At the International School of Indiana (ISI), students are encouraged to apply their classroom learnings to real-world situations. Grade 10 students in John Kurton and Susannah Miller’s Biology classes were invited to do just that by submitting classroom assignment videos to the World of 7 Billion video contest.  This yearly contest, first introduced in 2010, is sponsored by Population Education. It challenges students to come up with creative solutions to various global problems in a one-minute video. This year, World of 7 Billion received 2,274 video submissions from students in 44 countries and 49 U.S states and territories.  

Among the 2,274 students who submitted videos to World of 7 Billion were grade 10 students Karina Peate and Grace Kaneshiro. Both students submitted videos in the category of Strengthening Global Health and were chosen as finalists. In being chosen as a finalist, these videos went on to be judged by a panel of experts, which led to the students being formally acknowledged by the organization.

“Grade 10 students spent hours diving deeper into global health issues by researching in published journals and related articles,” Miller said. “Working independently, Karina and Grace worked beyond the classroom assignment to consolidate their vast research into engaging and creative one-minute videos.” 

Grace Kaneshiro earned an Honorable Mention in the Strengthening Global Health category for her work on her video titled “Watching the World.” Along with the publication of her name and video submission on the Strengthening Global Health winners webpage, a short profile on Grace and her academic journey was also published. As a result of her Honorable Mention, an achievement awarded to just two contest participants, Grace was awarded a $300 prize. “Watching the World” explains how surveillance of animal and human populations can help us identify diseases before “spillover” disease transmission occurs from animals to humans. The video can be viewed below.

Karina Peate’s video submission, titled “Reducing Mosquito-Borne Illness,” earned the Best in State award. On the State and International Winners webpage, Karina's name, along with the title of her video and school, was published. Along with this publication, World of 7 Billion also awarded Karina with an Amazon gift card. Her video, which explains how genetically modified mosquitos provide a solution to the reduction of zoonotic disease passed via mosquitos, can be viewed below.

“Many students in Biology classes created wonderful videos. Both of the contest videos submitted by these students deserved the accolades they received,” Miller said. “Their accomplishments are impressive and are a true testament of their learning.” 

This is not the first year that an ISI student has been awarded in a World of 7 Billion Student Video Contest. In 2017, current grade 12 student Charles Bruder was one of 2,733 students who entered. His video, “Worms: More Than Just Bait,” was submitted to the Preventing Pollution category and can be viewed via YouTube. Charles was one out of just 10 high school finalists in the world.