EnACT

EnACT allows students to analyze public policy while learning about politics and our government. Students learn about political discourse through the process of creating a policy portfolio. Students are introduced to the UN Sustainable Development Goals and are asked to find the cause of one of these issues. Student projects attempt to solve one of the UN SDG’s by creating their own public policy proposition. Students choose a public policy that will focus on one of the four following umbrella categories: environment, energy, social justice, and economy. In the EnACT elective, most student projects focus on zero hunger, gender equality, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, responsible consumption and production, and peace, justice and strong institutions.
Schedule

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2022
Wednesday, April 27th
9:30 AM

Access to Menstrual Products for Women in Prisons

Ava Gonzalez '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Acaademy
Aru Ulanbek '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Acaademy
Pedro Castrejon '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Acaademy

The United Nations' Bangkok Rules, which establish worldwide standards for the treatment of women in prison, specify that denying convicts access to menstrual hygiene products is "inhuman or degrading treatment," which is a violation of their human rights. This aligns with the United Nations SDG Goal 5, which is Gender Equality. Gender Equality implies a “peaceful, prosperous, sustainable world”, along ... Read More

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Composting at IMSA

Aidan Kim '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Alicia Lopez '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Nashra Younus '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

In the US alone 30-40% of food is wasted every year. Wasted food that ends up in landfills releases methane emissions. According to the US EPA, methane emissions are more than 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide. The energy and water used to produce that food are also wasted. These reasons alone make this UNSDG, goal 2 “Zero ... Read More

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Effectively Spreading Accurate Information About the LGBTQ+ Community

Ben Starkey '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Maven Horsch '24, Illinois Math and Science Academy
Marcus Kubon '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Emerald Lendi '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

The purpose of our Student Leadership Exchange (SLX) project project is to be able to effectively spread accurate information about Gay Rights, Transgender Rights, LGBTQ+ rights, legistlation surrounding thoses topics, and activism opportunities to support the LGBTQ+ community. We discovered that the best way to reach the age demographic that we are trying to inform, 9-24 year olds, is ... Read More

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Four-day School Weeks in Illinois High Schools

Katherine Mayer '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Charles Ludwig '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Dara Ajayi '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

A four-day school week benefits students at IMSA and other schools that have piloted a four-day school week. Our proposal is to educate about the benefits of four-day school weeks at Illinois high schools. The benefits of this school schedule include less financial pressure on schools, less teacher turnover, higher staff morale, lower transportation costs and improved scores in reading ... Read More

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

Using Microfinancing to Reduce Inequities

Aldo Magana '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Chiamaka Okoli '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Eliel Valdez '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

We are focusing on UNSDG 10, reduced inequalities, and specifically for us, economic inequalities. Reducing inequalities at all levels is crucial for ensuring a decent and improving quality of life for all people. According to the German Socioeconomic Panel, during the decade following German Reunification, as incomes in former East Germany began to catch up to West German levels, ... Read More

9:30 AM - 9:50 AM

9:55 AM

Creating Our Own Paper

Hagen Arriaga '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Ellen Guan '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Sar'aiyah Murphy '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Edward Zavala '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Responsible Consumption and Production is the twelfth United Nations Sustainable Development Group goal and focuses on improving the quality of and responsibility of resources to ensure the betterment of the human condition. This is an important goal, because, through all of history, humanity has changed planet Earth to their needs. It is crucial, therefore, to maximize the benefits of ... Read More

9:55 AM - 10:15 AM

Educational Inequity in Afghanistan

Nathan Kozak '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Sufiya Hussaini '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Kohl Vonder Haar '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Aaliyah Murphy '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Our project is based upon and surrounds the issue of educational inequity within Afghanistan, primarily towards women. With the current political climate in Afghanistan influenced by the Taliban and highly discriminatory towards women, educational inequity has been a prominent issue within Afghanistan in recent years. With over 3.7 million children in Afghanistan not in school, and over 60 percent ... Read More

9:55 AM - 10:15 AM

Environmental Activism

Zuyu Liu '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Annika Johnson '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Giada Avina '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Our project is to organize a march and a summit for the environment. This would all be led by student leaders and our main audience would also be students, as it’s important to educate them on the issues of climate change. Our plan is to have local student leaders talk about their progress working with schools, organizations, and municipalities to ... Read More

9:55 AM - 10:15 AM

Improving Racial Disparities in the Illinois Healthcare System

Chinara Caldwell '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Matthew Salinas '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Munachiso Onwuameze '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

In our SLX we specifically talk about race and relating it back to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) that is Good Health and well being. We go into depth how about race impacts Good health and Well Being to find a problem. The problem we see a lot now days is racial disparites in health care. For ... Read More

9:55 AM - 10:15 AM

Spreading Awareness about Discrimination and Disparities in Education

Abigail Botello '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Kate DeGreve '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Brooke Hilderbrant '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Emma Rodriguez '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

The goal of our Student Leadership Exchange (SLX) project is to spread awareness about racial discrimination and socioeconomic disparities within education. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (UN SDG) that connects to this is Quality Education, or UN SDG number four. In the American education system, factors such as race and socioeconomic status play a large role in creating ... Read More

9:55 AM - 10:15 AM

10:20 AM

Changing Standardized Exams

Charles Conner '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Joshua Lee '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Wyatt Matthews '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

To put it plainly, standardized exams need to change. Nobody looks forward to the next time they have to take a PSAT, SAT, or ACT. Studying for them takes time away from learning, they cost money, and a variety of other reasons mean that, if not completely removed, standardized exams should be changed. Primarily, that is, they should be ... Read More

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

Clean Water in Illinois

Winston Mattson '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Michael Doerries '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Raghav Sinha '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Karla Sanchez '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Illinois resides within a developed nation, yet it still retains places that do not have access to clean, usable water. Often, this problem goes unseen as citizens outside those areas believe all are so lucky to have this necessary commodity. Even so, the actions from these citizens, whether tacitly or explicitly, negatively impacts the decreasing abundance of clean water ... Read More

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

Climate Action Group

Malcolm Wilson-Ahlstrom '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Nikola Freund '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Laura XXX '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Tatyana Pronitcheva '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Roughly 4.13 million tons of trash is produced each year in the city of Chicago, approximately 70% of which is compostable. Our step towards reducing trash pollution, specifically within Chicago, is to implement city wide composting. By composting we can significantly lower the amount of trash produced, in result decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. In order to successfully execute composting ... Read More

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

Invasive Plant Species in Illinois

Sabriya Attia '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Byrd Gilissen '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Nataliya Stewart '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

A major problem faced in the Illinois area is the overwhelming amount of invasive plant species. One singular invasive plant species can disrupt an entire ecosystem of native life, causing biodiversity to significantly be altered and decline. A native species can be defined as, according to USGS.gov, is an organism that is not native to the ecosystem they are ... Read More

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

Spreading Awareness of Anti-LGBTQ+ Bills

Arjun Cherukuri '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Anni Georgieva '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Tate Schneider '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

In 1952 Christine Jorgenson completed a sex-reassignment surgery and became known as the first person in America to undergo the transition. This was simply the beginning of a movement to fight for the rights of transgender individuals. Today the struggle for transgender persons continues, most commonly seen with medical restrictions and in high-school sports. Since the beginning of 2021, ... Read More

10:20 AM - 10:40 AM

10:45 AM

Crisis Pregnancy Centers

Garrett Snedden '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Jeremy Stark '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Izzy Rehg '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Since Roe v. Wade, facilities around the United States have provided counseling and abortion alternatives to pregnant women. Often called a crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), these centers provide support to women who are in need of pregnancy services and do not wish to have an abortion. However, as largely Christian nonprofits, these centers are legally exempt from many qualifications applied ... Read More

10:45 AM - 11:05 AM

Educating on Gender Bias

Cara Jacob '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Minna Johnson '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Emma Lau '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

With gender prevalent issues overtaking the world, even a small action can be of great effect. Knowing the power that the internet and social media can have on an issue, we plan on making social media forums to educate people of the many many issues such as gender bias in education and the gender pay gap. We feel that ... Read More

10:45 AM - 11:05 AM

Educational Programming on Neurodivergency

Maitreyi Pandey '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Tia Rice '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Fiona Sirais '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

In recent years, the term neurodivergency has become more widely used. People are starting to accept that different people’s brains operate differently and this isn’t a bad thing. Schools are some of the first places students learn to socialize and are also filled with hindrances to learning for the nuerodivergent student body, such as overstimulation and a lack of patience. ... Read More

10:45 AM - 11:05 AM

Heartbeat Bill

Nethra Shanbhag '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Kosi Okeke '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Ramon Vazquez '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

The Heart Bill (Senate Bill 8) in Texas prohibits abortion once a heartbeat is detected. A heartbeat in a fetus can be detected around 6 to 7 weeks (sometimes earlier) and most women do not know they are pregnant at this time. This law does not accommodate rape or incest situations and state law requires two visits to the ... Read More

10:45 AM - 11:05 AM

Teaching LGBTQ+ History in Schools

Madison Clarke '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Sukanya Ghosh '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
George Lu '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

We found inspiration for this project through the recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation decreed in various states. In Illinois, the current Board of Education’s mandates on LGBTQ+ educational curriculum are very limited and not enforced in public schools, which we as students have personally experienced and witnessed. This inspired us to explore a legislative activism avenue for our project where we intend ... Read More

10:45 AM - 11:05 AM

11:10 AM

Reallocating Wasted Food

Evelyn Cunneen '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Gwen Olney '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy
Brandon Rogers '24, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

The UNSDG goal that our group decided to focus on is Zero Hunger. Over the pandemic, out of all the students who qualified for free or reduced lunch, only 15% were receiving it. For many of these students, specifically those who live in food deserts, the meal that they receive in school is the only meal they will get ... Read More

11:10 AM - 11:30 AM