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A device to restore the Parramatta River to a clear and pH-balanced waterway has seen named Secondary Champions at the 2025 Game Changer Challenger grand final.

The prospect of restoring the waterway on Dharug country did not faze the Parramatta High ‘pHixers’. Team members surveyed 324 people and researched the causes of river acidification before developing a filtration system using limestone to balance the pH of the river water.

Team member Arnav Verma said the project resonated with the pHixers “because we’ve grown up around this river and we do hope for solutions and results”.

The Game Changer Challenge is the Department of ����vlog����’s award-winning design thinking competition where student teams discover solutions for a real-world wicked problem by applying classroom learning.

This year’s wicked problem was ‘ensure sustainable futures for all’. The 2025 challenge was contested by 568 public school teams through round one, with 436 teams submitting a video in the Design Sprint stage, from which judges selected the 20 teams for the in the three-day grand final at Parramatta this week.

Parramatta High Year 9 student Shaurya Sharma said: “It was all about innovation; every day we were learning new things and adding to our ideas.”

This year’s Primary Champions, Mount Terry Public School in Albion Park, offered the Game Changer Challenge judges home-made chocolate brownies, alongside their research.

The brownies were an important ingredient in team ‘Fierce Futures’ pitch, made with ‘flour’ from crickets, which is high in protein, nutritious and can be used in place of wheat flour.

Year 6 team member Samuel Talevski was astounded when Fierce Futures was named the primary winner.

“Words can’t explain it. It’s an unreal feeling, I think it can only be understood by experiencing it yourself,” he said.

Chase Newell said the team connected well during the grand final. “What helped was learning how to work together better. Teamwork makes the dream work.”

For the second year, Kooringal High School in Wagga Wagga won the Prototype Award – with the same team members, this year called ‘ApeX Innovators’. South Grafton Public School’s ‘Plastic Tacklers’ won the Teamwork Award.

The Canva Force for Good Award was presented to ‘Sustainable Sloths’ from Oakhill Drive Public School. Cherrybrook Technology High School’s ‘Truth Seekers’ received the UNICEF Voice for Impact Award.

NSW Department of ����vlog���� Secretary Murat Dizdar said he was always impressed by the quality and variety of entries at the Game Changer Challenge.

“Congratulations to each of the 20 teams that made this year’s finals and a huge shout-out to the 568 teams from across the State that took part in the 2025 event,” he said.

“The Game Changer Challenge gives NSW public school students the opportunity to work with industry on real-world challenges in their communities and to stretch their critical-thinking skills.

“Every year I am in awe of the quality of problem-solving I witness at the grand final and am excited to see how the Game Changer Challenge continues to inspire excellence in our schools.”

Deputy Secretary Teaching Learning and Student Wellbeing, Martin Graham, thanked teachers for their time and support of students as they participated in the design thinking competition.

“All of us here are grateful to your teachers and I know they’re going to enjoy a well-earned rest after this,” he said.

“I also know it’s part of what they love to do, to see their students thrive and have these amazing ideas.

“After today, I do feel like the world will be a lot better when all of you are in charge.”

This year’s priority areas were Planet, People, Places and the wicked problem was inspired by United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Game Changer Challenge is supported by Principal Design Partner Canva, Industry Partners Winc., HP, Makedo, ABC ����vlog����, Arludo, Britannica ����vlog����, Return and Earn powered by TOMRA Cleanaway, UNICEF, ����vlog���� Perfect, Intel, EY, Google for ����vlog����, KPMG, Powerhouse, Substance Studio, NSW Health and Young Wisdom and event partner Novotel.