Whether it’s improving mental health, finding a solution to stop vaping among young people, or connecting communities during natural disasters, this year’s Game Changer Challenge grand finalists have once again shown that the future is in good hands. Alstonville Public School is one of the grand finalists.

The highly competitive semi-final process saw 36 teams – 24 from primary school and 12 from high school – selected to develop and pitch a solution to a ‘wicked’ problem in the Game Changer Challenge grand final, to be held on 8-9 November 2022.

After living through the Northern Rivers floods earlier this year, students from Alstonville and Kingscliff public schools developed ideas that would help people with their mental health during natural disasters.

The Furious 5 from Alstonville pitched a website to connect people and pets, giving those without a pet the relaxation of being around an animal while ensuring company for creatures that might otherwise be lonely.

“We’re very excited to be going to the Game Changer Challenge Final and can’t wait to find out what happens next,” The Furious Five (also known as Loki, Gem, Kane, Tom, and Teddy) said.

(The Furious Five  Teddy at the wall – Teddy, Tom, Kane, Loki, Gem)

“The team’s place in the final is very well deserved,” teacher Dave Hutchins said

“They were very agile in their thinking, adapting their ideas as new learnings came to light.”

Kingscliff’s Little Things Matter also focused on how technology could be used to improve connection during difficult times.

The Tweed region students’ bright idea was a ‘Social Savers’ app that would connect disaster-affected people with each other and mental health services during a crisis.

“The team was able to show a deep level of empathy in understanding the social impact that natural disasters have had on our community,” said their mentor teacher, Asha Lambert Patel.

“They reflected on personal and shared experiences to evaluate what would support young people in coming to terms with these events.”

“During the floods our phones and internet were down for nearly a week,” said team members Jayden, Dylan, Mila, Sunny, and Jasper.

“We wanted to make sure that next time people would know before the disaster, where they could go to catch up with friends and speak to a counsellor if they needed one, to take away some of the stress.”

As grand finalists, all teams are now tasked with testing their ideas in their local community, which will allow them to be refined and finessed.

It will also inform the creation of the students’ social impact and advocacy campaigns to be developed at the Game Changer Challenge grand final on 8-9 November 2022.

Game Changer Challenge industry partners and design thinking experts will be on hand to guide teams throughout the grand final, which concludes with a live pitch session.

Only after all of this effort will the Game Changer Challenge 2022 champions be crowned.

This year’s Game Changer Challenge theme – ensuring healthy lives for all, at all ages – has been developed from the United Nations’ sustainable development goals.