Students investigate a school-based addiction concern of their choice, connect it to nervous system function, and analyze how psychologists, counselors, and other healthcare professionals would approach prevention, intervention, and recovery. Working in teams, they research the problem, interview a Pathful professional or school counselor, and design a presentation and PSA poster that propose realistic, evidence-based solutions. Across the two weeks, they build content knowledge, discussion skills, and collaborative problem solving through peer critique, teacher check-ins, daily reflection, and a final Voices for Change Gallery where professionals and staff respond to their work.

Students will explain the anatomy and functions of the nervous system and analyze how a student-identified addiction or school-related problem affects brain and body systems. They will research how psychologists, counselors, and other healthcare professionals approach prevention, treatment, and support, using insights from a Pathful professional or school counselor interview to design and evaluate realistic solutions with trade-offs and constraints in mind. Students will collaborate in discussions, peer critique, and teacher check-ins to strengthen speaking, listening, and shared decision-making, then communicate accurate findings through a presentation and PSA poster for a public gallery walk. Through daily exit reflections and partner reflection before exhibition, students will also build self-management and academic mindset by tracking growth in content learning, teamwork, communication, and emotional awareness.

Students will create research notes and a problem-analysis organizer that connect a school-based addiction issue to nervous system anatomy, psychology, and possible interventions. Each team will also develop interview questions for a Pathful professional or school counselor, collect feedback from peer critique and teacher check-ins, and revise their ideas using a simple solution-evaluation tool. By the end, students will produce a brief presentation and a PSA poster with a QR code linking to their recorded message or digital resource. These products will be shared in a Voices for Change Gallery featuring posters, QR codes, and live mini-presentations for classmates, staff, counselors, and invited professionals.

Open with a brief “school problem scan” gallery walk in which students examine real or realistic scenarios about addiction-related challenges in a school community, then choose one issue they think matters most. Afterward, teams use a quick nervous system mapping routine to connect the issue to stress, reward, or decision-making, building on prior learning about nervous system anatomy and psychology careers. Introduce the driving question, then have students join a live or recorded Pathful professional or school counselor Q&A to hear how different mental health and healthcare professionals would approach the problem. Close with a short circle response where students name one new insight, one question they want to investigate, and one collaboration move they used.

Host a “Voices for Change Gallery” where student teams display their PSA posters, share QR codes or digital links to supporting media, and give 2–3 minute mini-presentations explaining the addiction issue, its effects on the nervous system, and proposed solutions. Invite classmates, staff, school counselors, and a Pathful professional to rotate through the exhibition, ask questions, and use a simple feedback form aligned to content accuracy, solution quality, and explanation of how different professionals would approach the problem. Build in a final presentation conference at each station so guests can score and comment on the work, then close with a brief reflection circle or exit response on one learning takeaway, one teamwork success, and one way students managed themselves during the project.