The Global Schools Program recognizes seven outstanding Advocates of the month from the international network. Read their stories below.
Handrich John Paul Hernando
"Handrich is a Coordinator of the Social Impact and Sustainability Program (SISP) at The Harbour School in Hong Kong. During his first month as a Global School Advocate, Handrich together with the SISP team were able to conduct 15 ESD Activities for Junior Grade 1 to Grade 8 students. They conducted different initiatives such as School Awareness Talks, Workshops, a Storytelling session, and field activities in partnership with seven outstanding NGOs including World Vision HK, HK Dog Rescue, etc.
As a build-up on their ESD activities, Handrich and the SISP team have conducted a Sustainability Survey for 200+ students and presented it to the whole teaching faculty, and arranged a UNICEF mini roadshow to promote SDGs. Handrich is looking forward to developing more ESD activities in his school and promoting Sustainability to create a bigger impact in their community."
Maria Stella Ficai
"Maria Stella Ficai teaches Global Citizenship Education in a high school, Liceo Vittoria Colonna-Arezzo-Italy. In her language course, the 17 SDGs have been integrated into the curriculum through project-based, cross-curricular learning. The students learn-think-share-act for the SDGs, they are constantly encouraged to be active participants in their school community, they act both locally and globally. As a Global School Advocate, Stella has inspired colleagues to integrate Agenda 2030 in their programs. In 2020 she was awarded the first national prize in the ASviS (Italian Association for Sustainable Development) competition for high schools for implementing a long-term project focused on SDG13-14-15 and the principles of the Italian Constitution. During the ASviS Festival 2021 she has organized the event 'EducAtion: towards school 2030' which is held on October 13th, 2021 in Rondine Cittadella della Pace, to celebrate the interconnection between SDG 4-16-17. Her students take part in TAG projects: Climate Action Project, Goals Project, Rethink Plastic Challenge."
Mark Adjei Tetteh
Mark "is a creative high school economics tutor and head of Global exchanges in an IB World School. As a Global Schools Advocate, he is passionate about integrating SDG goals in economics lessons and school-wide global exchange initiatives, with the ultimate aim of positively nudging students into taking actions that involve more sustainable lifestyle choices."
Rubi Choudhary
"Ms. Rubi Choudhary...holds interactive discussions with the students and educators on the topics of SDGs and other social, environmental issues. She makes meaningful connections of various SDGs with subject content and real-world situations and all her teaching is application-based. She believes that implementation of SDGs is the need of the hour and creating awareness about the challenges related to Social, Environmental, and Economic issues and taking appropriate action to achieve SDGs target by 2030 should be an intrinsic part of the life and ethos of every school on this planet. In pursuance of the same, under the guidance of Principal-cum-Director Ms. Manju Rana, Rubi formed an SDG Club at SETH ANANDRAM JAIPURIA SCHOOL consisting of dedicated teachers and students from different wings of the school. She introduced all SDGs to educators and students in the school through convening meetings of stakeholders. Special school assemblies are being organized to introduce SDGs to students, teachers, and parents. Groups of educators were formed at different levels to prepare content and integrate SDGs in curriculum progression and the same is being successfully implemented at a deeper level through various curricular and co-curricular activities. She has successfully integrated SDG-3 and SDG13 at SAJS and received wonderful results and reflections from students on their learning. Teachers and students of SAJS are enthusiastically engaged in SDGs and are making efforts to ensure that it should not remain limited to classroom teaching but should extend beyond the classroom and develop responsible attitudes and commitment, both at home and in the wider community. Rubi strives to put in the best efforts in promoting SDGs for a better and Sustainable World."
Pankaj Rathore
"Mr.Pankaj Rathore's...work is reflected in the behavior of the school system and most importantly in his teachers and students. Every month his school takes a pledge to work on one SDG & targets associated with them. He is working hard to work on developing [ESD] competencies like Normative, System, Critical thinking, Creative & Collaborative, in his teachers & students. TED Talks associated with different SDGs are a strong way of connecting & spreading awareness according to his experience. The display of 17 SDGs goals in alignment with Global School's vision can be seen in his school campus. SDGs incorporation in the lesson plans has now become an integral part of his teachers' lesson planning. His teachers and children now know the art of weaving the right SDG with the learning objective of the lessons in different subjects. He is working hard to share his work with proper evidence with his fellow advocates on the social media page of the Global School Advocates group as he firmly believes that sharing is the best way of learning. His work is well appreciated by his community and he hopes he achieves greater heights and works more strongly for sustainability."
Patricia Bergström
"As an IB Coordinator at Colegio Arenas Sur, a private school on Gran Canaria, Patricia has been engaged in promoting SDGs indirectly for quite some years through her classes and IB department. Having had the privilege to take part in the Global Schools training and becoming a Global Schools Advocate has further motivated her to carry on with this work and expand it in a more direct manner, taking on the role of mentor and facilitator for her colleagues, supporting them in the integration of ESD in their classrooms, as well as providing the leadership team with valuable insights into how the SDGs can become an integral part of the school community as a whole. As part of this endeavor, her school has signed the Global Schools Pledge thus becoming one of the first ones in the Canary Islands to do so. In her classroom, Patricia has integrated awareness-raising and a focus on the SDGs in all her classes, planning projects through ESD and getting students to connect to the meaning of the SDGs on a deeper level, particularly through experiential learning carried out through the IB CAS experiences. Luckily, Patricia works at a school that is really backing this important work for a more sustainable present and future, and her colleagues are already coming up with amazing projects that she cannot wait to share with the Global Schools community. She has also contacted the local authorities to get them to collaborate on projects within the school which has proved very valuable in terms of insights. The students have got into how the Town Hall is dealing with the 2030 Agenda. In short, Patricia has incorporated ESD as her main teaching/learning philosophy and a focus on the SDGs into her daily life."
Shruti Sharma
" ‘I alone cannot change the world but I can cast a stone across the waters to create ripples’. Mother Teresa’s quote encapsulates Shruti Sharma’s journey as a Global Schools Advocate thus far. More so, the coronavirus pandemic has been a reckoning globally. While the medical impact of coronavirus is much talked about, the non-medical impact of the virus has been equally dangerous especially on education. It is ever more important to incorporate sustainability into the daily curriculum so that children inculcate community values from the start. Having near three decades of experience as a teacher of English in Biology, her current engagement for the past 15 years is with Wynberg Allen, a residential school nestled in the Himalayan foothills of Mussoorie, India. After a long period of uncertainty, her school reopened in the month of September. At the same time, she completed the training as an Advocate for the Global Schools Program. She adopted a top-to-bottom approach, gaining the trust of her school leadership, talking to the Principal and the Headmaster first. Then her colleagues through meetings and informal talks. Next, she conducted a short introductory workshop with Grade 9 (aged 14-15) who enthusiastically approached and learned the concepts, and took the task of making a display board on SDGs. The same group of eager 9th Graders led a school activity guided by her - this bright bunch made a PowerPoint presentation in the school assembly for 250 participants. This activity garnered attention and was widely appreciated, and consequently, an SDG club Mi Tierra was formed. By mid-September, she planned to delve deep into each SDG starting with SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production. The club members worked on this theme and identified different ways in which they could sensitize everyone. She also engaged Grade 10 students in a creative writing exercise on the topic - ‘Our Small Deeds can make a Big Impact on the Environment'. Her planning is grounded in the Global Schools’ lesson plans, and she is adapting it to the context which will resonate with the mission of the school. The appreciation received by the children motivates her to be more creative in her approach and also drives her to work harder in planning ESD activities. Towards the end of September, members of Mi Tierra organized another school activity on ‘Improper Mask Disposal and its Hazards’. SDG 3, 12, 14, and 15 were the focal points. Overall, she has been able to sensitize approximately 300 students and 35 teachers in school. The concept of SDGs has existed in essence in Wynberg-Allen school’s curriculum, but never has it been tackled in a dedicated manner. It has been a wonderful on-the-job learning experience for her, thanks to the Global School Program team for their guidance and support. In the coming months, her plan is to follow the same pattern and reach out to her network of teachers in other schools targeting children and members from different socio-economic backgrounds.”
