Adolescent alcohol use poses serious health risks, often due to poor awareness of safe drinking practices. BACtracker targets this challenge with a web application designed for young adults, which tracks Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and integrates educational tools to foster informed choices about alcohol consumption. Features include a self-care guide, resources on hazardous alcohol combinations, an emergency contact system, and an emotional tracker to correlate feelings with intake levels. This innovative approach not only educates users but also actively contributes to reducing alcohol-related incidents, enhancing safety and public health for young adults.

Contigo Chatbot is a lightweight web service that provides legal and social service recommendations to unaccompanied alien children in the U.S. In collaboration with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND), this WhatsApp-integrated chatbot serves 18-24 year-old clients in Maryland. Emphasizing informal, spontaneous conversations, the chatbot focuses on improving literacy of immigration steps and supports life transitions through contextual recommendations. Utilizing ChatGPT 4.0, Contigo can communicate in multiple languages and is centered around serving non-English resources to KIND’s Clients. Contigo amplifies KIND's efforts to provide resources to vulnerable populations at low cost and high utility.

Country Bookshelf, Montana’s largest independent bookstore, is located in the growing metropolis of Bozeman and for over 65 years has been a literary destination for locals and travelers alike. Country Bookshelf engages with its community in various ways, including book fairs with local schools. Before this project, Country Bookshelf had little in terms of concrete procedures and tools that could be referenced when hosting a book fair. The creation of a book fair handbook aims to build upon the successful book fair program that Country Bookshelf has been able to implement and guarantee continued opportunities for students, librarians, and booksellers.

This project focuses on establishing a partnership between Nellie Muir Elementary School and the Woodburn Public Library. Through the initiative titled "Bigfoot into Spring," a carefully designed Spring reading program is implemented with the goal of boosting participation rates and strengthening the connection between elementary students and the public library. This initiative addresses the challenge faced by the public library in effectively engaging with families of young children.

The global issue of hunger affects 309 million people, including 45 million children under 5, raising awareness is paramount. Our project introduces a custom island within Fortnite, where players can engage in fishing, farming, and exploring, mirroring real-world challenges. Through immersive gameplay, players can learn and think about the complexities of hunger exacerbated by factors like shortage of resources and water scarcity. The game will be incorporated into the school curriculum to educate students about Zero Hunger and will also be accessible to the public. Our project fosters empathy, empowering individuals to take tangible actions in the real world.

Grief is a unifying human experience that is notoriously hard to quantify and express. It is also highly contextual, shaped by our environments, identities, and relationships to the object of our grief. Research shows that reading fiction as bibliotherapy supports grieving children’s ability to express emotion, develop positive coping skills, make meaning, and heal. Unfortunately, grief in children’s fiction is inconsistently categorized, making it difficult to find resources that reflect specific grief experiences. Grieve with Me is a series of book lists that connect grieving children with fiction that depicts authentic representations of diverse identities, grief experiences, and healing narratives.

With the continuing rise of Artificial Intelligence, young students are especially vulnerable to misconceptions and misuse of AI. Many teachers are also unfamiliar with the new technology. How To Train You Chatbot is an online learning platform that introduces AI to middle school students. The website modules explain prompt engineering, fact-checking, and the ethical implications of interacting with AI. By using this platform, teachers can encourage critical thinking, prevent academic misconduct, and help students use platforms like ChatGPT to enhance their learning. As AI continues to evolve, our platform empowers students to build a mindful relationship with artificial intelligence.

Our Project in the Ballard High School Makerspace focused on planning passive crafting programming and workshops in collaboration with student-led groups. Acknowledging the need for self-led, simple crafts, that students can use to destress during lunch, we shifted focus to smaller, more accessible activities. We facilitated 12 successful lunchtime passive programming craft activities, which engaged 272 students. Collaboration with student groups guided our facilitation of in-depth workshops. We hosted workshops with three student organizations. Challenges included scheduling conflicts, materials acquisition, and skills transfer. Despite obstacles, our project enhanced student engagement and offered meaningful creative opportunities that spoke to student passions.

We examined the use of the Dewey Decimal System in a K-8 library, with the goal of increasing circulation of nonfiction materials. We provided our sponsor with an organizational framework she will use to reorganize the nonfiction section, as well as illustrated section signage and themed book kits. Our project proved that rethinking Dewey is a worthwhile endeavor, and encouraged Open Window School students to be part of the process of reimagining their library space.