Quabbin students pilot ‘Me in 30’ program to build confidence and discipline

Luke, a high-school student presenter, told the Quabbin Regional School District School Committee that the student-led program “Me in 30” aims to “give students confidence to chase and achieve their goals.” The group described a five-week pilot with 21 student representatives and student instructors running weekly improvement sessions and daily challenges for sophomores.

The program pairs brief weekly lessons with a daily set of challenges: waking at 5:30 a.m., 45 minutes of exercise, daily reading, one act of kindness and submitting assignments on time. Students track participation with a shared “challenge tracker” and take an eight-question Google form at the start and again two weeks after the pilot to measure self-reported confidence and related outcomes.

Colleen, a district administrator who introduced the item to the committee, described the current version as an iteration of earlier student-led pilots and said the initiative has moved from broader early attempts to a more focused, five‑week challenge for sophomores. “I want you to know that this is not Luke’s first iteration,” she told the committee, noting prior pilots and refinements.

Student presenters and committee members described classroom and extracurricular benefits. Luke said the program complements the district’s social-emotional learning (SEL) work by adding a peer-led, hands-on component: “SEL is great for what it’s trying to do, but I think Me in 30 … meets that because each week … reinforces every single week that you can be who you want to be.” Committee members suggested ways to sustain the work, including a community-service or community-project component to keep participants engaged between challenge cycles.

Speakers discussed scaling the project to other grades and noted potential logistics. The pilot targets sophomores because the district’s existing programs leave that grade “left hanging,” one presenter said; committee members proposed adapting elements for middle school advisories or linking participation to community-service hours. Staff said the pilot is a case study intended to be refined before broader rollout.

Presenters also described early outcomes: some individual students who completed challenges and weekly sessions showed improved engagement and confidence, and the team plans to collect video testimonials and further tracking data. The presenters said they had fielded external startup feedback—one pitch program told them the idea may not be commercially viable—but the presenters and committee emphasized the district’s focus on student benefit rather than profit.

Next steps discussed at the meeting included sharing the presentation materials with the committee, collecting additional student testimonials and planning a community-based project after the pilot. Committee members encouraged candid after-action feedback from participants and advisers to shape future iterations.