Nine SPPS Students Participate in America's Future Summit

Congratulations to nine SPPS students from four high schools who participated in the inaugural America’s Future Summit, hosted by Civic Bridgers.

The two-day youth leadership summit challenges high school teams to tackle pressing civic challenges — from clean energy to media polarization to school absenteeism — and pitch real solutions to a panel of civic leaders, with a $5,000 award for the winning team.

The winning team in the statewide pitch competition included students from Central High and Highland Park Senior High. Calling themselves the Climate Champions, team members Malin Moore, Cora Gentry, Ida Thoreen, and Emma Connelly developed a practical, community‑driven initiative to support local businesses in reducing energy costs, starting with a simple but high‑impact step: replacing traditional bulbs with LED lighting. Their proposal combines environmental stewardship with economic empowerment, focusing on small, immigrant‑owned shops that often face barriers to accessing energy‑efficiency programs.

The following students competed:

Central Senior High School

Malin Moore, Ida Thoreen

Highland Park Senior High School

Emma Connelly, Abigail Putz, Yusra Aden, Rahma Djama

Harding High School 

Keng Yang, Payton Yang

Como Park High School

Markayla Wilson

The summit, held during Civic Learning Week and offered in partnership with the YMCA and National Youth Leadership Council, convened student teams from across

Minnesota to compete in developing bold, realistic civic initiatives in three issue areas: clean energy, media polarization, and school absenteeism.