News Detail
Coffee and Elephants
by Brie Johnson and London Rhodus (Class of 2023)
We drink coffee every morning, and we were shocked to learn our daily caffeine boost might be hurting our favorite animals.
We drink coffee every morning, and we were shocked to learn our daily caffeine boost might be hurting our favorite animals.
At first, we wanted to solve the ivory trade crisis surrounding elephants. However, after some preliminary research, we learned that many major coffee corporations are killing elephants and destroying their habitats through their coffee farms. We drink coffee every morning, and we were shocked to learn our daily caffeine boost might be hurting our favorite animals.
Throughout the past few months, we have continued to finalize our research and now we are beginning our brainstorming process. We learned so much through the empathy-building process, giving us the opportunity to meet with coffee professionals and elephant experts from the zoo. From learning how coffee transforms from the bean to the tasty drink that so many people love, to how elephant migration patterns work, we created a solid foundation for our project.
We most recently came up with some solutions to our issue, and we are really excited to develop our elephant-friendly coffee brand. Coming up with our solutions was a high-energy and very exciting experience. Using the design thinking process, we came up with really big and crazy ideas! With imaginative prompts like “How could you solve your problem with one million dollars?” we created the initial ideas for our problem.
None of this would have been possible, however, without our “how might we” statement. Our statement was the foundation for our big idea: how might we make saving elephants as necessary as getting your daily dose of caffeine? We look forward to the rest of this process, and we even hope to continue our project long after zoo class is over. So far this has been a life-changing experience, and we know we will take the skills we learn in the classroom into our futures.
The Hockaday School
Within the private school community, The Hockaday School is an independent college-preparatory day school for girls from grades PK–12 located in Dallas, Texas. Students realize their limitless potential through challenging academic curricula, arts, athletics, and extracurricular programs so that they are inspired to lead lives of purpose and impact.
The Hockaday School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, creed, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational, admissions, financial aid, athletic, and other policies and programs.
The Hockaday School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ethnicity, creed, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its educational, admissions, financial aid, athletic, and other policies and programs.