Before Heritage Middle School began working with the Participate Learning team to connect lessons to real-world issues, the teachers and leadership had established a goal to encourage students to become more empathic about issues in their community. Although a handful of students and teachers who participated in the school's gardening club were learning about sustainability and hunger through the practice of gardening, such valuable lessons were isolated within that club. To integrate a focus on current issues into the schoolwide curriculum, the Heritage leadership team used Global Leaders -- a school-wide framework that emphasizes connections between local actions and global impacts. Then, something interesting happened: Students became not only more engaged in their school work and global issues but also excited about making changes to improve their community. The school also saw a 14.5% increase in attendance for students who previously had missed 10 or more days. The numerous initiatives spearheaded by students and teachers at Heritage (each inspiring the next) include eliminating plastic bag use in the cafeteria, reusing and recycling markers in the art room, and making the annual food drive more effective by researching what food the pantry actually needs.