Stories

International Education Week: Bringing the World to U.S. Classrooms

Learning and understanding different people, places, and cultures is essential to educating and preparing today’s youth to lead in tomorrow’s world.

With that in mind, we’re hosting a series of educational activities and events, beginning November 16, to commemorate International Education Week in New York City, Manchester, N.H., and Washington, D.C. These events will bring 30 international interns and exchange program alumni into public elementary and middle school classrooms to lead discussions on their respective home cultures, customs, and traditions.

The group includes students and young professionals representing 12 different countries who are currently in the United States on professional exchanges as part of the U.S. Department of State’s J-1 Exchange Visitor Program.

This marks the seventh consecutive year that Cultural Vistas has organized this initiative as part of International Education Week, an annual celebration of the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.

Participating Schools (6):

Countries Represented (12):
Austria, England, Germany, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Netherlands, Qatar, South Korea, Sweden, Ukraine

Before next week’s activities, we asked some of our 30-plus #IEW2015 volunteers about the value of an international education. Here’s what they had to say:

“International education gives you a chance to learn about a diverse culture, which is completely different from your own.” – Lismawati Lapasi (Indonesia), Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative

 

“International education is like a bridge connecting people all around the world.” – Saetbyeol Seong (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

“Through international education, we have an opportunity to create lifelong relationships, learn about the world, and learn about ourselves” – Liz Shchepetylnykova (Ukraine), Edmund S. Muskie Internship Program

 

“Learning about the outside world is essential for younger generations in order to embrace other cultures from different countries.” – Dohyun Gwon (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

“Through international education, people can learn about other cultures, extend their abilities to understand them, and then cooperate with them.” – Jiyeon Kim (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

“Being internationally-educated is synonymous with independence and flexibility.” – Edoardo Piciucchi (Italy), Train USA J-1 Intern at Promontory Financial Group

 

“Nowadays, our world is globalized. This is the time when cultural exchange is very important.” – Misong Ryu (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

“We live in the world. Not just one country.” – Jaemyung Lee (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

“International education is important because it allows us to know people who have different backgrounds.” – Masaki Hasuike (Japan), Train USA J-1 Trainee at JSAT International

 

“Understanding different cultures will be the most important thing in our future.” – Hyewon Kang (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

“The world has become interdependent and globalized. International education can provide information about how the world is evolving and what people can do for future generations.” – Mingyeong Lee (South Korea), Korea WEST

 

International Education Week volunteers (Left to Right): Hyejin Jin (South Korea), SunJeong Lee (Cultural Vistas staff), Eunsol Lee (South Korea), Alenka Krizenecky (Austria), Bosse Klama (Germany), Ben Schindler (Germany).

We’ve been hosting these International Education Week events since 2009?
Check out what we did in 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.