Before the schools were selected to attend the camps (Phase 1), the ETA has to send an application of what is the social issue they want to address and why they want to be part of the CLICK! 5.0 program. US Embassy then will select 30 best proposals to attend the camp. This year, the team allocation for each camp are 11 teams in Perak Camp, 11 teams in Kelantan Camp and 8 teams for Sabah Camp. Upon selected, the ETAs will then be required to form a team that consists of their goodself who will be the mentor, 5 students’ age between 14 to 16 years old and 1 local teacher advisor that will chaperone the team as well as involved in the project implementation later.

During the 3D2N camps (Phase 1), students were educated on social entrepreneurship, youth leadership, personal development and English language development. Under the guidance of social entrepreneurship facilitators, students with their mentors work closely in identifying their community most pressing social issues, ideate on key solutions, learn interview techniques, build prototype, fund raising and develop a business model. On the last day of the camp, each team will pitch their idea to a panel of notable judges to be the top three teams in the camp. These top three teams will receive RM 300 seed funding, Canon Ixus 175 Digital Camera, trophies and participation certificates whereas the remaining team receives RM 200 seed funding and participation certificate. There are also a Most Proactive Team trophies that was given to the school that displayed excellent discipline and active participation through the camp. By the end of the camp, each team will have a solid business plan and ready to enter the program Phase 2.

During the Phase 2, each team will implement their project for 8 weeks under the supervision of their mentor with help from the Teacher Advisor. The team will create a Facebook page and required to do weekly updates on their project progress. They will share a write-up together with pictures to describe what they did every week. At the end of the implementation period, each team will submit a narrative report and post a 3-min video highlighting their project impact, financial breakdown and project outcome. 6 finalist teams will be chosen based on the narrative report, 3-min video effectiveness, weekly Facebook update, total Facebook page like and total 3-min video like.

After completion of Phase 1 (3-Day Camp) and Phase 2 (8-week Implementation Period), top 6 teams were selected among 30 participating teams nationwide. The finalist teams will showcase their amazing project at the Grand Finale which was held from 7th and 8th September 2016 at Sunway University, Kuala Lumpur. The 6 finalist teams eventually selected are SMK Tunku Sulong (Kedah), SM Islam Al-Amin (Selangor), SMK Pak Badol (Kelantan), SM Islam Al-Amin (Terengganu), SMK Sungai Damit (Sabah) and SMK Kota Belud (Sabah).

The Grand Finale started with opening remarks by the Project Director, Nadzatul Shima Jaafar. Immediately after that was the Pitching Competition where each teams was given 10 minutes to present on their project impact followed by 5 minutes question and answer session with the judges. The notable judges for this year was Nurfarini Daing, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MyHarapan, Gayatri Rajamohan, Program Manager (Academy) of Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) and Rezuan Ahmad, Assistant Director of Academic Management Sector, Ministry of Education (MoE). The event was also graced by Mr. Walter Douglas, Deputy Assistant Secretary of States for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy and for Regional and Security Policy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the U.S. Department of States in Washington D.C.

After a short break, the Closing Ceremony began with closing remarks by Shane Choo, Executive Director of LEAD Institute, followed by Mr. Michael Cavey, Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer of U.S. Embassy. Afterwards, token of appreciation was presented to the dedicated judges, sponsors and partners.

Team “The leaders” from SMK Pak Badol, Kelantan was crowned as the champion with the project of helping low-income students afford their school’s tuition fee. First Runner Up was Team “Zenith” from SM Islam Al-Amin, Selangor that address low English proficiency among indigenous community nearby their hometown. Second Runner Up was Team “Dream Makers” from SMK Tunku Sulong, Kedah who tackle littering issues in their community by doing educational campaign on recycling.

All six teams received amazing prizes such as CLICK! trophy and Canon printer, and the Top 3 Winning Teams were awarded with Sunway University bursaries that altogether worth RM 285,000.00.

Later, there was a Networking Reception where the participants had a chance to mingle with the partners and sponsors such as Sunway Education Group, Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE), Ministry of Education (MoE), State Education Officers, MyHarapan and Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC).

On the second day of the event, participants underwent a career talk with Sunway University to better understand their future life after SPM which was conducted by Dr. Sim Tze Ying, Head (Academic), Centre for American Education, Sunway University. Later, they were brought to the Microsoft Corporate HQ Office at Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC) where they were briefed on what it is like to have a career in technology industry followed by exploration at Petrosains Centre. They fly off to their hometown later part of the evening.

Positive and encouraging feedbacks were recorded from students as they felt that the program had help improve their English language as well as increase their self-confidence. The ETAs and teacher advisor also expressed that the camp curriculum and environment is fresh yet engaging at the same time. 

CLICK! 5.0 had achieved its objective of empowering rural and semi-urban high school students in bringing positive impact in their own community. 30 social projects was recorded and over 15,000 lives were impacted nationwide. The U.S. Embassy and LEAD Institute hopes that more youth will be inspired and take up the challenge of being their own community heroes.