At Howard T. Herber Middle School in Malverne, setting a bright future for ourselves is one of our main goals. Last year, our faculty launched a program to help us: Project Dream. We dedicate a period of our day once a month to Project Dream meetings. Each student is assigned to a team led by a Dream coach (teacher). Each team has nine students.

At our meetings, we discuss our grades, we talk about areas we are having trouble with, we set goals, and we review ways we can do better in school. This year, in honor of the Winter Olympics, Project Dream has been themed around the 2014 Games.

During each meeting, we write about our "Medal Moments." These moments help us recognize what we did well and what we can still improve on. Our coaches are there to help us where we need it most and congratulate us on what we have accomplished.

We love our monthly meetings, but our recent meeting was like no other. On Jan. 31, our school was in full Olympic spirit! The whole school participated in the Project Dream Olympic challenge. We first met with our coaches to review the game rules. We then had two hours to travel throughout the building with our teams to complete 20 challenges hosted by teachers in different classrooms. Each team had to work together to complete the tasks. After completing different tasks, like cup stacking, math puzzles, identify the object, match the flag to the country, estimate the gum balls, library scavenger hunt, name that tune, and even Guitar Hero, we were given stickers on a task card to show what we completed.

We then gathered in the auditorium for a showdown of the top two Guitar Hero champions, a medal ceremony for the gold, silver, and bronze winners, and final words of encouragement from our building leaders.

We hope this is a tradition that will live on in Malverne. The event brought everyone's spirits up, and allowed the teams to work together like never before. We think it was a success, and -- who knows? -- maybe we will have a Summer Olympics challenge, too!

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