Two Étude High School freshmen took part in the Wisconsin Youth Institute in May, getting a high-level experience in global affairs. 

It started with an assignment in their environmental engineering class to choose a country and write a research paper about a problem and a solution in that country. The students were given the option of tying their research to food insecurity if they wanted to try for the institute, and both Charlie Hamm and Kai Mavity Maddalena did that.

It was a challenging assignment, especially for freshmen, said teacher Heather Cleveland.

“They seized this opportunity, which was exciting,” she said. “It was a bit of a stretch for what we did, tying it to food insecurity. That was hard.”

Hamm picked Argentina; specifically, how expansion is driving deforestation and how to develop a solution that allows for sustainability. Mavity Maddalena chose to write about how constant political upheaval in Somalia affects food insecurity and what reforms are possible. 

Both their papers were accepted to the Wisconsin Youth Institute, and on May 1 they traveled to the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Cleveland. 

“As they put it, it’s to raise awareness of global issues, expand how we think about global issues like starvation and malnutrition,” Mavity Maddalena said. “Specifically, looking at other nations that are either severely impacted or have unique aspects of the topic. 

Both students presented their research in small groups with other students from all over the state. Cleveland was tasked with leading one of those groups, but neither of her students were in her group. The presentations were very informal, with some students simply reading their papers, but Cleveland said the Étude students knew just how to handle the experience.

“The groups sat in a circle and talked about it,” she said. “The Étude  students especially are familiar with Exhibitions of Learning and how they work. They’re go-getters.”

After presentations, the students rotated among various departments within the College of Agriculture and Life Science for immersion activities

 Mavity Maddalena went to environmental engineering to learn about how surging demand in products affects local communities. For example, he said, they looked at how the quinoa boom of the early 2000s affected local communities in Peru. 

Hamm’s immersion activities were in corn breeding. While environmental engineering isn’t at the top of his list of interests, he said the experience was valuable. 

“I don’t have a lot of interest in agriculture or life sciences, but it was interesting to explore new solutions,” he said. “I was interested in the community-based solutions approach, because it’s something I’ve never really seen before. I just thought it was interesting to be open to a diverse range of topics.”

Because of their participation, both students earned recognition as Borlaug Scholars and qualified for additional opportunities.