The 21-day challenge is a new challenge at McAuliffe Middle School that kicked off its first day on January 13 and just ended this week. Each day, students completed minor tasks for about four school weeks to help them stay fully charged throughout the day.

Inspired by Julie Adams’ challenge, which was designed to strengthen, encourage, and charge up people’s “batteries,” students completed small deeds, such as making their bed, interacting with fellow students, and writing down the top ten things they’re grateful for. These mini tasks will trigger a positive chemical reaction in your brain.

According to Adams, “When we have proper levels of dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA and endorphins, we greatly increase the likelihood that our brain and body will have the capacity to fire on all cylinders.” She believes this capacity will increase students’ ability to demonstrate the 5 C’s of leadership: competence, confidence, creativity, critical thinking, and compassion.

This challenge also focuses on people’s Maslow needs. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is organized into five categories in the shape of a pyramid. The base of the pyramid is our basic needs, which include physiological and safety needs. Right above the basic needs is people’s psychological needs, which include the categories of belongingness, love needs, and esteem needs. Self-actualization is the last category and it helps with our self-fulfillment needs. Just making sure we are satisfied with each category can drastically improve our day. 

S.E.E.D.S. is another major part of this 21-day challenge. S stands for sleep; teenagers need an average of eight to ten hours of sleep. E stands for exercise, and Adams recommends at least 20 minutes of exercise every day. The second E stands for efficiency; it is helpful for people to build knowledge and skills. D stands for diet. People must drink half of their body weight in ounces of water every day to maintain a healthy diet. Last but not least, S stands for socializing. Triggering smiles on at least three people can help you feel positive and happy as well. 

It has been successful following through and working on the challenges at McAuliffe so far. Each subject is assigned a day of the week, and students spend five to ten minutes on the “fully charged” tasks each day. 

Students and teachers have been enjoying this new challenge as well. An eighth-grade history teacher, Mr. Thomson, stated, “I like that it puts an emphasis on something besides academics and test scores and that it is about both staff and students, and anybody involved in it being a happier, healthier person.”

Just like Mr. Thomson mentioned, this challenge is helping everyone strive to be happier and healthier. Being fully charged is something everyone should keep in mind!