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“Serving. Caring. Reflective.” These three words describe the Global Citizenship Education (GCED) program at AISG, says Mr. Cheung, the program director. However, some students are unaware of what GCED stands for and simply refer to it as their “Tuesday club”. With 16 groups working towards their respective goals, it prompts the question, “What’s new this year?”
Every Tuesday, during activity block, students gather in a classroom, listening to their student coordinators, with a common goal. They join their respective clubs to work towards helping a specific group of people. From empowering children with cancer to helping the homeless community, the GCED program aims to make our local community better by helping people in need.
Like other groups at AISG, all 16 GCED groups are led by student coordinators who drive their groups to serve the community. Many of these groups have been part of the GCED program for a long time and have been serving the local Guangzhou community for years. However, with each change of leadership, the perspective and approach to service changes.
Grade 11 student Katherine, one of Connect for Cancer’s (C4C) new student coordinators, explains her group’s goals and her own goal as a coordinator. She says, “This year, we plan to organize more hospital trips with the kids every two weeks, spread awareness both within AISG and beyond, and establish a media presence to highlight our club’s activities.” She also expresses her hopes about the group’s members, “We hope to have committed members who support these families and learn more about the reality of living with cancer.”
Each GCED group establishes and revisits its mission and vision statement at the beginning of the year. This year, many new coordinators aspire to fulfill their mission statement. Crossroad’s new coordinator, grade 10 student Henry, explains, “Our goal this year is to realign with our mission and vision by continuously collecting and distributing resources. I hope to establish a weekly cycle in the GCED where we keep on collecting and shipping out resources, aligning with our mission and vision statements.”
Global Issues Network (GIN), a long-time GCED group, has student coordinators who are committed to advancing the group. One of the coordinators, grade 11 student Zoe, states, “Our primary focus moving forward will be to raise greater awareness of the needs of underprivileged students and to expand our scholarship offerings to provide them with enhanced educational opportunities.”
One of Migrant Link’s coordinators, grade 10 student Kyle, states his hopes for the group. “We want to expose migrant children to different places, cultures, and experiences, so we can show them how big the world is and how much they can explore. I hope we can organize more outings to build stronger relationships with the children and help them grow as individuals.”
This school year, a new group, Mind the Gaps, has been formed. They aim to help provide underprivileged youth with access to sport facilities and education. Grade 11 student Kevin, one of the coordinators, says “By the end of this year, we hope to establish a collective consciousness in one particular local school of viewing sport also as an important part of youth’s lives just as important as studying.”
Mr. Cheung also shares his hopes for the GCED groups this year. “I do hope each group takes the time to thoroughly analyze and assess each project critically to enhance the work they do when serving people, places, and things. This is imperative if we are to build an effective long-term and sustainable relationship.”
With all these varying goals and ideas, we can go back to what GCED truly is. Mr. Cheung describes, “Here at AISG, we want our students to understand that GCED is more than the occasional unpaid volunteer work or fundraising they may do. We hope our students recognize they are members of a global society with a common humanity. Our students are encouraged to question who or what they support and, more importantly, why. By reflecting on their own assumptions and biases, they will hopefully take on actions that address authentic needs in their local community.”
AISG’s GCED program aims to make our local community better by helping various groups in need. With the year just starting and our 16 determined groups, there is a lot in store for each respective group.
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