Well-Being Challenge Kit Spring 2025
This Challenge Kit is curriculum-connected for grades K-12. No prior knowledge or experience of well-being or the Real-World Problem Solving Journey required.
Research is clear that well-being is critical for learning. It’s what we want and are striving for every day. Well-being is a big and complicated topic because everyone’s idea of being well is a little bit different. We’re also living in a time where technology like Artificial Intelligence, social media and climate change are overwhelming.
At the same time, well-being is a challenging topic because it is multi-faceted – being well includes taking care of our minds, feelings, bodies, friendships, and developing an understanding of who each of us are. Each of us are learning every day, what it takes to be truly well, individually and in communities, like schools.
In this Challenge Kit, students will learn about what contributes to well-being, through the themes of:
➜ Meaning: Belonging and feeling connected to something bigger than yourself.
➜ Accomplishment: Learning of skills and knowledge and their application to something that matters to you.
➜ Engagement: Intrinsic motivation to apply skills and knowledge towards difficult and meaningful tasks.
By learning about these ideas and trying them out, students will apply their learning to their school community and take actions for their collective wellness.
The Challenge Kit Experience
1 – Registration
To register, you need to know:
➜ Which class you’re doing this with
➜ Your availability in February for PD dates (listed below)
➜ Who is being invoiced for this experience
2 – Professional Development
➜ You’ll receive an email from us with your Professional Development Details.
➜ You need two days of release time for this experience. (Some school boards have alternative dates for the Introduction to Real-World Problem Solving)
➜ February 19th or 20th, 8:30AM – 3PM: Introduction to Real-World Problem Solving
➜ February 25th or 26th, 8:30AM – 3PM: Orientation
➜ You’ll receive physical materials here (or mailed to you if you join virtually), like the Facilitator Notebook and Classroom Poster.
3 – The Real-World Problem Solving Journey with your students, in your classroom
You’ll facilitate the Real-World Problem Solving Journey in your classroom, starting after March Break and wrapping up in early-to-mid May.
Frame the Problem
You launch the challenge with students by attending a live student Launch Event (or watch the recording) and inviting school admin to read a Letter (that you can customize) to launch the challenge.
Ignite Curiosity
This is where students build empathy, knowledge and understanding around the Challenge. We provide several Activity Plans and a live speaker series to help you do this.
Drive for Insights
This is where students dive into the complexity of the Challenge and use the Integrative Thinking tool called the Pro-Pro Chart.
Build Better Models
This is where students see the challenge in a new light through reframe questions and create recommendations that reflect their thinking from the other stages of the Real-World Problem Solving Journey.
Celebrate Success
After students present their thinking (there’s a slide deck to make this simple), join us for a virtual live event (or watch the recording) and celebrate your students’ thinking. After you fill out a post-survey, you’ll get a certificate template for your students.
Student Presentations to School Leaders
➜ Coordinate a date and time for students to present their thinking and recommendations to school administrators. Invite others interested in student voice.
➜ We provide a fill-in-the-blank template like this for students to share their thinking and insights.
4 – Teacher Celebration
Join us virtually to reflect on your and your students’ experience and get the conversation started on next steps. Teachers are supported throughout the experience through:
Professional Learning
Teachers will receive professional learning on Integrative Thinking, the methodology that underlies the Real-World Problem Solving Journey. Professional learning orienting you to the experience is mandatory for all participating teachers — this is where you’ll get everything you need to bring the experience to life in your classroom.
Coaching and Mentorship
You’ll have access to an I-Think Teacher Coach throughout this experience, who can help and support you in all the little and big things (really! Just ask – anything from logistics to how to get student thinking unstuck, and everything in between).
Resources and Materials
When you join the challenge, you’ll have everything you need to get your students solving a real-world problem. Together with our educator community, we’ve created a comprehensive facilitator notebook, customizable slide deck, reflective handouts and meaningful empathy lesson plans to take the guess-work out of bringing real-world problem solving to your classroom.
Cost
The cost of the Well-Being Challenge Kit is $1,000 per classroom. If there are more than 3 teachers in your school, there is a discount of $200 for every additional teacher.
Dates
| Professional Development: Introduction to Real-World Problem Solving | February 19th or 20th, 8:30AM – 3PM (In-person or virtual) |
| Professional Development: Orientation | February 25th or 26th, 8:30AM – 3PM (Virtual) |
| Real-World Problem Solving Journey with students in your classroom | March 17 – May 2, 2025 |
| Prepare Student Presentations | May 5-9th, 2025 |
| Students present their thinking & celebrate their success | May 12th-16th, 2025 |
Why Should We Participate?
Research indicates that community-connected challenges equip students with critical problem-solving skills—creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Past data on Challenge Kits confirm their positive impact on these skills, fostering well-being across measures engagement, mattering and accomplishment.
I-Think is a proven mechanism to develop skills for future success:
In Spring 2024 we piloted our first Artificial Intelligence Challenge Kit with 25 schools and over 2,000+ students.
Our 2023-2024 Year In Review includes data and information about the AI, AfroFuturism, Remembrance Day and (Re)Building Community Challenge Kits.
“One thing you have got to understand that some kids are gonna be working on some stranger projects, school appropriate of course, but this can only work if you understand the ideas and energy flowing out of us and the fact that we need an outlet for all of this.”
Grade 7&8 Students, Dovercourt Public School, Toronto DSB
“We learned that being in a community is not only about feeling connected it is also about feeling belonged. Belonging is when the people have a good relationship with the members that they work with and when they feel happy or comfortable working with them.”
Grade 6 Student, Danforth Gardens Toronto DSB
“Belonging is like secondary colours. It’s when you take primary colours and mix them to make new colours.”
Glendale Secondary and Viola Desmond, Hamilton-Wentworth DSB
Those Who’ve Done It Before
I-Think Challenge Kits aren’t just learning resources—they’re experiences that bring real-world problem solving into the classroom in ways that students find meaningful and engaging. Through hands-on activities, collaboration and critical thinking, students get to explore issues that matter to them, from well-being to artificial intelligence, to Remembrance Day.
Take it from students at schools like Lisgar Middle School Peel DSB, Orchard Park Secondary School Hamilton-WDSB, Humber Summit Middle School Toronto DSB, and Castlebar Junior School kindergarten students, who’ve shared how these kits make learning come alive. They tell us that Challenge Kits help them think deeply, solve complex problems, and feel connected to their peers. Students love using their creativity to find solutions, and they thrive when given the chance to make real changes in their communities. We’ve also included a video from the adults at Market Lane Junior and Senior Public School, Toronto DSB!
