Student Engagement

Each year, students across our organization participate in many different activities. Below is a list of common activities we create or encourage our students to participate in, regardless of which class they take. Check back often to ensure you always have the most up-to-date information on the events and activities you want to participate in.

food drive

Annual Winter Food Drive

The 2024 IEProgram Food Drive starts Monday, December 2, and runs through Friday, December 20. The Food Drive is an annual tradition that brings thousands of pounds of food, supplies and money to local Food Banks and Cultiva, our humanitarian partner, each year.  We hope everyone will participate and get involved.

What to Do

  • Decide how to participate.
  • Gather food and/or money for your local Food Bank or fundraise for Cultiva.
  • Monetary donations to your local Food Bank are great. Food Banks are often able to stretch the money farther and they welcome donations.  Any money you collect and donate is counted as $0.15 = 1 pound.
  • Go to it! The Food Drive lasts 3 weeks, but you can only work on it up to 10 of those days so you don’t spend all your time collecting food/money.  
  • When you finish your Food Drive, weigh your donation using guidelines in the FAQ's for adjusted pounds.
  • Report your totals in class.
  • Take a picture and send to admin@ieprogram.org (not required, but we’d love to see your pictures.)
  • Take your donations to your local Food Bank. You can find instructions and locations with a Google search.

The Class Competition

Besides benefitting your local Food Bank and Cultiva, the Food Drive is a fun competition between students and classes. Classes compete for total donations based on food/money gathered divided by the number of students in the class. That means any class can win! A class won’t automatically win because they are bigger.

(NEW THIS YEAR) Individual student totals will count toward only one class. If a student is enrolled in more than one class, their donation will count toward the class where it will be added to their class with the highest pounds per student.

(NEW THIS YEAR) There will be winners in many categories this year including:

  • Overall Biggest Donation by Class
  • Biggest Donation by Elite/Advanced Class
  • Biggest Donation by Intermediate Class
  • Biggest Donation by Beginning Class
  • Biggest Individual Effort

 And everyone wins because we’ll be celebrating with the Food Drive Jingle & Jive – Dance and Games on Friday, December 20 from 7:00-10:00 at Canyon Grove Academy (588 W 3300 N) in Pleasant Grove.  Everyone who participated in the Food Drive and gathered at least 100 pounds of food or monetary dontations will get in free.  If you did not participate, you can still come and make a $15 donation to the Food Drive as your entrance fee.

Food Drive FAQ

  • Can I gather food all day, every day during the food drive?​

    No. Even though the food drive lasts for 3 weeks, you are only allowed to work on it for 10 of those days.​

  • How do I count and report my food bank donation numbers?

    1. Weigh your entire donation (including the special items). Sometimes you can do this at the food bank.

    2. Add or subtract based on the following:

    • 12-15 oz can of Meat (not Tuna)- Add 3 pounds
    • 12 oz can of Albacore Tuna- Add 1.5 pounds
    • 12 oz can of Chunk Light Tuna- Add 1 pound
    • 5 oz can of Albacore Tuna- Add .5 pounds
    • 20 oz Peanut Butter- Add 1 pound
    • 40 oz Peanut Butter- Add 2 pounds
    • 60 oz Peanut butter- Add 3 pounds
    • 7 Diapers- Add 1 Pound
    • 5 standard sized bottles of bottled water (or same size of soda)- Minus 2 pounds
    • Cash donations should be counted as $.15 = 1 pound (fifteen cents equals 1 pound)


    3. Report both the non adjusted pounds and the adjusted pounds on the donation form.

Mock Trial Camp

What is Mock Trial Camp?

Mock trial camp is a three day, intense, academic experience based on the Utah LRE Mock Trial annual competition.

Students are placed on teams with a team captain. Roles on the team will be distributed evenly (meaning that students try out being both an attorney and a witness) and team captains are chosen. Less experienced students are taught how to do mock trial by staff, team captains, and more experienced students.

Starting after lunch on day two, each team will go to trial 3 times. For the fourth trial, top performing students will be put into new teams in roles they haven't yet competed in during the camp for a final "Adapt or Die" trial. To conclude, top teams will be awarded and top competitors will be awarded. 

Why Go?

Mock Trial Camp is a great way to get introduced to mock trial, to learn about the legal system, to develop and sharpen your mock trial skills, to prepare for speech and debate classes in the coming year, or just to have a great academic/ social experience for the summer!

The 2024 Mock Trial Camp will be held from August 6-8, 2024. Registration is now open for participants.

Guatemalan Summer Humanitarian Trip

guatamala

The IEProgram is going to Panajachel, Guatemala to work with Cultiva International for a summer humanitarian educational experience. Come join us for this amazing adventure and wonderful learning experience. Growth happens when we are exposed to things that are outside of our comfort zone. This trip will definitely give you that opportunity.

The trip will be led by Sam Martineau. 

On this trip we will:

  • Learn how to do effective humanitarian work- we will work with Cultiva International to learn how to serve and help others in a sustainable way working side by side with the local Mayan community and experience real connection.

  • Use our opportunity to work in Guatemala to learn about complex issues like poverty, barriers to economic growth and opportunity, humanitarian work and its impacts, unintended consequences, etc.

  • Develop leadership skills- We will spend some time doing personal development and learning leadership skills that will help prepare you for future success and growth.

  • Learn about and connect with a different culture- We will take time to get to know and come to understand the communities in which we work. We will have the opportunity to visit some of the villages around Lake Atitlan and learn about their culture. This is a great way to see how others live and gain a new perspective and appreciation for the many modern conveniences we enjoy in the U.S.

  • Have fun adventures- We will be able to enjoy the beautiful nature and scenery of Guatemala by going zip lining through a nature reserve and spend some time on and in the beautiful lake.

And so much more...

For information on the 2025 Guatemala trip, click here.