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School Programs

 
Global Kids thoughtfully partners with schools to offer an array of services and programs that advance school goals and fulfill our mission to develop active global citizens who are prepared to engage and succeed in our ever-changing world. We work predominantly in middle and high schools in underserved communities, but do provide special services and training in elementary schools as well. During the school day, Global Kids is able to provide academic enrichment/classroom residencies in collaboration with classroom teachers; one to one and group counseling for students; advisory workshops; college exploration and support services; attendance outreach; parent engagement activities, service-learning programs, and more. During the out of school time/extended day, Global Kids provides its award-winning programs, which combine youth development, leadership development, global awareness, and civic engagement.
 
These programs range from our flagship Power of Citizenry Leadership Program to our College and Career Readiness Program to our game design and other Digital Learning and Leadership Programs. Funding for school-based programs includes support from 21st Century Community Learning Centers, NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, United Way of New York City and National Capital Area, individual school budgets, and other sources. Global Kids is also the lead partner in six NYC Department of Education Community Schools
 
For more information on partnering with Global Kids, please contact Executive Director Dominique Jones at dominique@globalkids.org. 

During the 2022-2023 School Year, we are located at the following schools:

New York

Archimedes High School
Bronx Studio School for Writers and Artists (BSSWA)
Bronxdale High School
Careers in Sports High School
Curtis High School
High School for Global Citizenship
High School for Medical Professions
High School for Public Service
High School of Art and Design
International High School at Union Square
John Adams High School
Manhattan East School for Arts & Academics
M.S. 266 Park Place Community Middle School
P.S./I.S.109
P.S. 308 Clara Caldwell
P.S. 96
Transit Tech Career and Technical Education High School
The 30th Avenue School (Q300)
Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (WHEELS)
William Cullen Bryant High School
Women’s Academy of Excellence
 
Washington, DC
 
Anacostia High School
Ballou High School
Bell Multicultural High School – CHEC
Benjamin Banneker High School
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School
McKinley Technology High School

Power of Citizenry

Global Kids’ flagship after school program, the Power of Citizenry, was launched in 1995, and has grown to involve over 800 youth each year, engaging them in international affairs, civic participation and opportunities for social action. Weekly workshops are grounded in our participants’ interests and concerns about their own communities and global issues facing our society. They learn about current events, foreign policy, and human rights issues, and create projects to address issues they care about. Youth shape the content, structure, and goals of the program, and our expert staff give them the confidence, skills, and tools they need to make an impact.

Annual Conference

Each year, a team of Global Kids youth design an Annual Youth Conference around a topic of local and global importance. At conferences in both Washington, DC and New York City, youth work together to identify and secure plenary and guest speakers, organize performances, and design and facilitate peer-education workshops for hundreds of attendees. Get a glimpse of a past Youth Conference here.

For more info, contact: 
Diamond Butler,
Director of High School Programs
diamond@globalkids.org

Click here to see photos of the 2019 Annual Youth Conference.

Youth Activism

Launched in 2002, Global Kids’ innovative youth organizing model – the Human Rights Activist Project – addresses the absence of youth voices in the public policy and decision-making processes and trains youth to become human rights activists locally, nationally, and internationally. With support from our educators, youth take their place at the forefront of groundbreaking social action and policy campaigns. They work as a cohort to identify issues affecting them and their communities, conduct research, lead outreach initiatives, design and implement campaigns, and rally community support. GK youth have worked on a variety of issues, including: educational equity, gun violence, police accountability, food security, immigration, climate justice, and recently helped pass a resolution in the New York City council to mandate climate change education in NYC schools.

Digital Learning & Leadership

Global Kids is a nationally recognized pioneer and leader in harnessing the ever-evolving digital culture to engage youth in learning. Global Kids’ digital learning programs are relevant, inclusive, and impactful. We provide youth access to both open and closed source cutting-edge tech tools and engage them in a learning process that leverages this technology to create tech-based solutions and tools to educate their peers about critical issues and respond to pressing needs in their local and global communities. By exposing youth to real-life applications of STEM learning, they gain the skills necessary to navigate the global tech community and innovate across industries. Our current programming includes geo-locative mapping, robotics, gender specific initiatives, citizen science, architectural design, radio broadcasting, and virtual reality. For nearly fifteen years, GK has developed best practices, curricula, reports, and resources to support other institutions in their development of digital media programming.

College & Career Readiness

Global Kids programming significantly increases a young person’s chances of graduating from high school and attending college. Participants get an early start on college applications, explore academic and career options, get inspired about their futures and succeed in today’s increasingly globalized workplace. Global Kids provides youth with ongoing support and mentoring with activities like one-on-one college counseling sessions, college exploration workshops, goal setting, career days at corporate and government offices, panels with professionals from multiple sectors, resume building workshops, interviewing skill sessions, and college tours.

International Travel

Global Kids participants have traveled to conferences, events and trained peers in over 30 countries. Each year, our youth have the opportunity to travel to places as diverse as Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Eritrea, Haiti, Japan, Kenya, Morocco, Northern Ireland, Peru, South Africa, and more.

Performance and Storytelling

Global Kids harnesses the power of performance, storytelling and interdisciplinary arts to give youth the tools they need to amplify their voices and perspectives. Conducted in collaboration with Ping Chong + Company, Undesirable Elements is a storytelling arts program that combines dance, music, spoken word and theater. Guest artists work with students to develop performance pieces that weave together students’ cultural heritage, personal stories, world history, and current events to share compelling stories that tackle a myriad of social issues. In partnership with the Harnisch Foundation, Global Kids offers a gender specific program called Funny Girls at several of our middle schools. Funny Girls harnesses the power of improv to teach girls in Global Kids programming how to empower themselves, to make their voices heard, and take on leadership roles. Additionally, thanks to an ongoing partnership with WNYC, Global Kids works with youth across our programs to utilize digital media arts to engage more deeply in their communities. The Radio Rookies program at Global Kids empowers youth to produce stories exploring important civic and personal issues.

Summer Programs

To address summer learning loss and provide more intensive learning opportunities for our young people, Global Kids conducts and array of summer programming options:

“U.S. in the World” Summer Institute 

Each summer up to 30 Global Kids youth leaders gain access to the resources of the world’s leading international affairs think tank, the Council on Foreign Relations. Through this unique three-week summer institute, youth explore a variety of pressing global issues including the rise of ISIS, globalization and trade agreements, the security versus privacy debate, the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Israel/Palestine, international development, and much more. Workshops investigating these themes are combined with daily conversations with noted foreign policy experts like President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass, former US Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin, CFR Fellows Shannon O’Neil and Carla Anne Robbins, and award-winning journalist George Stephanopoulos.

Our 2019 “U.S. in the World” Summer Institute took place on July 8 – July 26, 2019. Check out the CFR Summer Institute photo album!

Summer Bridge Programs

At school sites across New York City, GK holds summer bridge programs for incoming 9th grade students that emphasize learning strategies for academic success, creating a positive school culture, responding to peer pressure, bullying and other issues, and building student capacity for leadership all in order to develop a cohort of committed ambassadors to drive positive peer culture. Activities include leadership training, interactive workshops on positive school culture, field trips and guest speakers.

College and Career Summer Institutes

In a number of boroughs, Global Kids holds week-long college and career summer institutes designed to provide students an early start on college applications, explore their academic and career options, and get inspired about their futures. Participants receive one-on-one support to conduct preliminary research on target schools, as well as determining their safety, match and reach schools, and identify deadlines for applications. Youth will also have an opportunity to explore scholarship options, work on their personal statements and fill out the CUNY/SUNY Common Application.

Summer Internships

Through support from the Department of Youth and Community Development, Global Kids places dozens of students in summer internships at sites across New York City. Students will gain marketable work skills as they are exposed to a variety of workplace settings in the non-profit, public and private sectors and receive career readiness training from our staff.

Middle School Summer Camps

Scores of middle schools participate in GK’s free summer camp program, where youth learn digital media skills, explore global citizenship through field trips, and participate in myriad hands-on learning activities.

The 2019 Global Kids Summer Camp occurred from July 8 – August 2, 2019. 

The MBYLI Global Education Program

Funded by the Department of Employment Services, and run through a special partnership between Global Kids-DC and the Marion Barry Youth Leadership Institute (MBYLI), the Global Education Program is a year-round program that trains youth in global affairs and exposes them to careers in international affairs. Aligned with Global Kids’ mission, the Global Education Program aims to develop youth leaders for the global stage. Program participants are trained through weekly workshops during the School Year Program and a Summer Intensive Training institute that engages youth in meaningful international affairs content and career paths. After successful completion of the school-year and summer programs, youth are also given the opportunity to apply and participate in a two-week international trip. In the summer of 2015, 2016 and 2017, students visited South Africa in culminating activities, designed to synthesize their leadership skills and career futures.

Washington, DC Summer Institute

Funded through 21st Century Community Learning Centers and OSSE in DC, the Global Kids Summer Institute brings together youth from our school year programs at Anacostia HS, Ballou HS, McKinley Tech, and Dunbar HS for an intensive summer learning program which focuses on leadership, social justice, global citizenship, and civic engagement. Participants develop service-learning projects, explore arts and activism, engage in international affairs content, and develop critical skills which bolster their critical thinking, literacy, and other 21st Century skills.