Global Issues Network Students Host Eco-Camp

Stacy Crowell, MS/HS ELL Teacher and Global Issues Network Coordinator

 

 

The TAISM campus was buzzing with activity on the afternoon of Thursday, May 17. A number of Elementary students participated in an Eco-Camp, which was a one day project sponsored by the Global Issues Network students. They posed interesting environmental questions like how does re-using old T-shirts help protect the Earth’s resources, and are there endangered species living in Oman? They also debated on items that could be recycled like a plastic milk jug or a newspaper.

 

The Global Issues Network (GIN) is a voluntary group of students who come together to learn more about problems that affect our world. Students choose a global need, then work through projects both locally and globally to make a difference. This year’s High School group chose education as their theme. They are partnering with Building Walls of Wisdom (www.buildwow.com), a non-profit organization committed to building schools in developing nations. This group was started by Geoff Morgan, a principal at the American Community School of Abu Dhabi. TAISM students met him while attending the Global Issues conference hosted there in February.

 

 

Eco-Camp is a local aspect of the program. Over 20 High School and Middle School students volunteered to lead games and activities that teach environmental friendly concepts to Elementary students here at TAISM. Elementary students learned about endangered species, then chose an endangered animal to have painted on their faces. They learned about children in water-deprived countries who have to walk long distances for water each day. They then raced in a relay to fill up their own water buckets, carrying their water across the basketball court. They learned about saving energy and making ice-cream using energy only from their bodies!

 

This project is also a fund-raiser that makes a difference on a global level. The money raised during Eco Camp and other GIN High School fund-raisers this year will help build a school in northern Ghana. The local school was destroyed two years ago in violent storms. GIN raised RO 1,126 ($2,916) over the course of the year, which will make up about 10% of the money needed to rebuild the school.