8th Grade Global Workshop: Learning to be Active Global Citizens
As part of their House curriculum, the 8th grade recently engaged in a full day, in-school, workshop to learn about global poverty and humanitarian issues. One of the goals of Global Concerns Classroom (GCC) -- which is part of Concern Worldwide (www.concernusa.org) -- is to inspire youth to become active global citizens and to raise awareness of current international issues in US secondary schools. These workshops encourage students to think critically and explore new perspectives on world issues.
Dalton's workshop began with a keynote address on Global Concerns efforts in Haiti. Afterwards, students were introduced to the projects they would be working on in groups in House. Once students gathered, they explored issues/problems related to a specific country and then decided how best to allocate “funds” to help alleviate one or more issues/problems.
At the end of the day, students convened in the theater to present their proposals. Representatives of GCC judged the proposals and later commented on the creative, yet thoughtful, solutions proposed.