Working together to improve mental health in schools was the theme of this year’s Case Challenge at the IU School of Education.
The Case Challenge is a real-world, problem-solving competition focused on offering ideas for improving P-12 educational settings. The case presented to students in 2023, Protecting Youth Mental Health, challenged students to develop a comprehensive and innovative program to address the unique mental health challenges that emerged for students and their families due to the COVID pandemic. Ten teams of 2-5 students each had four weeks to prepare a written proposal, executive summary and oral presentation. Each team also identified a faculty or staff member in the School of Education to sponsor their project; these sponsors acted as coaches and mentors during the project development phase of the challenge.
On February 25, the teams presented their work to a panel of six Alumni Board Members who had the opportunity to ask questions of each team, evaluate their work and provide a final score. The event concluded with a celebratory brunch and announcement of the first, second and third place prizes.
The winners of this year’s Case Challenge were:
1st place - Amy Weilhammer & Zayn Karim, $2500
2nd place - Olivia Wood & Jenna Milosh, $1500
3rd place - Ainsley Epperson & Claire Ashcraft, $1000
