|
|
|
Happy Holidays from all of us on the DCPS Study Abroad team! We wish you a safe and healthy holiday season and a happy new year. Enjoy your winter break!
We've got some great new global student opportunities in this issue, including an essay contest on the refugee crisis and a chance to participate in an Antarctic expedition! Be sure to read on to see if any of opportunities seem like a good fit for you or other DCPS students you know. And as always, let us know if you have any questions.
We hope that you will also check out our Alumni Portal on the DCPS Global Education website. Here you can share your stories with us and find additional global resources.
| |
| DCPS Study Abroad Certificate of Participation
| |
| We have created a certificate of participation for all students who traveled with DCPS Study Abroad in the summer of 2016. Click here to get your copy. Please note that this certificate was created especially for DCPS Study Abroad participants and should not be shared with others. Looking for something a little more official for college applications or for a scholarship? DCPS Study Abroad can provide you with a letter of participation confirming that you successfully completed the program. You can submit a request for a personalized letter here. Please allow 2-3 weeks for any letter requests to be processed.
| |
| Study Abroad Alum Volunteers Needed!
| |
|
Want to share your experience and support future travel at the same time? A group of researchers from The George Washington University, working with the DCPS Global Education Team, are looking for former study abroad participants to take part in a 20-30 minute, in-person interview. This interview is part of study that seeks to understand the impact of study abroad on student learning and engagement in learning, dispositions and perceptions of citizenship and intercultural and intercultural development. Interviews will be hosted at your school. If interested, please contact jfundalinski@gwmail.gwu.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!
| |
|
Omolara Ayodeji is a senior at Duke Ellington School for the Arts. She traveled to Peru last summer where she and her DCPS Study Abroad group had an opportunity to volunteer at a local school, painting furniture and building walls to ensure that the students in the community have a positive learning environment.
We asked Omolara to share a bit about her experience with DCPS Study Abroad and how it has impacted her.
Do you feel that traveling abroad is important for students you age?
Studying abroad is soooo important for people my age. My generation can be so ignorant to anything that is different from themselves, and it's not their fault. The education system plays a huge role in the knowledge of students. If we continue to teach students about the same old history than they will never know more, not unless they explore themselves. Just a student's overall environment can prevent them from knowing anything past the state they live in. Travelling can be so expensive. Obtaining a passport is expensive itself, then you have to get the tickets, worry about housing, food, and by then some people aren't able to afford it or even go because their job doesnt allow them enough paid leave. That's why its important to go now. This age is the prime time, because you have more leeway, and an experience like what I had can be so inspiring that it affects your future.
How has this trip impacted your life back in DC? My trip helped me realize how much I like to explore and experience new cultures, traditions, and people. I realized that I want to volunteer at places like Yachay Wasi (the kindergarten we worked at in Peru) and work with children all over the world and share the knowledge of the arts and learn new stuff from them as well.
We heard that you are interested in taking a gap year after high school. Can you tell us a little more about this? I have been accepted to my top college, University of the Arts (in Philadelphia) but am debating if i will take a gap year. I want to go back to Yachay Wasi or maybe try something new like help release turtles to the ocean. I'm really interested in animals in places like South America, Asia, and Africa. My Peru trip did inspire me a lot (if not completely) in doing more studying abroad and having been in school for twelve years, a break from the U.S. doesn't sound like a completely bad idea!
| |
| Want your story featured in the next newsletter? Click here to share your experience.
| |
| Global Student Opportunities
| |
|
Gap Year Fair
Students interested in taking a bridge year between high school graduation and college should
save the date for February 9th's USA Gap Year Fair at Wilson High School. USA Gap Year Fairs is a national circuit of events that bring together reputable Gap Year organizations, interested students and parents, high school college counselors and Gap Year experts.You can find more information here.
Experiment Leadership Institute Full Scholarships
The Experiment in International Living (EIL) equips students with essential leadership, language, and problem-solving skills while also cultivating global competency and a complex understanding of the world. EIL offers two Leadership Institute programs in summer 2017: India: Public Health and Community Development and South Africa: Youth Leadership in Peace, Politics, and Human Rights. These fully funded six-week programs are for rising seniors who are 16-18 years of age at the time of the program. The programs consist of a 4-day leadership seminar in DC, four weeks in country (India or South Africa), concluding with a 3-day reentry session in Brattleboro, Vermont at the School for International training (SIT) campus. A follow-up student project is required. For more information and to apply, click here. Application Deadline: January 18, 2017
U.S. Youth Ambassadors Program with South America
The U.S. Youth Ambassadors Program with South America offers two separate three-week leadership exchanges abroad for US teens, ages 15-17, and adult mentors: one to Brazil and the other to Argentina & Chile. Sponsored by the US State Department, these fully funded programs promote mutual understanding and respect, a sense of civic responsibility, global awareness, and strong interpersonal leadership skills. The USYA Brazil exchange includes travel to Brasilia and either Rio de Janeiro or Sao Paolo, with home stays, school visits, cultural activities, and presentations. The USYA Argentina & Chile program includes travel to Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a similar range of educational and cultural activities. Applicants must be public school students, with no previous travel outside North America. Graduating seniors are not eligible. Intermediate Spanish is required for the Chile-Argentina program.
For further information and to apply, visit the website here. Application Deadline: January 13, 2017
Abdelkader Education Project Essay Competition
Every year, the Abdelkader Global Education Leadership Prize essay competition awards scholarship money to students. Students learn about the Middle East and Islamic culture through the legacy of humanitarian Emir Abdelkader (1808-1883), and research ethical leadership, moral courage, and humanitarian conduct. His life story with its universal message encourages building bridges of cultural understanding. Essays are due before April 15, 2017. For more information, visit here.
Thinking About a Bridge Year?
Global Citizen Year is the launching pad for bold high school grads who are hungry to see the world and make a real impact. Global Citizen provides students with the opportunity to live abroad in Brazil, Senegal, Ecuador or India before starting college. Explore a new culture, learn a new language, live with a host family, make lifelong friends and make a difference. Apply today! Full scholarships available.
Antarctic Expedition Opportunity
The Joint Antarctic School Expedition (JASE) is a program co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Chilean Antarctic Institute, a major research base supported by the government of Chile. They have generously invited U.S. high school students to join a team of high school students from Chile for a week of hands-on learning at Escudero Station on King George Island, Antarctica. Applications are due January 31, 2017.
High School Study Abroad in Germany
The Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange Program (CBYX) offers merit-based scholarships for high school students to study for an academic year in Germany. The program was established in 1983 to celebrate German-American friendship based on common values of democracy. Students live with host families, attend local schools, and participate in community life in Germany. For more information and application deadlines, visit the organization in charge of recruitment for DC here.
Essay Contest on the Refugee Crisis
The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) are excited to announce the topic for AFSA's National High School Essay Contest. The winner of the contest will receive a $2,500 cash prize, an opportunity to meet the secretary of state and USIP leadership, and a full-tuition paid voyage with Semester at Sea.
Deadline: March 15th, 2017
| |
|
CONTACT US
Be sure to keep up with DCPS Global Ed on the web!
And follow our team on Twitter:
• International Baccalaureate Program: @dcpsIB1
| |
|
|
|
|
