Tenth-Graders Represent Pittsburgh at Global Symposium

Tenth-Graders Represent Pittsburgh at Global Symposium

Friday, December 07, 2007

By Anne Flanagan, Winchester Thurston School (Allegheny County Independent Schools)

Contributors: Alexandra Ashley, Rachel Dougherty, Barbara Johnson, Morgan Re, Chris Schmidt, and Jonathan Springer

This week six tenth-graders from Winchester Thurston School, Shadyside, have the rare opportunity to travel to Muscat, Oman, along with Upper School history teacher Marc Fogel and Director of Upper School Mick Gee, for a global symposium on Peacekeeping, Conflict Resolution, and Combating Terrorism hosted by the American British Academy (ABA). Alexandra Ashley, Rachel Dougherty, Barbara Johnson, Morgan Re, Chris Schmidt, and Jonathan Springer were selected by a group of faculty to participate in this dynamic program.

The ABA invited Winchester Thurston to participate as one of only nine schools from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and North America. A total of 54 students from around the world are assembled in Muscat to critically analyze “traditional” peacekeeping and conflict resolution tactics and philosophies and create new alternatives in a process involving simulation and role playing, brainstorming, formalization of ideas, crisis application, and presentation of outcomes in a short film.

“Being asked to participate in this symposium is a true honor and means putting our students at the forefront of mature international issues. This is an invaluable opportunity for these students to get a first-hand look at the Arab world, Islam, and oil based economies,” said Fogel, who taught at the ABA for three years prior to joining the Winchester Thurston School faculty.

“I’ve been interested in political science since around eighth grade,” said Rachel. “It will be fascinating to see how other kids from all different cultures, political systems, and beliefs contribute to the conversation not only about peacekeeping and conflict resolution, but about many other global problems, in a forum that’s free from the persuasive influences of media or government.”

“I am really looking forward to collaborating with other socially and politically aware students my age,” commented Jon. “I enjoy talking with my friends and engaging in discussions about world issues….However, most of them say the same things and think in many of the same ways. At the symposium the people are coming from different countries and very diverse backgrounds. Working with this diverse group is what I’m looking forward to the most.”

Barbara echoes Jon’s sentiment. “Getting opinions and points of view from people in ten different countries is going to be invaluable….There’s only so far you can go when discussing world problems with people representing only one country; this symposium is giving us experience in the real world.”

The symposium is the result of a partnership between the ABA and Mercersburg Academy in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, and part of the National Association of Independent Schools’ Challenge 20/20 initiative whose goal is to link American schools with international schools in order to explore twenty global issues, including global warming, biodiversity and ecosystem losses, poverty, education for all, global infectious diseases, illegal drugs, e-commerce rules, and international labor and migration rules.

“I view this symposium as a personal challenge, a chance to enlighten myself with respect to modern global problems and an opportunity to put a bit of myself out there into the world,” declares Chris.

A highlight of the symposium, South African Ambassador Abba Omar will facilitate; Omar has extensive experience with peacekeeping and conflict resolution in his native country and has worked with former South African President Nelson Mandela and with Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town Desmond Tutu for many decades.

Prior to the symposium’s start, the group is experiencing life in the booming Persian Gulf region with a visit to a Bedouin desert camp, the U.S. Embassy, and the National Mosque, as well as other sightseeing excursions. Students are staying with ABA host families.

In preparation for the trip the students read High Noon by J. F. Rischard, which challenges readers to take a new approach to twenty most important and urgent global problems. In addition they used Internet technology for social networking to develop relationships with many of the students they are meeting in person, through Web sites such as Facebook.

“Getting ready to go was exciting,” said Alexandra. “We studied Arabic to learn some useful phrases and vocabulary. We were immersed in High Noon in order to be able to discuss it at the conference. In between, I tried to get my school work done in preparation for my absence, and that was a little intimidating.

Morgan noted, “Not many people my age get a chance to be involved in determining possibilities for the future on a global scale. Peacekeeping and conflict resolution are interesting to me because these will probably be the problems put upon my generation, and to get a chance to be a part of deciphering how to keep peace or how to combat terrorism for the future of our world is an amazing opportunity.”

The Oman Experience: Life with an Omani Host family

By Chris Schmidt

When I arrived at my host family's house, I had no idea what to expect. The only comfort I had was that I would be staying with a fellow classmate whom I was already acquainted with. However, our host family welcomed us into their home as though we had always known them and they constantly asked us if there was anything they could do to make our stay more enjoyable, whether it was going to the beach, watching a movie, or preparing a special meal. I even felt more welcome in my host family's home than in some of my real family's homes. The family I stayed with was simply more considerate, helpful, and engaging than I could possible have foreseen. I suspected that I would simply sleep at my host family's house and be with my friends during the day. However, I did not feel awkward at all when engaging in conversation with my host family. On the contrary I found it enjoyable and enlightening, and on several occasions I was able to go to local hangouts or beaches with my host family's son. I have had a wonderful time in Oman which is in no small part due to the tremendous hospitality I have received here. I can honestly say that Omani hospitality surpasses anything I could have imagined and reflects that of a close and thoughtful family member. I am extremely grateful for everything my host family has done for me and I will never forget the consideration and care that was shown to me from people I barely knew.

The Oman Experience: The Desert

By Jonathan Springer

From Monday, December 3rd to Tuesday, December 4th, students from Winchester Thurston, The International School of Unganda, and students from Mercersburg Academy traveled to the amazing Wahiba Sands. To give you more of an idea of our situation, we were on a small bus with twenty-two other people who all had large bags. We were all packed in on this bus for three hours. When we reached the desert, we transfered to three SUVs. The drivers of the SUVs were very interesting. We drove over sand roads at speeds of at least a good 120km/h! It was quite a shock. Then we were hit with an aditional shock when we reached our final destination. We stayed at a small camp site that consisted of about twenty or thirty small cabins and a larger gathering place. Thats not the interesting part. The camp was located right in the middle of the most amazing and beautiful sand dunes. Once we unpacked, we explored. After a while, we found some skis and snowboards and used them to go down the dunes. That was really fun! Later that day, a group decided to climb one of the larger dunes, which was over 100m tall! It took a long time and it was hard work but it was well worth it! The view out over the deserts was amazing. We went to bed that night sleepy and sore from out adventures on the sand.

The next day at the sands we met people from the Bedouin tribes who drew henna patterns on our hands and took us for camel rides through the desert. We also had the oppertunity to buy hand-made goods from some Bedouin women who stopped by. All in all, it was a wonderful day of firsts that we will all remember forever.

The Oman Experience: The Start of the Peace Symposium
By Barbara Johnson

After a few relaxing days of sightseeing and visiting the Wahiba Sands, the time finally came for us to start what we came almost halfway around the world for: The Peace Symposium!

We kicked off the conference with a simulation used in the Peace Corps training that opened our eyes to the differences between societies and cultures and how it creates conflict. Because one of the missions of the conference is conflict resolution, it was a great way to start things and get our minds churning.

After this and some team building activities, which included a group of ten going through an obstacle course while staying connected at all times, it was time for dinner. The South African Ambassador, Abba Omar, opened with his idea of “think globally, act globally,” contrary to the “think globally, act locally” motto that is more popular. And, although we were eager to eat dinner after a long day, his first speech impressed us and got us into the mood for the conference.

The next morning, Thursday (which is their Saturday) we arrived at the school at 8:30 a.m. and we broke off into different sessions. The session headed by Ivano Ianelli, from the United Nations Office for Special Projects. He placed us right in the middle of an emergency crisis and asked what we, as the United Nations, would do to solve the problems; this was incredibly interesting because we put our minds in those who are involved with the UN and got a taste of what they go through in dealing with difficult situations.

Another session was based on the documentary, “Shake Hands with the Devil,” which was a shocking retelling of the genocide in Rwanda about a decade ago. Although the sessions all had different topics, they were all tied back to the UN and how to solve problems effectively.

Then we had an entire group session with Abba Omar concerning the major problems the UN faces and/or will face in the world, from rising energy costs to resource-driven conflict, which, needless to say, was an enjoyable experience as well as an informative one.

The end of his session sparked much interest in the group about world issues and made us eager to delve deeper into our solutions for these problems. We couldn’t have asked for a better start to the conference!

The Oman Experience: Scenario Planning with the South African Ambassador

by Rachel Dougherty

To summarize the topics discussed with Abba Omar, we were given the mission of creating video projects. The activity began by splitting everyone into six groups; each group was assigned two topics that we had discussed, and we had to assess each topic’s importance as to what effect they currently have on the United Nations, and the prospective effect that we think they will have on the United Nations in 2020.

My group was given the topics of economic inequality between nations and the use of multilateralism versus unilateralism. In assessing today’s world we came to the conclusion that there is a large gap between developed and developing nations in terms of the social economy. When reviewing the idea of unilateralism or multilateralism in today’s world we came to the idea that there are very few rogue states and some multilateral alliances already exist.

From this point we had to try and come up with a progression of events that would lead us to the point of having a very minimal gap between the richest and poorest nations, yet a rise in rogue states and unilateralism. This path became the theme of our video. My group began to craft a fictional story of a boy falls asleep in history class and, of course, has a crazy dream. His dream takes place in 2020, a world in which there is very little economic inequality between countries, though each entity chooses to rule through unilateralism. When he awakes from this crazy nightmare, he is then motivated to do something to put the U.N. on the right tracks so that his dream doesn’t become a reality.

Overall, this video project was a challenge not only because of the topic, but also due to the fact that we were all unaware of our peers' strengths when it came to editing and acting and other such things that go into a video production. It was a great experience to be given the opportunity to discuss the conflicting issues within my group, and to work alongside my peers to complete the small, yet challenging task set before us.