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  Fall 2012
As we kick off a new school year, GK celebrates the success of our summer learning programs. We sent 31 GK Leaders abroad for life-changing  experiences, assisted over 110 youth in meaningful workforce development and employment programs, trained 28 students in new digital tools to share their vision of the world, and graduated 80 young people from our intensive foreign policy and environmental institutes in New York and D.C.

Youth Produce Documentary Series Exploring Life in Haiti  

 

Fourteen Global Kids students traveled from Washington, D.C. to Jacmel, Haiti this August and, in partnership with Cin� Institute and Haitian peers, created four short documentary films exploring issues affecting youth in Haiti. Emmy Award winning filmmaker Jonathan Stack led a workshop for the Global Kids Leaders, who then spent one week interviewing community members on issues such as employment, water, security, and education. Below is a behind the scenes video of the student's creative process:

Behind the Scenes: Global Kids & Cine Institute Documentary Series in Haiti
Behind the Scenes: Global Kids & Cin� Institute Documentary Series in Haiti

The group also visited the newest Partners in Health hospital in Caprofors and partnered with World Water Relief to learn about their water access project in Mirebalais. The trip, organized with FILSECCAM, was the culmination of GK's Global Gateways Summer Institute, a six-week program that exposes D.C. high school students to foreign policy issues. The program began with a month-long foreign affairs institute at Howard University's Bunche International Affairs Center and included placement at D.C. area internships for ten students who did not travel to Haiti. 

Teens Devise Geocaching Treasure Hunt to Spark Debate During Presidential Election

GK's Geocaching program, funded by the Hive Learning Network, uses treasure hunt and technology to teach students about public-policy issues.

Students in GK's new Race to the White House Geocaching Program have created a public treasure hunt on the topic of the 2012 elections using mobile devices equipped with GPS technology. The youth printed GPS-linked "travel bugs" (metal tags) with questions related to public policy issues. They then hid the bugs in public locations and posted the coordinates online for other geocachers to find. Players from around New York could vote on the importance of each issue by choosing to physically move the bug closer to, or farther from, the White House, and writing about why they made that choice on Global Kids' OLP website.

 

The students selected policy issues ranging from internet censorship to college tuition costs. In response to one bug on gun control laws, a geocacher wrote, "As a Retired NYPD Detective I know first hand the gun problem in NYC. Having good gun control laws is a start. We must have follow-up in the judicial system. Good gun laws will lower crime; however, we must enforce them and show people that violence with a unlicensed gun will not be tolerated." The students plan to monitor the response to their challenge and the location of the bugs as we get closer to the election. 

George Stephanopoulos Visits U.S. in the World Program at CFR  

Global Kids' award-winning U.S. in the World Summer Institute was thrilled to welcome ABC News' Chief Political Correspondent and Good Morning America co-host, George Stephanopoulos, to the Council on Foreign Relations on August 7th to discuss his career in government and journalism. Stephanopoulos has been a member of Global Kids' Advisory Board for over 15 years. He fielded questions from GK youth on everything from the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo to the inner workings of the Clinton and Obama administrations. The U.S. in the World program brings thirty New York City high school students to the Council on Foreign Relations for three intensive weeks each summer. Students engage in leadership development activities, interact with leading experts on global issues through roundtable discussions, and travel to top international institutions. Graduates of the program conduct peer education projects during the school year. 

Youth Travel to DC to Lobby for a

GWQ in DC
Students meet Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney on the steps of Congress
Greener Queens 

Youth activists from GK's first Environmental Justice Institute traveled to Washington, D.C. in July to meet with key policymakers to discuss energy policy, the Clear Air Act and issues affecting their communities. The students had just completed three weeks of training in advocacy, public policy, direct action and environmental issues, as well as ways to green Western Queens.  The Institute, sponsored by the Greening Western Queens Fund and hosted by the Greater Astoria Historical Society, brought together youth from William Cullen Bryant High School and Long Island City High School.  During their trip to D.C., students met with Congressman Joseph Crowley, union representatives from the AFSCME, and representatives from the offices of Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. According to 14-year-old Leslie Cano, "This experience makes me realize that my voice can and will be heard. I'm looking forward to making real changes in Queens." The teens plan to continue building support for their campaign throughout the coming year.

Bardoli Scholars Visit Costa Rica

This August, 10 GK Bardoli Global Scholars traveled to Costa Rica for three weeks of intensive language study, environmentally themed service projects, and unique cultural exchange opportunities with the Barrio Jesus de Santa Barbara community. Their transformative journey was made possible through a partnership between Global Kids, OneWorld Now! and NC4GE funded by the State Department. The Bardoli Global Scholars Program is an 18-month program that emphasizes the development of leadership skills and cross-cultural dialogue through study abroad opportunities and service-learning projects. The group, which was forced to suspend their original plans to travel to Kenya following security concerns, hopes to regroup next summer for a second journey abroad together.

Jeraine Robinson completed her internship at a VillageCare medical clinic.

Career Initiatives  

Over 100 students from Transit Tech High School and Wingate Campus High Schools participated in Career Initiatives, GK's six-week career readiness program funded by the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development. Youth attended weekly career development trainings, received counseling and support from staff, and were matched with partner sites around the city for paid employment opportunities. This year's partner sites included the Brooklyn Supreme Court, the Innocence Project, VillageCare and Medgar Evers College. Approximately twenty students in the program were matched with Global Kids for their career readiness experience. These students designed and implemented hands-on service learning projects in their communities, met with guest speakers, and participated in educational field trips around the city.

Virtual Video Project
Rio+20 - The Future We Want
Watch the film "Rio+20 - The Future We Want" produced by GK youth working in the virtual world of Second Life 

With support from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Global Kids' Virtual Video Project (VVP) taught fourteen teens to address global issues through virtual worlds and filmmaking. The program trained the youth in film production and helped them develop skills such as storyboarding and script writing in order to create socially conscious, original stories about global issues. The youth then transformed these stories into machinima films within the virtual world of Second Life. This year, VVP students created a film about climate change as part of GK's yearlong focus on environmental issues. Watch the final product above or learn more about their process here. 

GK Sets Up Shop in Two New Middle Schools! 

Global Kids is thrilled to be offering new programs in two middle schools this coming school year. We are now operating at the School for International Studies in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn and School for Human Rights on Wingate Campus in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Global Kids staff will facilitate leadership, digital media, and health and wellness programs, all with a global perspective.

25 Students Say Thank You!

GK would like to thank everyone who contributed to our "$25 for 25 students" campaign. Because of you, 25 young people were able to travel to Haiti and Costa Rica this summer to explore  their world and express their voices. 

In This Issue:
Global Gateways
Geocaching
U.S. in the World
Greening Western Queens
Bardoli Global Scholars
Career Initiatives
Virtual Video Project
Two New Middle Schools
Thank You
Student Spotlight:

Maya Faison


Not many high school students have a resume noting they serve on the Board of Directors for a nonprofit, or a weekday routine that requires a 5:30 wake-up call in order to travel two hours to get to school. These are just some of Maya's responsibilities, and she happily accepts them. Maya is smart, approachable, and warm. She is driven and poised for success. With a full schedule and a handful of extracurricular activities competing for her time, Maya has maintained a 3.1 GPA throughout high school and at 16 years old, her dreams are fueled by a passion to work for the United Nations or UNICEF.  

   


Student Spotlight:
Dave Syfrain


"I want to get a letter out to the government about stopping the production of fossil fuels."

This is one of Dave's answers to the question, "What are the three most important issues in the news to you right now?" Dave is 17 years old and a senior at Paul Robeson High School in Brooklyn. He joined Global Kids in his sophomore year, after a friend encouraged him to try it out.  Prior to Global Kids, he says, "I would just sit at home after school, watch television and play video games." Dave has since participated in GK's Human Rights Activist Program (HRAP), Undesirable Elements, and Digital Xpressions. His involvement in Global Kids also led him to join the Brooklyn College Program at Paul Robeson and Youth Organizing to Save our Streets (YO S.O.S.), a youth development program in Brooklyn.

 

Click to learn more and visit GK's photo slideshow of Dave. 

   

2012-2013 GK School Sites  

Bell Multicultural High School, Columbia Heights Educational Campus, Washington, D.C.  

Curtis High School, Staten Island 

 

Edward Reynolds West Side High School, Manhattan
 
Friendship Collegiate Academy, Washington, D.C.
 
High School for Global Citizenship, Brooklyn 

High School for Medical Professions, Brooklyn 

 

High School for Public Service, Wingate Campus, Brooklyn

International Arts Business School, Wingate Campus, Brooklyn 

 

John Adams High School, Queens 

Long Island City High School, Queens 

 

 Maya Angelou Public Charter School, Washington, D.C.    


M.S. 391, Bronx 

Paul Robeson High School, Brooklyn 

 

School for Democracy & Leadership, Wingate Campus, Brooklyn 

School for Human Rights, Wingate Campus, Brooklyn 

 

School for International Studies, Brooklyn 

Transit Tech High School, Brooklyn 

 

William Cullen Bryant High School, Queens 

 

William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School, Washington, D.C.
Global Kids, Inc.

137 East 25th St.  l  2nd Floor  l  New York, NY 10010
info@globalkids.org  l  212.226.0130  l  www.globalkids.org

 

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