2022 Q2 Quarterly Newsletter – Read all about it!
Happy Summer!
We blinked, and half of 2022 flew by. Whoa. So this week, we’re looking back to see all the impactful programs that happened from April through June.
In disappointing news for you (ha!) and very exciting news for my family, I’ll be on maternity leave from late July until early November. I want to introduce you to Karen Harshaw with SPARK Philanthropy who will be helping to lead projects while I am out. Karen’s email is kharshaw@cincyworldaffairs.org.
Welcome to our second quarterly newsletter! We hope that you will enjoy hearing all about our wonderful network and collaborations throughout the year in a newsletter. We have much to share with you and you can interact to read more for all the details below.
Since COVID shut down the world and all in person activities, we were so thrilled to continue interacting directly with students and international visitors. Some of the biggest highlights include:
- Welcoming our new staff member, Melissa McDonald, Global Education Lead & Summer Global Guide Fellow, Enock Sadiki
- Welcoming our new Board Members, Cheryl Young with Miami University, Global Initiatives & Pat Raverty, Community Leader and Advocate for Children
- Celebrating the 9th Annual One World Gala raising funds for global education programs
- Our in person exchanges through the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) continue to come back
- Our global summer camp programs in Covington are back
- Rhinegeist Charitable Suds hosted the Council
Thank you for sticking with us during this unprecedented time in our world. We couldn’t do this without you!
Check out some of the details below and read all about it!
Exchange Programs
The World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky is the local partner for the U.S. Department of State’s premier exchange program, the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The Council hosted only in person exchanges this quarter.
In April, the Council hosted two delegations:
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- The Kyrgyz Republic group was the first delegation who stayed in town for 4 days during which they focused on advancing a reliable, secure, and open digital economy. The international visitors met with some of our community partners to discuss digital economy, cybersecurity practices. They met with Ohio Cyber Range Institute, Kroger Technology and the NKU college of information technology.
- The Council, also, hosted a new group from the country of Armenia working on a project entitled “Competency-Based STEM Education”. While in Cincinnati for 4 days, the visitors covered the themes of elementary and high school STEM Programs, training teachers to teach STEM, the Importance of STEM curriculum to children’s education and engaging young people in science fairs, outreach programs and the environment. The visitors met with Xavier University Center for Excellence in Education (X-CEED), iSpace, Winton Woods high school, NKY Maker Space, Thomas More Biology Field Station, and Notre Dame Academy
During the month of May, the following two exchanges occurred:
- Five emerging leaders from Kazakhstan came to Cincinnati on the topic of “Digital Education in the U.S”. The visitors met with diverse local professional resources in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky and examined how technology is changing the U.S. educational process from primary schools to universities. They met with the University of Cincinnati’s Blended Online Learning and Teaching Programs, Miami university E-campus, FixNGive students’ organization at Indian Hills high school, ELS Educational Services, Inc, Hamilton County educational services, Miami University Regionals – English Language Center and English.
- The Council hosted a group of women change-makers from Israel working on a project entitled “Women Changemakers: Social and Business Entrepreneurs Remaking Communities.” The group spent 4 days in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area discussing subjects related to social and business entrepreneurship. They met with Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub, Mortar Cincinnati, NKY Chamber of Commerce Women’s initiative, the University of Cincinnati Center for Entrepreneurship, NKU College of business, and Miami university department of Commerce.
Finally, we hosted one delegation in June discussing “Dismantling Racial and Social Injustice.” The 7-member group from Brazil explored American history from the institution of slavery, through Civil Rights gains in the 1960s, to current social justice movements across the United States and the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on communities of color. Participants will examine approaches to address and remedy the lasting impact of racial inequality, including the entrenched architecture of discrimination and racial disparity in the areas of education, economic opportunity, fair housing, and equal justice under the law. The meetings focused on discussing strategies to overcome the impact of remnants of the legacy of slavery that plague U.S. society. Participants explored the importance of advocacy and allyship, as well as the effectiveness of integrated efforts from all sectors of society at the national, state, and local levels in striving for equity for all. The group met with representatives from the Cincinnati Police department Collaborative agreement, the City of Cincinnati Citizen Complaint Authority, Cincinnati public radio, Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (non-profit), Urban league of Greater Southwestern Ohio, and the Urban organ Institute for Human Rights at the College of Law, University of Cincinnati.
Global Education Programs
The Council launched a monthly teacher professional development series in 2022! Following our “Your Future in the World” International Education Summit in 2021, we chose to focus on teachers to help their students develop the global competency skills they will need for a successful future with free, virtual workshops. In the first quarter, the topics for the series were:
- Taking Action: Using Service-Learning to Develop Global Competency
- Cultural Awareness and Responsibility
These sessions are based on the Asia Society and EdStep’s Global Competency Matrix and Battelle for Kids Framework for 21st Century Learning. We also examined the C3 Framework for Social Studies plus other state and national standards in various academic disciplines. You can read more about it and watch the videos here:
- April: Taking Action: Using Service-Learning to Develop Global Competency – The Council’s professional development session included a discussion on how service-learning creates opportunities for students to take action and develop the planning, leadership, and cultural and community awareness skills necessary for success in this interconnected world. Ms. Rachel Kemper (’91), Saint Ursula Academy, Director of Global and Service Learning and Wendy Silvius, Indian Hill High School, Social Studies Department | Experiential Learning & Internships shared their service-learning initiatives on what components are necessary for a successful service-learning experience and how teachers can implement these experiences in their own school or classroom. You can watch a recording of this session here.
- May: Cultural Awareness and Responsibility – Local teachers Josh Amstutz and Andy Lock, from Winton Woods High School, discussed how to address global issues and how to support students to become responsible global citizens while working collaboratively across diverse classrooms. They shared their insights on what components are necessary for a successful collaboration leveraging social and cultural differences and how teachers can implement these strategies in their school or classroom. To watch the webinar, please visit this LINK, and access to their amazing resources can be found HERE.
In addition to the professional development opportunities, the council hosted these global education programs for adult and student learners:
- April & May – The Council continued its partnership with OLLI at UC to bring the following two programs:
- Outer Space with Professor Charles Doarn
- Industrial Policy Discussion Group
- June – We kicked off Camp Covington where students explored activities which introduced them to discovering more about the world. In collaboration with the Center for Great Neighborhoods, students learned about the character strength of perseverance. This was followed by activities led by Enock Sadiki, Global Guide Fellow, and Melissa McDonald, our Global Education Lead. Students developed inquiry skills by sharing their knowledge about Uganda and refugees. Although the majority of the students did not have any prior knowledge, they developed their thinking skills by formulating related questions. Afterwards, Enock introduced students to his home country of Uganda by sharing a visual presentation about his culture and life in the refugee camps. The students increased their understanding of refugees and discovered a lot about Uganda. They showed this by excitedly drawing and writing about what they learned. Enock also shared a personal story of life in Uganda through his published book, The Most Essential Part of My Life. The students were delighted to meet a real live author, and to receive a personalized signed copy of Enock’s book. They also received two other multicultural books which were purchased from the non-profit Friends of the Public Library. As you can see, our first weeks of camp were a tremendous success! A very special thank you to all of our donors and sponsors who helped to make this possible for the students of Covington Independent Schools!
Council Events
The World Affairs Council was thrilled to start the year off strong with a series of 6 public events in the first quarter of the year that were attended by 257 community members. These events included our series of monthly webinars featuring local and national experts, as well as introduced a new partner “Small World Café” event series with our colleagues at Gulf Coast Diplomacy. We also hosted our annual fundraising event, the One World Gala, and were thrilled to be hosted by Rhinegeist for their Charitable Suds Event to raise funds for global summer camp. Please see below for highlights from these programs:
- One World Annual Gala: Thank you to everyone for coming out on April 1 to support public school students’ access to global education programs and resources. We are so thrilled to announce that the One World Gala has raised $98,000 to support students’ success in this global world throughout the year. These funds go to support 100% free global education programming. We could not reach almost 4,000 students each year without your continued engagement. We hope you had an incredible evening supporting global education for our community! Thanks to your dedication and passion for world affairs! A WORLD OF THANKS to our 2022 One World Gala Sponsors, Board Members, Advisory Members, and all our supporters! We could not do this without YOU! This year, we truly united as a community to empower the next generation of global leaders. You played such an important part in making this a success, so THANK YOU!!
- Small World Cafe – Disinformation around the World: This event was brought to you in partnership with the Gulf Coast Diplomacy. The discussion was focused on exploring the impact of misinformation and disinformation around the world with Dr. Jeffrey Blevins of the University of Cincinnati.
- Rhinegeist Charitable Suds: Thank you to everyone who joined us at Rhinegeist for the Charitable Suds event in May! We were delighted to see old and new faces in support of the World Affairs Council and be able to have some tasty brews from a great local supporter. Delightful! We raised over $300 dollars which will provide cultural books and art supplies for young learners attending Camp Covington this summer with our Global Fellow Program! Thank you for your support!
- June Global Ties Expo: Oral Historian, Anna F. Kaplan, and Paul Kruchoski, Director of the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy, shared about the history of Expos held on U.S. soil and how we bring Expos back to the United States in a more inclusive way that highlights our country’s diversity as a strength of our democracy.
Welcome to New Staff and Board Members
The World Affairs Council is excited to share that Melissa McDonald has joined our team as our new Global Education Lead and Enock Sadiki, our Summer Global Guide Fellow. We are honored to have her join us!! Let’s get to know her better!
Melissa has been an educator for over 20 years with most of her teaching career being abroad working with the International Baccalaureate program, and providing professional development for educators in Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Her experience includes developing programming for students with disabilities, supporting students and schools to become more sustainably-minded with the environment, and leading two international education conferences. She has served on the Informal Advisory Group for Social and Emotional Learning with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Melissa’s passion in education is centered on developing globally-minded lifelong learners with a focus on inclusion, equity, and diversity.
Enock is a multilingual refugee from Uganda, and is currently a senior at Aiken High School. He is an Honors and College Credit Plus student. Enock serves as the Vice President for Future Farmers of America and contributes to the agriculture program at Aiken. In addition, Enock is an accomplished athlete in soccer, cross country, and track. Enock is the published author of The Most Essential Part of My Life, a story documenting his experience of being in a refugee camp and creating a soccer league with his friends prior to moving to the US. This summer he is sharing his story as well as knowledge about Uganda with the children and families of Covington.
Read more here: https://globalcincinnati.org/2022/07/01/welcome-new-staff/
We are also honored to have 2 new board members joining us! Let’s meet them here:
Cheryl Young, PhD is the associate vice president for global education at Miami University. A long-time staff member at Miami, with over 35 years of experience in higher education, Cheryl leads the Global Initiatives Center at Miami. In this role she leads Education Abroad, International Student & Scholars Services, Continuing Education, the Center for American & World Cultures, the International Student Center, and the Miami University Dolibois European Center in Luxembourg.
Patrick Raverty served as Director of Business Development for Turnbull-Wahlert Construction Company and was responsible for marketing and business development. Previously, Pat served as Director of Business Development for Vector Construction. His community involvement includes serving as President of several organizations including the Northern Kentucky International Trade Association {NKITA}, Catholic Charities, the Covington Business Council Foundation, the Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission, the Boone County Jaycees, the Northern Kentucky Manpower Council, the Kentucky Mental Health Association, the Kenton – Boone Cable Board and the University of Kentucky Boone County Extension Council.
Read more here: https://globalcincinnati.org/2022/07/15/welcome-new-board-members/
Thank you for following along for what’s happening at the World Affairs Council – Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky in 2022 so far!
Click here to read what happen in quarter 1.
