | 9 am – 6 pm
WHERE: Fair Park, Briscoe Carpenter Livestock Auditorium, 1403 Washington Street Dallas, TX 75210
RSVP: If you are a member of the media who wishes to attend, please RSVP to Jonathan Purves at Jon.Purves@aspeninstitute.org by March 27.
The Aspen Challenge provides inspiration and a platform for young people to design solutions to some of the most critical and complex issues humanity faces. For more information, please visit aspenchallenge.org or www.facebook.com/TheAspenChallenge.
The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
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