Global Citizen Program

In today's rapidly evolving and increasingly interconnected global community, it is not enough for an individual to only be concerned with their immediate surroundings. Without knowledge of the most important issues affecting the world today, there is little hope that we can effect change in the world of tomorrow. Shanghai High School International Division is proud to inaugurate a celebration of learning and cooperation during our Global Citizen Program where students will meet to discuss, collaborate, and explore both the state of the world as we know it and their own place in it.

The event is hosted on March 21st and 22nd, 2016. On the morning of March 21st, all Grade 11 students entered 7 different committee rooms to discuss their most concerned global issues in accordance with their pre-survey results. Below are brief introductions of what happened in each room.

1、Education: its value and its future

The committee on Education developed a detailed framework that built upon existing educational systems in developed nations to increase the employability of graduates, leveraged existing private and public infrastructure to expand online education to areas where conventional educational systems would be too expensive and inefficient, and specified the methods through which funding for educational improvements could be raised and transparently allocated.

The remarkably comprehensive and insightful proposals of the Education committee were formulated through intense debate and discussion by juniors, who were guided by Mr. Mark Seeley, Mr. Max Slonim, and one particularly grumpy and competitive senior Jeffrey Fu.

(12(1) Jeffrey Fu)

2、Sustainable Economics

The Sustainable Economics seminar at the first Global Citizen Program of SHSID focused on methods to reduce waste production and improve waste management at the consumers’ end. Under the guidance of Mr. Zachary Cluley and student chair Zixing Gu, the juniors engaged in intense discussions to develop innovative solutions such as a pay by bag trash disposal system that limits the amount of waste that each household can produce, a positive behavior incentivizing system that encourages environmental friendly behavior, and interactive multi-media platforms that can increase public awareness of the threat that waste posed to our economy’s sustainability.

（12（1）Zixing Gu）

3、Global Warming: the Current Situation

The “Global Warming” room of 16 students engaged in a heated debate chaired by Ms Kathy Cui, the teacher of AP Environmental Science, and Daniel Chu of 12(7), the co-president of SHSID IAA. Students went through different aspects of global warming and different priorities in solving it. In the end, students end up with a consensus around the importance of alternative energy, environmental education, and government collusion. They presented this topic to the entire junior student body, and Victor Yu from 12(1) got best speaker during the panel. The activity was a great learning experience for everyone.

（12（7）Daniel Chu）

4、Biomedicine: Great Potential and Ethical Problem

A group of around 20 students participated in a discussion lead by the teachers Mrs. Gu Ying, Mrs. Jiang Hao and the student chairs Jayden Liu and Cheryl Jiang. The three guided the students' discussion on "Biomedicine: Great Potential and Ethical Problems". Students tackled the topic from four main angles: potential technological advances, animal and human testing, bioethics, and relevant government regulations. Each student offered their unique insight into the problem, with some bringing up the limits of human biological potential, and others pointing out the flaws in current clinical trials.

（12（1）Jayden Liu）

5、Social Issues: Gender Equality in Labor Force

The seminar of Social Issues was led by Mr. Joseph Kozel and student chair Chelsy Wu. Sixteen junior-year students joined forces to discuss, debate, and seek solutions to combat the widespread gender inequality in the global workforce. Four groups were formed during the seminar in order to tackle four distinct facets of the rampant gender gap in the labor force: family leave, wage discrimination, sexual harassment, and the gendered-obstacles of employment. The students' proposed solutions encompassed varying approaches, whether it be through media, public policy, law, and business.

（12（1） Chelsy Wu）

6、Water Scarcity

“Drinkable water seems to be the most abundant compound on the earth” was perhaps the commonly accepted statement by every observer before the lecture was presented to us during the global citizen day. In fact, it was astonishing to realize that only a negligible portion of our daily water consumption comes from drink, the majority of them was consumed, wasted or polluted during productions of daily goods. Participants were suggested a few ways of how an individual could possibly save water, especially those “invisible water” consumed in production that shocked most of us. We drew posters that advocated multiple solutions to different water wastage and shared our thoughts and inspirations which took a step forward beyond mere awareness.

(11（1）Mark Wu)

7、Entrepreneurship

As the world is becoming more global, western culture starts to swarm into Chinese land. During the past few years, China faces global business challenges and cultural differences, which reshape the way people think and act. Education must be transformative and give students the understanding, skills and values they need to cooperate to tackle challenges.

We are very much honored to invite Mr. Mars Wang, the general manager at Terart to give us a speech about the challenges of entrepreneurship on the Global Citizen Program 2016. Based on his startup experience, Mr. Wang thinks life is a great and exciting adventure. Being an entrepreneur, you should be passionate about what you do and confident about what you sell, and most importantly, you need to have a detailed marketing plan and business management skills to ensure the success of the business. Mr. Wang shared his creative business ideas and cost efficient marketing strategies. He also emphasized the importance of product unique selling point and after-sale services solutions. After the speech, students were encouraged to present their own business ideas and approaches.

Starting a business is a daunting dream. You may have to overcome some major hurdles. Well, if you don’t try, you never know. Everyone’s life is different and the world itself is fascinating. Get ready to put your ambitious attitude into practice. You make your own fate.

(Bella Xia)