HILTON, N.Y. — Sixth graders at Northwood Elementary School in Hilton are finding ways to inspire others and to make positive changes in the community.

On Tuesday, the students shared their "Power of One" projects.

The students spent weeks researching various issues and developing action plans to try to make a positive impact on the community. The projects tackled tough topics like bullying, childhood obesity, homelessness and gender inequality.

Tanner Murphy shared his personal experience for his project. He was adopted from Vietnam when he was two and had surgery for a cleft palate. 

He helped raise awareness about it and raised more than $500 for the medical charity Operation Smile, which provides free cleft surgeries for children in developing countries. 

"I saw all the kids around the world who do not have the money to fix their cleft palate and that is really kind of stressful to me to know that their are kids are around the world who get bullied and are hurt because of their cleft palate. That is terrible and I wanted to do something about that," Tanner said.

The goal of Power of One is to show students that they can make a positive impact on the world. 

Northwood is an International Baccalaureate school that educates students to become good global citizens.