Choose2Matter is a start-up founded by my good friend Angela Maiers, a former teacher well known for her TedXDesMoines speech; Jennifer Bowden, also a former teacher; and Mark Moran, creator of SweetSearch.
Choose2Matter challenges people to accept that they matter and to contribute their unique genius to solve the world’s problems.
The Company is sponsoring the Quest2Matter, which invites students to share their ideas and actions for solving problems that have meaning to them.

Here are four reasons your students should join the Quest2Matter:

1. Students want to matter.
For all the talk about student engagement, what really matters is that students believe they matter – that their actions have consequence. When they do, they think that school matters. Watch this amazing video of Angela Maiers asking students at a #140conference what they want most from their teachers.

2. Share Your Students’ Genius
The Quest2Matter offers platforms for students to share, with the web and the world, the actions they have taken, or ideas they have, to change our world. This is a way to take hallway displays, badges and ribbons and magnify them dramatically. In addition to posting all of the quests in a database, the Company will highlight many of them on its blog and on partner websites.

3. Authentic Learning
The Quest2Matter challenges students to solve real-world problems, which by definition requires that they use relevant, real-life skills.

4. Learning from Mentors
Some entrants will have the opportunity to be mentored by members of the Business Innovation Factory (“BIF”), a community of the world’s leading entrepreneurs and innovators. Three students will have the opportunity to share their quests onstage at the BIF Summit in Providence, RI in September. Another student will be honored with the first Bammy Award for Student Initiative in Washington, D.C. in September.

Click here to learn more about the Quest2Matter.