Develop Global Youth Leaders in NYC and DC!

Dear Friend,

Global Kids Leaders hit the ground running when they got back from their winter holiday, and it’s full steam ahead for the rest of the school year! Here is what’s been going on since we last sent you some updates:

• As mentioned previously, we were thrilled to announce that two of our GK Leaders from New York City went to Paris, France for the United Nation’s Climate Change Conference (COP21) in late November. While there, they attended events featuring world leaders, participated in UNICEF’s #YouthPower event, toured the Climate Generations Area, and visited a class at Lycée Gustave Eiffel Vocational High School, where they spoke to French students about their climate change work. Here are the blog posts both GK Leaders published on the GK Tumblr page, in which they share their insights, inspirations, and experiences of being abroad and speaking out for the issues they believe in.

• In December, Global Kids held report-back events about the international trips students took to South Africa, Japan, and Haiti during Summer 2015. The students invited friends, family, peers, staff members, and Global Kids supporters for refreshments from the countries they visited, and held presentations about their travel experiences and reflections. The three groups remarked that traveling to a different country was an incredible way to gain knowledge about that country’s culture, heritage, and social issues, and they were excited to teach peers in their communities about what they learned while abroad.

• The students who went to Haiti in Summer 2015 are working diligently with their Haitian peers on their two documentary short-films about International Aid in Haiti and the Haitian/Dominican Conflict, which they are hoping to complete by the end of the school year. In the meantime, our partners in Haiti, Ciné Institute, created a video that gives a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of these documentaries. Check it out here!

• As we start to hear back from our Senior students about college acceptances, the underclassmen have been learning about their higher education options through our College & Career Readiness Program, and some were even able to take special college trips! During Martin Luther King, Jr. Day weekend in January, 37 GK Leaders from New York City took an overnight college trip to Washington, DC. While there, they toured Georgetown University and Howard University, met up with their Global Kids peers in Washington, DC, and participated in a march for peace commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In February, 19 GK Leaders traveled upstate to tour SUNY Albany. They also had the incredible opportunity to visit the NY State Assembly, met with their local Assembly Members, and were even introduced to the entire Assembly while it was in session!

• One of the most dynamic and energetic activities during the Spring semester for GK Leaders is always Conference Planning! To be held at Baruch College on April 8, 2016, the GK Annual Youth Conference will bring together over 600 youth and educators to discuss important social issues that are affecting the world today. GK Leaders chose the timely theme of Immigration and Migration, and both the New York City and Washington, DC cohorts have been working hard on creating, preparing, and practicing interactive workshops that they will be facilitating at the conference. Fifty-seven of the NYC students also went on a Conference Planning Retreat to Camp Ramapo in Rhinebeck, NY during spring break, where they continued to plan and refine the big event that is drawing near!

As always, all of this incredible work that our GK Leaders are doing could not be possible without the support of friends such as yourself. You truly make a difference in each of our students’ lives, and, through your generous donations, provide them with opportunities that they would otherwise not have access to. Thank you for cheering on our youth and believing, like we do, that they have the power to make an impact in the world!

Sincerely,

Ana Sofia