Stories From the Field
Wave 80
As part of the Global Educators Program, World Savvy seeks to connect partner schools with individuals, organizations and associations in the local community and beyond, creating bonds that are sustainable and reinforce the global culture of the school community. These individuals and organizations provide valuable opportunities for real-world learning and engagement for students, and enhance instruction in the classroom.
One of World Savvy's emerging Community Connections is Wave 80 Biosciences, a San Francisco-based up-and-coming biotech company. Wave 80 has been developing a cutting-edge diagnostic tool for detecting HIV, targeting use by developing communities in Africa, China and India. Their portable device is small and easy to use and will be the first to help healthcare providers conduct early-detection screening through a direct finger-stick blood draw.
Wave 80 has been working with several classrooms and teachers at International Studies Academy in San Francisco. Company founders Daniel Laser and Andrew Arsham and their VP of Global Health Products Laura Mazzola have each given classroom talks about their own career development as well as the work of the company. During an October 2009 visit, Laura Mazzola was fresh off the plane from a Gates Foundation conference in Tanzania where she had presented the new device to healthcare workers. Students at ISA got to hear first-hand about these developments, as well as what it means to study in the fields of biology, chemistry and mechanical engineering and then bring these disciplines together in a company that works to solve a problem in the world. Wave 80 volunteers plan to continue their engagement at the school with regular return visits and presentations. In addition, Andy Arsham will also be teaming up with teacher Alena Killpack to assist in developing and delivering new lessons for her AP Biology class.
Refugee Transitions
Middle school students at International Studies Academy (ISA) in San Francisco participated in the World Affairs Challenge for the first time this year. As part of ISA's school schedule, students participate in seminars, which meet for 1 ½ hours several Wednesdays a month, providing a unique opportunity for students to take electives. 12 students from grades 6 through 8 enrolled in a spring seminar devoted to the World Affairs Challenge. From this year's theme of Human Migration, ISA students decided to focus on refugees and particularly on the huge flow of refugees from Iraq, because of the Iraq War, creating a "brain drain" of Iraq's best and brightest who were needed to help rebuild the country. The students researched the issues and proposed solutions to bring home Iraq's refugees that would improve safety and security around the country, while also providing monetary incentives for professionals who returned home, such as doctors and engineers.
ISA's students made a strong showing at the 2009 World Affairs Challenge, but their engagement went beyond the day of the event. The students were so affected by what they learned that they decided to start a school-wide campaign to support refugees in the Bay Area. They researched issues faced by refugees who resettle in the Bay Area, where many of them are from, and organizations that are assisting Bay Area refugees. The students made informational posters, presented at a school-wide assembly, and held fundraisers to raise money for refugees. The students decided to support Refugee Transitions, which helps refugees to attain the English language, life, job, and academic skills they need to succeed in their new communities. World Savvy arranged for staff from Refugee Transitions to speak with the students and in just a few weeks, these middle school students raised $170 for Refugee Transitions.
21st Century Classrooms
This past school year marked the first year of World Savvy's new school partnership model. Five schools participated in order to increase the level of global issues integrated in curriculum across the school and to enhance a school culture of global education and awareness: Philip and Sala Burton Academic High School, International Studies Academy, Roots International Academy, Youth Empowerment School and International School of Monterey.
Over the course of this school year, teachers have incorporated more global themes into their curriculum, in a number of different disciplines. This helped students not only learn more about the world around them, but also connect to real-world problems and issues relevant to their own lives. A sampling of class projects include:
- Learning about race and genetics in biology classes, including a visit from genetic scientists from UCSF to discuss the latest research and its implications in today's world
- Learning about genocides around the world in a literature study of Night, and with this context, discussing how Night is relevant today
- Service learning projects for advisory classes that incorporate global issues, such as child soldiers and human rights.
In addition, World Savvy facilitated a number of community connections for our partner schools, opening up new opportunities for students outside school, and connecting schools and teachers to valuable real-world experiences offered by partner organizations.
- 3 partner schools brought students to visit the Doctors Without Borders refugee camp exhibit - allowing students to learn about refugees and experience what life is like in a refugee camp
- Partnership between International Studies Academy and Intrax, a cultural exchange organization, to deepen ISA's annual International Interview Project
- An author visit from noted youth author, Mitali Perkins, who spoke with 9th graders about her immigration journey from India to New York to the Bay Area, and about growing up "between cultures".
Refugee Camp Exhibit
What's it like to live in a refugee camp? Bay Area students got a chance to get a glimpse of what it's like when they toured this traveling exhibit sponsored by Doctors without Borders. Over 300 students from schools in the World Savvy Global Educators Program attended the exhibit, which was made up of the actual materials, shelter, and supplies from refugee camps around the world. Students were able to see the kinds of tents and shelter refugees live in, how food and water is distributed, and how aid workers treat disease and malnutrition in refugee camps. In the following pictures, students from International Studies Academy tour the exhibit.