From 23-25 March, eight ISA students represented the school at the annual European Global Issues Network (GIN) conference at the Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg. The conference was a culmination of several months of brainstorming, planning and student-led activities aimed at providing a solution to one of the 20 global issues that form the foundation of GIN.

This year’s theme was Facilitating Sustainable Change through Education and Integration. Students developed two projects that demonstrated their practical knowledge of the topic and how to apply their own solution through service in the local community. Both ISA projects explored ways to overcome linguistic barriers when interacting with a local Dutch-speaking environment.

“It was interesting to see which other projects were developed by other schools. It was a good way to learn from others and inspired our groups to look at new ways to develop our projects. I felt very happy with our project after presenting it at the conference,” said Hannah Boyles, one of the ISA students who  attended the conference.

The first project explored the integration of different ISA-related communities through interaction with Art. The group visited De Schakel, an Amstelveen-based activity centre for adults with mental disabilities, where they interacted with a group of painters, and later  visited Klaasje Zevenster, a local elderly centre.

The second project was a collaboration between the ISA GIN students and the independently-run Refugee Buddy Project, which attempts to bridge the gap between the international ISA community and the local refugee community in Amstelveen. ISA students have partnered with refugee students from a local high school for various social activities such as a community concert, a movie night and recently a cooking session at the school.

Another ISA student, Bailey Ransom said the experience was beneficial to all involved because it enabled the international community at ISA to interact with the local Dutch community.

Eight students from ISA travelled to Luxembourg to present at the conference, however there were numerous other students involved in the projects and activities demonstrating the students’ commitment to engaging with their local community and exploring innovative solutions to issues of global importance.

What would you do if you knew you would succeed?

The ISA Upper School hosted a screening of the documentary film ‘The Empowerment Project’ on 2 November.  The event opened with introductions from student leaders from ISA’s two student feminist groups – Like a Girl and Girl Up –  outlining the role that today’s young feminist at ISA wish to play in the fight for equality. Both groups are new to ISA this year and work to address issues surrounding inequality and human rights violations for women and children.

The documentary showcased a group of women documentary filmmakers as they travelled across the United States to interview strong female role models in a variety of industries from science to non-profit management and military leadership. Following the screening, the student group leaders moderated a Q&A sessions between the filmmakers Sarah Moshman and Dana Cook and the over 100 student and parent attendees.

On 25 August, ISA welcomed over 1300 students and their families to campus for the first day of school. The halls of ISA came alive again as friends shared hugs and told stories from their exciting summer vacations. There is no doubt that this year will be filled with new memories, friendships, and accomplishments.

At the end of the last school year, the high school student body elected three new Student Council leaders. These students will serve as role models and advocates for their fellow students as they plan and implement a variety of projects over the next year. We look forward to seeing what they have in store.

The newly elected members are:

President: Ari Economon
Vice-President: Ryan Collins
Secretary/Treasurer: Blanca Carmont-Zaragoza