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Closing the K-12 International Knowledge
Gap:
Putting the World Into World Class Education
First-ever Prizes for Excellence in International
Education Announced
Washington, DC (November 18, 2003) – Responding to
recent reports documenting that US students are woefully uninformed
about the rest of the world, The Goldman Sachs Foundation
and Asia Society today announced the inaugural winners of
The Goldman Sachs Foundation Prizes for Excellence in International
Education.
The winners, who will receive $25,000 in each category, are:
- The John Stanford International School, Seattle, Wash.
(Elementary/Middle School)
- Evanston Township High School, Evanston, Ill. (High School)
- University of Vermont, Asian Studies Outreach Program
(Higher Education)
- North Carolina (State)
- International Education and Resource Network (iEARN),
New York, N.Y., and Sesame Workshop’s Global Grover,
New York, N.Y. (Co-Recipients, Media and Technology)
The Prizes were established to identify effective and replicable
models of international education that address concerns about
the economic, social, and diplomatic costs of educational
isolationism.
Commenting on the importance of the prizes, Secretary of
State Colin L. Powell said, “The compelling changes
in our economy, the dawning of the Information Age, and the
horrible events of September 11, 2001 and their aftermath,
have created an unprecedented need to focus on international
knowledge and skills. To solve most of the major problems
facing our country today—from wiping out terrorism to
minimizing global environmental problems to eliminating the
scourge of AIDS—will require every young person to learn
more about other regions, cultures, and languages. I applaud
the Goldman Sachs Foundation and Asia Society’s efforts
to promote international learning and congratulate this year’s
prizewinners.”
Stephanie Bell-Rose, President of The Goldman Sachs Foundation,
said: “If young Americans are to take on challenging
leadership roles in the future and help the United States
maintain its competitive edge, they must have not only an
education well grounded in the technology of the 21st Century,
but also a deep understanding of other cultures, geography,
history, and languages. The world will demand it of them—we
must demand it of our educational system.”
In June 2003, The Goldman Sachs Foundation and Asia Society
established a national competition for annual prizes recognizing
excellence in international education. The prizes were established
to identify and recognize the best examples of international
education for K-12 students and teachers, and to disseminate
practical and innovative models that are worthy of broader
visibility and replication. Independent experts reviewed over
300 applications, from a wide variety of schools—urban,
suburban, and rural; public, private, and charter—in
44 states and the District of Columbia. Stimulated by many
different factors—new diversity in communities; the
leadership of a single teacher or principal; the arrival of
an international company in a community; September 11—these
programs represent the leading edge of a grassroots movement
to strengthen international literacy. A distinguished jury
selected the prizewinners.
The Prizes demonstrate a multi-level approach addressing
the international knowledge gap and recognize innovation,
creativity and demonstrated effectiveness in teaching foreign
languages and world affairs.
"Americans assume that the world speaks English. But
we need an effective pipeline in the major world languages
to meet our international security needs, for effective partnership
with our allies, and for homeland security, where police,
public health and law enforcement officials will all need
to deal with many different language groups." said Ambassador
Nicholas Platt, President of the Asia Society. “The
Goldman Sachs Foundation Prizes are blazing an important path
that will strengthen children’s language, cultural knowledge
and inquiry skills.”
Winners from local schools, statehouses, university programs
and the media and technology sector are promoting rich, engaging
instruction that is integrated into all the major subjects;
fostering effective teaching and learning of world languages;
preparing teachers with essential international knowledge
and skills; expanding state policy supports; and connecting
America’s youth to peers in the rest of the world through
creative use of media and technology.
The John Stanford School, for example, is demonstrating how
dual language immersion can improve student fluency when it
begins at an early age. Evanston Township High School has
created an International Studies graduation requirement and
developed internationally themed social science courses to
prepare diverse college bound students.
“Without an educational and media establishment that
takes on the responsibility of teaching and informing and
respecting the riches of foreign cultures, this country could
become a parochial suburb of a vital global village,”
said Morley Safer, CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent
and Prizes juror.
The prizewinners exemplify how international knowledge and
skills are no longer a luxury for high achieving or affluent
students; they are a necessity. Their models demonstrate how
a global focus can improve the quality of teaching, while
getting the values of mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation
into the curriculum, and inspiring students’ curiosity
to explore beyond their borders. The programs have been successfully
interwoven into the regular school day, in after-school programs,
and at home, while meeting the educational standards demanded
by state and national policies such as the No Child Left Behind
Act.
Teachers and community leaders who submitted applications
demonstrated how international education has helped students
improve achievement, engage diverse neighbors and new immigrants,
or influenced their career aspirations. From the millions
of young children and parents delighted by Sesame Street’s
Global Grover, to the thousands of teens and teachers who
construct projects with peers in over 100 countries through
the iEARN program, the prizewinners illustrate how to prepare
students to work, live and lead in our interconnected world.
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The Goldman Sachs Foundation
The Goldman Sachs Foundation is a global philanthropic organization
funded by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. The Foundation's mission
is to promote excellence and innovation in education and to
improve the academic performance and lifelong productivity
of young people worldwide. It achieves this mission through
a combination of strategic partnerships, grants, loans, private
sector investments, and the deployment of professional talent
from Goldman Sachs. Funded in 1999, the Foundation has awarded
grants in excess of $43 million since its inception, providing
opportunities for young people in more than 20 countries.
www.gs.com/foundation
The Asia Society
The Asia Society is America's leading institution dedicated
to fostering understanding of Asia and communication between
Americans and the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. A national
nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization, the Asia
Society develops cultural, policy, business and education
programs about Asia for the public and influential leaders.
For more information on the prizewinners visit www.asiasociety.org
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