St. Timothy's School: Inquiry, Knowledge and Caring

"International education is critical to our ability to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring leaders -- leaders who help create a better and more peaceful world through global understanding and respect." -- Randy Stevens, H...

St. Timothy's School: Inquiry, Knowledge and Caring

"International education is critical to our ability to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring leaders -- leaders who help create a better and more peaceful world through global understanding and respect." -- Randy Stevens, Head of School

 

Educating global citizens is nothing new to St. Timothy's. In the 1960s, juniors traveled across borders in the school's Latin American Summer Program. In the 21st Century, the Board of Trustee's strategic plan focused on international education, leading to the creation of the Global Immersion Program (GIP) as a stepping-stone to implement the International Baccalaureate Program in fall 2006.

 

Today the GIP integrates the school's curriculum with experiential learning. In 2004, after the girls read Reading Lolita in Tehran, author Azar Nafisi visited the school to talk about human rights, political freedom, and imagination. In the spring, Sheila Sisulu, deputy director of the World Food Programme, visited the campus to speak about poverty and AIDS. 

 

Next, students embarked on a South African Sojourn, where they carefully considered the impact of poverty, AIDS, women and leadership, and sustainability (and discussed these issues with Archbishop Desmond Tutu). A scholarship program ensured that any student interested could participate.

 

The visit didn't end once the girls stepped off the airplane on to U.S. soil; St. Timothy's students used the school computers to continue to talk with students in South Africa as they collaborated on the NAIS Challenge 20/20 project.  Students also presented to a local public middle school and the Cathedral of Incarnation in Baltimore to help educate others about South Africa.

 

Students prepared a presentation for the entire school regarding the genocide in Rwanda.  Paul Rusesabagina, inspiration for the movie Hotel Rwanda, spoke at the school in February 2006 about how the heroic actions of one person can make a difference.  A program has been developed for student travel to Peru over summer 2006. Students have attended summits and educational sessions at the United Nations, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund.

 

In addition, students have visited various missions to the UN to learn about different countries and their perspectives on world politics.  Students now regularly participate in a Model UN and an Amnesty International Club. The girls have spearheaded a fund-raising project to support an orphanage they visited in South Africa. The GIP helps prepare students for the IB program, but it's much more than that. It's a way to fulfill St. Timothy's mission: "to prepare girls to assume positions of leadership with moral focus and courage, intellectual honesty and acumen, and the confidence to act as responsible and ethical global citizens."