WAC - Tips for Students

Tips on how to form a Challenge team

If you are interested in forming a WAC team at your school, here are a few steps you can take:

• Talk to your friends and classmates about the Challenge and find at least 4 other people who want to be on a team with you
• Talk to your social studies teacher, principal or other teacher at your school about being a coach. If no one at your school is interested in coaching your team, please contact World Savvy and we’ll help you find a volunteer coach
  Note: If you are in High School, you are not required to have an adult coach; however, an adult coach is required for middle school.
• Set a date, time and location for the first meeting and get the word out
• Once you have formed a team, be sure to register by the deadline

Support during Research Phase

World Savvy offers 5 hours of research support from a Research Advisor during the preparation phase of the Challenge program. The Research Advisor is reachable by e-mail and can assist you in narrowing your topic, finding resources, or coming up with your thesis (though they won’t just give it to you! They will help you think through some of the issues you’re stuck on). We also provide your coach with a Resource Guide that is full of great sources of information as well as a coach handbook to help you manage your time and prepare for all four Challenge events.

Ideas for the Formal Presentation

The best advice we can give you is do your research and be creative!

It is important that you spend a good amount of time researching your topic in depth and look at multiple viewpoints and address them in your presentation. Think critically about the information you come across and filter out the most important facts and opinions you find to help support your argument. Be sure your presentation is international (not just focused on a single country) and proposes a solution to the issue you are discussing.

Your presentation should be creative in order to grab the Judges’ attention. Some possible formats for the presentation include:

• Skit
• Mock Trial
• Newscast
• Song or Rap
• Dance
• Puppet Show

Tips on preparing for the Global Awareness Quiz and CQ

• Read the newspaper everyday (or at least a few times a week)
• Regularly visit news sites on the web. Some possible sites include:
  • http://news.bbc.co.uk/
  • http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/
  • http://www.cnn.com/
  • http://www.guerrillanews.com/
  • http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/
  • www.newzcrew.org
• Talk to you friends and parents about current global issues
• Take practice quizzes (link to new page where we can post practice quizzes)and review past CQs (link to past CQs on program page)