PULSE

Project Theme: Purpose and career exploration

Target Audience and Location: Students at Cutler Bay Senior High School in Cutler Bay, Florida.

Mission: Connecting students to diverse, meaningful resources and opportunities so they can explore their interests, build connected communities and engage in ways that positively impact their future paths.

Project Description: Scholar Ammi Hernandez and educator Scholar Dr. Carla Felix created a unique approach to the anxiety and apathy teenage students were expressing at their school, which increased during remote learning caused by the pandemic, as they prepared to think about life after high school.

They developed PULSE (Promoting Unity by Linking Students through Engagement) with the purpose of helping to connect teens to organizations and opportunities that already existed in their community. Their goal is to expose students to different opportunities that allow them to explore their interests while building connections and skills. At the same time, this will support organizations in the area looking for student volunteers and participants.  

The team created a website, built a social media campaign and planned an in-person outdoor event to highlight different organizations and opportunities in the community that students can engage in as well as ways to showcase student leadership, art and community enrichment efforts. Ammi shared, “As a project founder this is meaningful to me because, as a teenager, I know how it feels to be pressured and expected to know what we want to do with our lives. By being a bridge to connections and organizations, teens can be more engaged in discovering what they want to do while making a positive impact in our community.”

Watch this team’s project presentation at our virtual showcase event!