Ioana Simona Suciu Wheeler

NAIS Associate Director of Global Initiatives

wheeler@nais.org

Global Problem-Solving in Action: NAIS’s Challenge 20/20 Program

NAIS Global Initiatives

At NAIS, we believe that in order to survive in the 21st Century, schools must be sustainable in five key areas:

1. financial2. environmental3. global4. programmatic5. demographic

The mission of the Global Initiatives team is:

To assist NAIS member schools in their quest for a more global future for their students, NAIS will nurture partnerships and provide resources within an international framework.

Challenge 20/20: International education

program

Internet-based program with no cost and no travel required

Cross-cultural partnerships

Open to public and private schools, elementary and secondary

One Book: High Noon: 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them

Sharing our planet: Issues involving the global community

Global warming

Biodiversity and ecosystem losses

Fisheries depletion

Deforestation

Water deficits

Maritime safety and pollution

Sharing our humanity: Issues requiring a global

commitment Massive step-up in the fight against poverty

Peacekeeping, conflict prevention, combating terrorism

Education for all

Global infectious diseases

Digital divide

Natural disaster prevention and mitigation

Sharing our rule book: Issues needing a global regulatory

approach Reinventing taxation for the twenty-first century

Biotechnology rules

Global financial architecture

Illegal drugs

Trade, investment, and competition rules

Intellectual property rights

E-commerce rules

International labor and migration rules

Goals

Creative problem-solving

Collaboration

Communication with students from a different country and culture

Community service, service learning

Learning different perspectives

Partnerships

Some schools are already working

together (sister schools etc).

Others are paired by NAIS based on

grade level

topic of interest

preferred partner school and/or location

when they want to start (1st or 2nd term)

2-3 school partnerships

Structure and Program Details

Relatively unstructured: no benchmarks or performance standards

• Paperwork: registration process; reportsFlexible

• Free of cost (purchase book)

• No travel is required

• Online collaboration (wikis, Skype, Facebook, Ning, Moodle, Second Life, videoconferencing, teleconferencing)

• We accept all schools: elementary and secondary, public and private

• Schools can find their own partners or ask NAIS to partner them

• Southern and Northern Hemisphere schools

Challenge 20/20 Stats as of 2009-2010

• Sixth year; program developed in 2005-06

• 300-500 schools participate every year

• 2 to 4 schools within a partnership

• Over 1,050 schools in the US and 724 schools in other countries have participated in 656 partnerships since 2005-2006

• 99 countries represented and 47 U.S. states

Participants

2005: 75 schools from 26 US States and 30 countries

2006: 350 schools from 32 US States and 52 countries

2007: More than 400 schools from 39 US States and 56 countries

2008: More than 500 schools from 41 US States and 61 countries

2009: 397 schools from 43 US States and 48 countries

Examples of Challenge 20/20 Projects:

• Mosquito Nets designed for small children in Africa (CO)

• Supplying a village in India with a nurse/medical facility (PA)

• Supplying hand sanitizers to hospitals in Mexico and Honduras (TX)

• Rebuilding a school in Tanzania (CA)

• Public service announcements regarding water deficits (OK)

ExamplesMount Saint Joseph Academy, Flourtown, PA, and St. Joseph's Convent Girls' Senior Secondary School, Jabalpur, India 

Global problem: Infectious Diseases9-12

Students launched a charitable partnership with two impoverished towns in India.

Examples

St. Mary’s Episcopal School, Memphis Tennessee and Steigerwald Landschulheim Gymnasium

Wiesentheid Germany

9-12

Global Infectious Diseases

Schools decided to concentrate on hygiene

Created The Helping Hands Program

Sanitizers and educational tools put in to the Hospital Benjamin Bloom in El Salvador, working with an NGO there

Examples

Elementary School Partnership

PK-5Bright School, Chattanooga, TN, partnered with Colegio Cristobal Colon, Lomas Verdes, Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico.

Global Problem:  Water Deficits

Students are running informational campaigns including public service TV spots they created, to encourage water conservation.

Joining the Challenge 20/20 Program: Apply Now to Join Hundreds of

Schools Solving the World’s Problems

• Submit your application from March to August!

• Select Term One (September to January) or Term Two (January to May). Partnerships made by September.

• Submit an Agreement for Participation in September or whenever you make contact with your partner school/s.

• Contact your partner school/s to begin your collaboration.

• At the end of each Term, submit an online team report as well as photographs, testimonials and supplemental materials.

• Apply online at: http://www.nais.org/go/challenge2020.

More Information Available at:

www.nais.org/go/challenge2020

Challenge 20/20 Video:

Enjoy a short video about Challenge 20/20!