Nearly 200 Bellevue students spent more than a week this summer applying project based problem-solving skills to a variety of complex scenarios with local professionals from Microsoft, the city of Bellevue and more.

How would you: Eat more sustainably and encourage others to do the same? Improve access to mental health services in rural communities? Balance revitalization efforts for the Eastgate area including housing, dining and amenities that meet the needs of college students as well as families?

These are a few of the issues that 190 middle- and high-school students spent seven days wrestling with in August, along with industry professionals from companies such as Integrus Architecture, 21 Acres and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Joining them was a cadre of School District staff and 60 masters in teaching students from the University of Washington. Students dove in, both in the classroom and in the field to learn more, and worked in groups to prepare presentations for those professionals and their families.

The program, funded by Bellevue Schools Foundation donors, targets students from Sammamish and Interlake high schools, as well as from Big Picture school, and Tillicum and Odle middle schools. The students choose a “challenge” based on their interests when they register, and work in groups with professionals to come up with solutions to real-world problems.

During the summer, students represent a cross-section of Sammamish’s school-year demographic, says Keith Onstot, with about 35 percent of the participants from families that qualify for free or reduced-prices lunches (a measure of poverty) and facilitators actively encourage enrollment for students who will be the first in their families to attend college. Onstot stresses, however, that Leads is not a remedial program.

“We really want the program to be inclusive of all students,” he said.

Listening in on some of the classes, it’s clear that Leads is anything but remedial. In the Providence Health Systems challenge, small groups gathered to research for supporting evidence before moving on to brainstorm possible solutions. Anaya, an Interlake sophomore, worked with her group discussing a truly topical issue.

“I’ve been interested in the medical field and I wanted to test this out,” Anaya said. “Now, I’m realizing that I’m really interested in mental health access.”

For other students, Sammamish Leads offers a way to connect with peers.

“There’s time for the kids to connect with other students who are not in their classes,” says Ainsley Goodrich, a teacher who was leading a physical therapy challenge with the University of Washington. “Seventh-graders interact with 12th-graders who are real leaders.” But it is also just a lot of fun, Goodrich said, for both the teens and the teachers.

“The students get to really direct their learning and dive into what they are interested in for a week—and there’s no test at the end. It’s the fun part of education,” she said. Her students this week explored ways to help children with disabilities participate in physical activities and designed an obstacle course that they will put in action with their industry professionals on Sept. 18 at the Experience Fitness Project in Issaquah, an activity expo geared to families with disabled youth.

Sammamish Leads focuses on science, technology and STEM fields, but this year also included art —the students designed a mural for the new Sammamish High School after learning the process that artists go through to create public art.

One eighth-grader from Tillicum, Nathaniel, said he hopes to one day include art in his career path in some form. “I feel like I wanted to find out about legitimate art fields,” where artists are incorporating their interests into their work.

His teacher, Melissa Misoda, said the end result of the week will be a tangible point of pride for participants.

“It’s great that they are designing something that will be around for a long time,” she says.

To learn more about Sammamish Leads, visit www.bsd405.org/sammamish/about/leads/; to learn more about Bellevue Schools Foundation, visit www.bellevueschoolsfoundation.org.

This article was contributed by Jeanne Gustafson, Bellevue Schools Foundation.