AROUND THE WORLD WITH GK: JANUARY – DECEMBER 2023

Global Kids educates, inspires and mobilizes youth to become global citizens who are positively engaged in the world and are prepared for their future.

Our organization has been at the forefront of developing and implementing culturally relevant youth development and academic enrichment programs since it was founded in 1989. Global Kids was established to address the urgent need for young people – particularly those in under-resourced communities – to develop the skills, knowledge and values needed to achieve academic success and become confident, well-rounded global citizens. Over the years, we have significantly expanded our programming, reaching more than 200,000 students and educators since our inception, and received national recognition for exemplary practices in international education, digital media programming, experiential learning, and youth development.

Today, GK reaches over 10,000 students annually. We customize our diverse mix of programs to meet the ever-changing needs of young people and ensure they have access to the tools, support, opportunities and experiences they need to succeed in school, advocate for pressing local and global issues, and achieve their goals. As a result, 99% of Global Kids youth leaders graduate high school, and of those graduating seniors, 93% go on to attend college, with many earning scholarships and financial support.

College & Career Ready Youth

In a time when many of our school partners’ capacity to provide college guidance support is shrinking, supporting college and career preparedness for youth became an even greater priority for GK in 2023.

Global Kids’ College & Career Readiness programs are designed to build awareness and readiness for college as well as expose youth to wide range of career pathways, and to build the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a world of work that is increasingly informed by global trends in technology, economics, and the environment.

Your investments this year made it possible for GK to connect youth to supplemental college guidance and support that helped them navigate the admissions process, college tours, career panels, and real world work experiences; all of which helped youth make their college dreams a reality.

Since 2004, an average of 95% of GK enrollees have graduated from high school, 10% higher than the general NYC student population, with 91% matriculating to college.

Travel

• In 2023, five GK-DC students participating in the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute’s Global Program journeyed to Canada, where they explored Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto.
• Over the summer, four Transit Tech high schoolers embarked on a trip to Ghana with Global Kids to participate in the Sanofka Young Leaders Fellowship.
• A trio of entrepreneurial GK middle schoolers flew to St. Croix for an international youth business competition, in which they pitched an original idea for a mental health support app.
• In August, fourteen GK students headed to the Dominican Republic with GK and Global Glimpse for a two week Community Action Project, in which they built aqueducts enabling easier water access for 80 families.
• The year of travel closed with five students’ journey to Dubai, where they shared their perspectives on the world’s Climate Crisis at the COP28 conference.

. . . where will 2024 take our students next? Follow @globalkids to find out!

Supporting Students’ Social & Emotional Wellness

At our core, Global Kids seeks to help our students build the resilience and confidence needed to navigate all the challenges and opportunities that come with growing up in a complex world. We value wellness and want to ensure that our students make self-care a priority.

Through our youth development programming, we create opportunities for GK participants to build positive relationships with their families, peers and other caring adults. We also provide specialized programs that help youth to resist against things like school violence and bullying. Last we provide youth resources and other interventions for participants who need additional support. Together, we work to establish a climate of support and empathy that help our students become strong and well adjusted citizens who are positively engaged in the world.

2023 SEL Activities included:

• An all-day Women’s Empowerment Day event was held at at the High School for Global Citizenship in Brooklyn
• GK’s Teen Battle Chef cooking competition at Q300, in which teams of aspiring middle school chefs from across the city came together for the challenge of creating a four-course meal for a panel of judges
• The first ever GK Olympics field day was held at Randall’s Island Park, promoting team-building skills, physical activity and healthy habits
• Throughout the year, staff also facilitated wellness workshops, connected students & families to vital community resources, provided safe and inclusive spaces such as Cafe Con GK and GK Lounge for students to commune with peers, and so much more.

Academic Achievement

Globally-focused educational enrichment at Global Kids

Three years after the start of the pandemic in 2020, parents and educators have witnessed an increase in chronic absenteeism, learning loss, and lingering detrimental effects on social, emotional, and behavioral development. The pandemic has also exposed educational inequalities in the schools we serve, which often lack the resources necessary to provide supplementary academic enrichment.

To address these challenges, Global Kids provides a wide range of free, high-quality in-school, after-school, and summer programs that support, challenge, and enrich their educational experience. Through our innovative and interest-based programming, Global Kids builds on the existing capabilities, skills, and knowledge of youth and equip them with the tools and resources they need to make an impact. We effectively reach students—as well as their parents, educators, and community leaders—and provide them with educational and professional experiences and leadership opportunities based on their interests and goals, such as panels and roundtables with leading experts, our annual youth conference on a topic of students’ choice, academics-based field trips, intensive institutes on a variety of human rights topics, and more.

Academic Achievement in 2023:

• Peer Education Projects: Students showcased the knowledge and skills they developed throughout the school year, as well as build awareness for the issues they care about, through PSAs or other videos, posters, social media campaigns, student-led workshops, blogs, etc.
• Service Learning: Throughout the year, GK integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich participants’ content knowledge and strengthen the communities in which they live.
• Civic Engagement: GK participants connect human rights issues in their communities to domestic and foreign policy, encouraging them to participate in the democratic process. Projects include lobbying, meeting with elected officials, voter registration, petition signing, etc.