Chaffey College has awarded thousands of dollars in prizes in a state competition that challenges community college students to identify urgent community problems and eventually find solutions.

Students formed teams and collaborated to identify urgent problems in their local communities, submitted proposals and created presentations for a panel of judges. The college invited six teams to present their ideas to the panel, which included business owners and community leaders.

Three $2,000 prizes went to teams that focused on mental health, chronic absenteeism caused by mental health challenges, and the impact of food waste. Chaffey awarded $500 prizes to teams who identified transportation, access to filtered water and homelessness as significant community problems.

The winners participated in a competition through Solve Community Challenges (SolveCC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to equipping students with innovative problem-solving skills, the ability to turn ideas into reality and exercise their entrepreneurial mindset.

Grace Lindstrom, a Chaffey High School junior and a Chaffey College dual enrollment student, spoke about how bullying impacted her attendance at school, and how schools should find ways to improve outreach between counselors and students missing classes. Her mother, Kelli Lindstrom, worked with her on the project, “Team Pugnacious Problem Solvers.”

“Getting children back to school should be a community priority, not just a school priority,” she said.

Winning teams will present solutions to their problems in a second presentation slated for spring 2024.

“Chaffey College gives students from diverse backgrounds a chance to engage in hands-on learning, discover their passions, generate ideas and acquire important knowledge and critical skills. These winning teams showcased the power of collaborative problem-solving and leadership to make significant changes in the world around them,” said Chaffey College Superintendent/President Henry D. Shannon.