Our students will attain a global perspectiveStrategic Planning Goal Check out our Big Read Video! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Scotch Plains-Fanwood BOE made global education a priority in its long-range planning, 2009-2014, by addressing the needs and interests of a global society. In this five year period, the district will evaluate and revise its curricula, instructional practice, and school environment to reflect a more global orientation. A school-community committee has been assembled to guide the direction and actions taken by the district in this critical area of education.  Global Education Advisory Committee
Current Initiatives
Global Competency Framework Document: This document describes in more detail the district's definition of a "global perspective" by identifying the specific knowledge, skills and dispositions we hope to foster in our schools. Click here to see the document: Global Competency Matrix.
Second Grade Global Cultures Unit: During the spring of 2012, several second grade teachers, an elementary media specialist, the elementary instructional coach and the supervisor of social studies collaborated in the development of a pilot unit to introduce second graders to the study of global cultures. The unit was piloted in several classrooms and will be expanded to all second grade classrooms in the coming year. For more information, click here to read the parent letter that was distributed to students who participated in the pilot unit.
The Big Read: A grant has been awarded to the Scotch Plains Public Library from the National Endowment for the Arts for “The Big Read”.The grant provides funding for programming and materials related to a “one book, one community” initiative.The grant requires that the applicants select a book from their list and partner with community organizations to promote and implement the program.Although the grant application was from the Scotch Plains Public Library, the proposals were developed in collaboration with supervisors and teachers from the SPF School District (Noel Baxter, Jocelyn Dumaresq, Linda Materna and Robin Stayvas).
The novel chosen was In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez.The novel, which is the fictional retelling of the true story of three sisters who were murdered for their efforts to overthrow the Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic, highlights many themes related to our global education initiative.Concepts of human rights, freedom and democracy, the universal value of family, and cultural awareness can be explored through this novel and a range of associated events. For more information about the Big Read events, visit the Scotch Plains Public Library website.
Committee Documents/Links BOE Strategic Plan Goal Report: April, 2010 Identity Activity Using Children's Literature
The "Collective" Global Experience of Our Committee: At the first advisory committee meeting, the members reflected on the collective global experiences within this small community. Here is what we found: 1. Built a school in Oaxaca, Mexico 2. Played futbol internationally 3. Teach tolerance and global understanding to first and second grade students 4. Grew up and studied in three countries - India, Zambia, & USA 5. Speaks five languages - Italian, French, English, German, & Irish 6. Lived in France and taught in bilingual program; worked with students from many different countries 7. Spent summers in rural farm village 8. Bringing in travel experiences from Europe and India to the classroom 9. Travel and volunteer work in Senegal, Gambia, South Africa, Costa Rica, and Mexico (more to come :) 10. Worked in global village through Habitat for the Humanity 11. Participated in Youth-Can, world youth environmental project 12. Traveled to Uganda and participated in awareness and remediation of genocide in Northern Uganda 13. Board member for the Union Chinese School 14. Teach Global Perspectives course and adviser to Model UN 15. Teach world languages - Spanish - and traveled to Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and China 16. Lead international collaborative projects 17. Took part in foreign exchange program in Japan 18. Lived in Naples, Italy for 2.5 years 19. Lived in Ghana, England, and United States 20. Traveled to Israel 21. Studied in England for 8 months 22. Grew up, studied, and worked in Argentina 23. Skype user with other countries 24. Backpacked throughout Northern and Western Europe 25. Listen to NPR
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