USC students celebrate International Education Week
Fort Couch Middle School and Upper St. Clair High School celebrated International Education Week last week with activities, celebrations, speakers, performances and fun.
International Education Week, from Nov. 14 through 18, is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education, aimed at promoting programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attracting future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences.
Seventh- and eighth-graders at Fort Couch Middle School, led by world language teachers Erin Lemon, Maria Marchionna and Kristin Weaver, attended a variety of multicultural performances and presentations throughout the weeklong celebration.
The teachers hope that the middle school students gain a deeper understanding of other cultures beyond the walls of Fort Couch Middle School and Upper St. Clair Township.
“Providing students the opportunity to experience one aspect of another’s culture – specifically music and dance – is one way for students to strengthen their understanding of a culture that is not their own,” Weaver said. “Gaining these differing perspectives will help our students be more successful as a part of the larger global community.”
The IEW celebration at Upper St. Clair High School was planned by a committee of staff and students.
“The staff members on the committee have contributed to International Education Week for multiple years, and were excited to once again plan events that have become annual traditions at the high school, including Speakers Day and the Global Quiz Bowl,” said social studies teacher Doug Kirchner. “But they also wanted to design brand-new experiences that have never been done before, such as the Human Library and Global Awareness Fair.”
Student committee members included seniors Aashna Banerjee, Emily Barrie, Olivia Fulton and Dakota Worstel, along with juniors Isaac Bernstein, Lucia Miles and Ashe Sobel-Drum.
This year’s theme was “Building Bridges,” with the idea of reconnecting with the world and with each other after facing so many global challenges over the last few years.
“There are also many other staff members and students who were heavily involved in the planning of the week,” Kirchner said. “Our ‘Building Bridges’ theme is so fitting, because the amount of connections and collaborations across the high school has been incredible. We would not have been able to design these events without the Fine & Performing Arts department, STEAM teachers, or custodial staff, just to name a few.”
The week kicked off Nov. 14 with a parade throughout the school. On Tuesday, students had the opportunity to attend the Human Library during lunch. Based on the idea that everyone has their own unique story, students had the chance to hear from several “open books” who shared their personal stories related to their cultural heritage.
The line-up for Wednesday and Thursday included several speakers. IEW culminated on Friday with a first-ever, all-day, in-school field trip – the Global Awareness Fair. The event included speakers, performances, art, community service and interactive booths to promote cultural awareness from more than 20 USCHS clubs as well as student groups from Montour, Mt. Lebanon and Chartiers Valley high schools.
Kirchner said each event “has so much value for students, raising cultural awareness, insight, and hopefully empathy,” noting the Global Awareness Fair held the most potential to bring together the most people because hundreds of students from USCHS, along with groups from several area high schools, were scheduled to attend.
Ebtehal Badawi, an artist from Saudi Arabia who immigrated to the United States 16 years ago, gave a keynote address on the importance of “building bridges” among people and across cultures.
As part of her presentation, attendees were invited to collectively paint a large canvas titled “USC Builds Bridges.”
A resident of Jefferson Hills, Badawi’s work has been featured by The Incline, Next Pittsburgh, and The Almanac.
Additionally, representatives from the Council of Three Rivers American Indian Center performed traditional dances and answered questions related to American Indian culture.
The fair concluded with a donation drive packing session that benefits Hello Neighbor, a Pittsburgh-based organization committed to supporting recently resettled refugee and immigrant families.
Over the last several weeks, USCHS students and staff have participated in a competitive school-wide drive to collect bathroom and cleaning supplies, and personal care items to assist newly arriving refugee families.
“Our goal every year is for students to gain more awareness of and insight into the world around them, whether they’re learning about particular cultures or complex global issues,” Kirchner said. “This year, in particular, we hope students latch on to our theme of ‘Building Bridges,’ and see how much they actually have in common with others that might seem so different from them, including their own classmates. We want them to consider that everyone has a story to share, that peers they’ve never spoken to before may have important parts of themselves that others don’t get to see, including a rich cultural heritage.”
Kirchner believes that IEW and this year’s theme are more important than ever.
“With all that seems to divide us, perhaps there’s more that unites us than we realize,” he said. “The world can seem big and scary, and while it’s certainly complex, it’s smaller than we think.”