by Patricia Reiter
A few months ago, a “foodbridge” was not a thing. As of now, it is the imagined creation of three brilliant, young ladies at Tsai Hsing School in Taipei. Ann, Yulianna, and Angel’s “Foodbridge,” pictured here, is the culmination of their vision for how to create a bridge that works toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and targets a specific need with an actual, employable solution.
These stellar students are pictured below with their self-assigned job responsibilities. Their bridge would connect a palace in Thailand with a very impoverished area that is currently separated by a wall in order to “hide” the situation. The girls proposed a bridge instead, with food left for the hungry. By utilizing food that is nearing expiration, this thoughtful plan helps with poverty, hunger, waste, infrastructure…and access to jobs and healthcare. You can view a video of their slideshow at this link. This unique bridge earned the girl-powered trio a top-finalist ranking! Bravo, girls!
Driving that point home was the Field Trip LIVE the students took to the many bridges of Portland, Oregon. In addition to looking at the mechanical structures of the bridges, the students discussed the practical and metaphorical purpose of each bridge on this virtual field trip, as you can see in this clip.
Student groups gathered materials from home, focusing on reusable materials instead of purchased items. Finally, they built. See the building process of Ann, Yulianna, and Angel here, on Youtube. The build was limited to four class periods and was completed at school. Each group then presented its bridge, along with its intended purpose, to a group of outside panelists, via videoconferencing. Our panelists, from different educational and occupational backgrounds, evaluated the bridge viability, SDG impact, and quality of the pitch. The finalists were chosen.
Our most genuine appreciation to Bridges to Prosperity for bettering the world every day, and for allowing our students to glean some of their magic. But, it’s always better to hear it from the students, so listen to Ariel share her thoughts.
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