5th Grade & The Great American Challenge by Folasade

5th Grade & The Great American Challenge by Folasade - January 2025 Scholarship Essay

The Great American Challenge is a program in which students must recite the pledge of allegiance, Gettysburg Address, Preamble to the Constitution, and the names of the presidents in order. Students must be able to locate the states and capitals on a map in addition to writing the Pledge of Allegiance with correct spelling and punctuation. 5th grade me embarked on this journey along with the help of my teacher, Mr. Webber. I would wake up in the morning and watch video after video about American history. Instead of sleeping to lullabies, I slept to the methodical music of the presidents in order. All my hard work paid off when I was one of my first classmates to complete the challenge. For a while, it felt as if I had nothing to dedicate myself to.

After the rest of the class completed the challenge, we found ourselves yearning for another challenge. Mr. Webber was kind enough to institute the Great American Challenge Version 2, in which students expanded their knowledge about the world. One of the challenges was make a dish from a culture different to yours. Whenever a student brought in one of the dishes, they would give a brief description of the dish and pass it out for the class. Another challenge was to do research on a different countries customs and to compile the research into a presentation for the class. This challenge truly opened my eyes to the rest of the world.

These challenges inspired me to learn more about the world around me, and the people that function within it. In my current history class, we analyze documents to find how varying perspectives all come together to create a complete story. The Great American Challenge (specifically version 2) shaped the way I learn, and has provided me with the ability think of nuanced perspectives when referencing these documents. From this challenge, I learned how to embrace cultures other than my own. This skill will be forever useful, and I will always be thankful to Mr. Webber.