Story Search Results

Advanced Search

There are so many ways to search the solutions journalism stories in this database. Explore our searchable fields:

Search Results

You searched for: -

There are 175 results for your search. View and Refine Your Search Terms

The Sea Creature That Saved a School (How Lobsters Are Keeping Students in School)

Tanya Paperny

December 11, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Deer Isle, Maine

Deer Isle, Maine, struggled to keep students in school; many students felt that a diploma was unnecessary, since they could drop out and join the lobster fishing industry. But the local high school found a creative solution to keep students engaged and ensure more opportunities in what can be a volatile industry. They redesigned courses to suit the interests of students, moving to project-based learning that explores traditional academic topics through fishing and marine themes, such as studying geometry through boat building. The approach has helped increase graduation rates by more than 30 percent.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How Cubans Live as Long as Americans at a Tenth of the Cost

James Hamblin

November 29, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Cuba

Cuba spends $813 per person annually on health care and provides better care than the U.S., which spends $9,403 per person annually. In the Cuban health care system, doctors use regular checkups to identify at risk patients and give them preventive care, requiring more doctors and personalised care but saving the system money with fewer emergency visits.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Canada's Successful Drive to Educate Its Indigenous Students

Jon Marcus

November 23, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Canada

In Canada, just under ten percent of indigenous adults hold university degrees. Canadian universities are working to make college campuses more welcoming to indigenous communities that have historically been subject to forced and often abusive assimilation in the name of "education." Administrators are incorporating indigenous-focused courses into the curriculum, adding an admissions counselor for indigenous applicants, and creating cultural centers for indigenous students. While many barriers remain, one university has seen a 40% increase in indigenous enrollment since implementing changes in 2011.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A Program That Gives Undocumented Grandmas Childcare Credentials

Ann Schimke

November 09, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Colorado

Providers Advancing Student Outcomes, or PASO, is run by Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition and helps early childcare providers learn critical skills to enhance children's socio-emotional skills. Many of the participants are undocumented and therefore work under the radar without special training.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A Renewable Energy Revolution in Small-Town America

Nicolas Pollock Deborah Fallows James Fallows

November 03, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Video |

5-15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Spearville, Kansas

Small towns across America are leading the shift towards renewable energy. Part of a series called "American Futures", this video visits Kansas, Pennsylvania, and California to learn more about green initiatives in biofuel, wind, and solar power. Although each solution is different, each are a new way of generating income for the residents of the towns and often comes with societal acceptance as well.

Read More
Go to Original Story
Kindergarten in the Great Outdoors

Timothy D. Walker

September 15, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: Finland

Some European schools have long championed free play in the woods as a way to combat the increasingly mainstream idea of "nature-deficit disorder." In Finland, enthusiastic teachers dedicate all of Friday to outdoor "secret" education - students don't even realize they are learning academic lessons. Inspired by these models, scattered American schools are experimenting with the idea, with some finding reductions in bullying and improvements in test scores and focus issues.

Read More
Go to Original Story
An Innovative Casino Scheme Helps Re-Build a Troubled Industrial City

James Fallows

September 11, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Multi-Media |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Erie, Pennsylvania

Erie, Pennsylvania transforms standard casino revenue into community development funds to jumpstart the city's urban and economic planning. An innovative initiative sets aside a percentage of revenue for city-wide development programs including a tech-startup initiative and youth summer jobs program.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How an ambitious arts program gives a tiny city an outsized identity

Deborah Fallows

September 09, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Eastport, Maine

Creating spaces for art and artists to thrive can have a positive impact on a city’s economy. By converting disused buildings into studio spaces and galleries for artists, the Tides Institute and Museum of Art (TIMA) in Eastport, Maine, has made arts and culture a crucial component of the city’s character. In addition to TIMA’s Studioworks initiative, many of the city’s residents are actively engaged in festivals and other activities that attract tourism.

Read More
Go to Original Story
A New Place to Calm Mental Distress

Leah Todd Lin

September 07, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Alamosa, Colorado

ERs are often ill-equipped to handle mentally ill patients and cause them more stress than they do help, furthermore, these recurring patients are costly. Mi Esperanza, a wellness center in CO, reduces unnecessary and counterproductive ER visits while providing those who are suffering a crisis a calm environment with talk therapy, and life coping strategies.

Read More
Go to Original Story
How to Beat Dengue and Zika: Add a Microbe to Mosquitoes

Ed Yong

August 08, 2016 |

The Atlantic |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: Australia, Cairns

The dengue virus is spread by mosquito and infects 400 million people every year with no vaccine or successful treatment. Scientists have started to inject mosquitoes with a bacteria they have found to stop the virus to prevent and control the spread of dengue. Trials have shown success in Australia, so the project is in the process of scaling to other countries that have dengue more widespread, and new experiments will begin on whether it can effectively stop the spread of the Zika virus.

Read More
Go to Original Story