Global Themes

The Year of food, 2.0: 2024-2025
 

For more than a decade, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) has enlivened Pace Academy’s mission: To create prepared, confident citizens of the world. Through in-depth exploration of annual global themes—among them Water, Climate, Conservation, Energy and, this year, Food—Pace students in all divisions, guided by expert faculty, have developed leadership skills, cultural awareness and global mindsets while becoming thoughtful, engaged global citizens.

The 2024-2025 school year marks the Pace community’s second study of Food. “This year’s freshmen were in Pre-First during our first Year of Food,” says ICGL Director Trish Anderson. “This time around, they’ll examine food from a very different perspective, building upon and incorporating their knowledge of previous years’ ICGL themes.”

To prepare for the year and to integrate learning around Food into classroom curriculum, cohorts of Lower and Middle School faculty engaged in immersive travel experiences this past spring. Two groups of Middle School teachers journeyed abroad: one team spent time in Chile, the other in Thailand. The Lower School cohort—one teacher from every grade level and several specialists—also traveled to Thailand. 

The cohorts’ experiences, as well as a series of essential questions, will frame students’ learning in the Lower and Middle Schools. Collectively, Lower School students will ask, “Where does our food come from?,” “How does food tell the story of past and present cultures?” and “How does food connect the planet and people?” Interactive exhibits throughout the Kam Memar Lower School, designed by cohort members, will bring these questions to life and introduce the experiences in which faculty members engaged while in Thailand—activities such as seed saving, cooking classes and farming. Global Studies courses will offer additional opportunities for understanding and engagement. 

Similarly, three questions will shape Middle School students’ conversations and discoveries: “Who has access to food?,” “How does food influence culture, health and happiness?” and “How does food production impact the government, economics and the environment?” Weeklong Minimester and international study tours will further students’ understanding of the issues at play.

In the Upper School, the student-led ICGL Council will facilitate education around the theme; ICGL Food Highways Fellows—students committed to a two-year, co-curricular, team-based leadership program investigating global issues—will share their findings with the Pace community; and the 2024-2025 Isdell Global Leaders (see below) will engage in research, travel and independent study.

In all three divisions, ICGL Visiting Scholar Dr. Shauna Downs (see sidebar) will discuss in age-appropriate ways global food security and its interconnectedness with climate change and sustainable development. Additional speakers will shed light on issues related to food, at home and abroad. 

“Our hope is that, by the end of the year, all members of the Pace community will have a more nuanced understanding of the global food system, as well as the ability to think more critically about their food choices given the impact that food production has on human and environmental health,” Anderson says.