Aspen Challenge Comes to Boston for Students to Tackle Community Concerns

The Aspen Challenge will kick off in Boston in February. students from 20 BPS high schools will participate over ten-weeks to build sustainable solutions to issues they identify in their communities.

Pictured Above: Students from the San Diego Unified School District gathered for the “Challenge” to learn about local issues their teams tackled over ten weeks during the 2024 Aspen Challenge: San Diego. (Photo credit: Daniel Bayer)

Boston, MA, January 13, 2024 – The Aspen Challenge, a program of the Aspen Institute, founded in partnership with the Bezos Family Foundation, will kick off in Boston next month. Presented in partnership with Boston Public Schools, teams of students from 20 local high schools will participate over ten-weeks to build sustainable solutions to issues they identify in their communities. The Aspen Challenge provides young Bostonians the opportunity and resources to create tangible change around their homes, schools, and neighborhoods.

The Aspen Challenge: Boston will take place on Thursday, February 13, at Artists for Humanity, located at 100 W 2nd Street. At the “Challenge,” teams of eight students and two teachers will hear from local leaders who will present a series of issue-specific goals to the students on topics including the role of social media in glamorizing substance abuse, affordable housing, community violence, access to green spaces, and post secondary education pathways. Challenge issue areas are chosen ahead of time by participating students.

Expert challengers include: David Bickham, Research Director, Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital; Brandy Brooks, Executive Director, Higher Ground Boston; Manuel Oliver, Co-Founder, Change the Ref; Gretchen Rabinkin, Executive Director, Boston Society of Landscape Architects; and James Antwine, Annyah Cush, and Carlotta Pope, winners of the 2023 Aspen Challenge: Brooklyn.

“We are incredibly honored to be selected to host, for the first time, the Aspen Challenge here in the Boston Public Schools,” said Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper. “We are proud to partner with the Aspen Institute to empower our students with the tools and resources to help create sustainable solutions that will benefit our schools, their communities, and the city-at-large. This initiative is a testament to the incredible potential of Boston’s young people to drive positive change.”

Following the Challenge, student teams will select one challenge area and begin their ten-week project developing, implementing, and reporting on their issue area. At the end of that ten weeks, teams will reconvene on Thursday, April 29 for the “Solution Showcase” at which point they will present their work and impact to a panel of judges made up of community leaders, educators, experts, and activists. Three teams will be chosen as the Grand Prize winners of Aspen Challenge: Boston and fly to Aspen, Colorado to present their community solution at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June.

“The lesson I learned over and over, as a teacher, a district leader, and an advocate for youth, is that the very best ideas always come from young people. That’s why I welcomed Aspen Challenge to come to DCPS while I was leading the district and why I am thrilled that Boston now gets to learn from their high school students,” said Kaya Hendrson, Executive Vice President and Executive Director at the Aspen Institute’s Center for Rising Generations and former Chancellor of DC Public Schools.

Participating Schools:

Another Course to College
Boston Adult Technical Academy
Boston Arts Academy
Boston Green Academy
Boston International Newcomers Academy
Boston Latin Academy
Boston Latin School
Brighton High School
Charlestown High School
Dr. Albert D. Holland High School of Technology
Dr. William W. Henderson Inclusion School
Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers
Excel High School
Fenway High School
Madison Park Technical Vocational High School
Margarita Muñiz Academy
Mary Lyon Pilot High School
Snowden International School at Copley
TechBoston Academy
The English High School

The inaugural Aspen Challenge launched in collaboration with Los Angeles Unified School District in 2013. Since its inception, the Challenge has expanded to include partnerships with school districts in Denver, Washington D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, Louisville, Miami, New Orleans, San Diego, and Brooklyn.

For more information on Aspen Challenge: Boston or to attend as a covering member of the media, please contact Eric Baker: eric.baker@aspeninstitute.org.

The Aspen Challenge provides inspiration, tools, and a platform for young people to design solutions to some of the most critical problems humanity faces. For more information on Aspen Challenge, please visit www.aspenchallenge.org.

The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

Boston Public Schools, the birthplace of American public education, is dedicated to providing a world-class learning experience for every student. BPS educates 54,000 students in 125 schools, 74 percent of the school-age children who live in Boston. BPS is proud to be one of the most diverse school districts in the nation. Nearly one in every two students speaks a language other than English at home, and BPS students come from 139 different countries. One in five BPS students has a disability, and half are economically disadvantaged. Under the leadership of Superintendent Mary Skipper, the district collaborates with families, community members, and students to foster a supportive and innovative environment with a strong commitment to educational equity and excellence. For more information, visit www.bostonpublicschools.org.

The Bezos Family Foundation envisions a world in which all young people reach their full potential and meaningfully contribute to society. The Foundation pursues that vision by making grants and by operating their own programs, with the aim of fueling the science of learning and enabling its application in a variety of settings. The Foundation’s mission is to invest in the science of learning and the experiences that youth need from birth to high school to pursue their own path for success. For more information, visit www.bezosfamilyfoundation.org.

FY19 Budget Development

BPS presented the initial FY2019 budget to the Boston School Committee on February 7, 2018.

Budget timeline and Community Hearings

Wednesday, February 7
Preliminary FY19 Budget Presentation

Tuesday, February 13
6 p.m. – FY19 Budget Hearing
East Boston High School - 86 White Street, East Boston
Tuesday, March 6
6 p.m. – FY19 Budget Hearing
English High School - 144 McBride Street, Jamaica Plain
Wednesday, March 14
5 p.m. – FY19 Budget Hearing
6 p.m. – School Committee meeting
2300 Washington Street, Roxbury - 2nd Floor
Wednesday, March 28
6 p.m. – Regular Meeting and FY19 Budget vote
2300 Washington St, Roxbury - 2nd Floor

Written feedback may also be given at budget@bostonpublicschools.org.

The budget is a statement of our values

The annual budget development process is, at its core, an exercise to help us communicate our values. This budget is a first step in a comprehensive assessment of strategies that must be considered for the long-term success of the Boston Public Schools