ICGL in Action

On Oct. 16, while seniors worked on college applications and sophomores and juniors took the PSAT, freshmen embarked on a community engagement experience with their Transitions groups.

Ten nonprofit organizations across Metra Atlanta hosted Pace students, who sorted clothing and books, prepared food and performed yard work. Transitions program faculty members served as chaperones and worked alongside the students.

Thanks to the following organizations for partnering with Pace to pull off this important day: Atlanta Beltline, Bloom Closet, Women's Community Kitchen, Sylvan Hills Learning Center, Easter Seals North Georgia, Helping Mamas, Purpose Built Schools Atlanta, Kashi Atlanta - Ma's Street Meals and Wylde Center (Hawk Hollow and Oakhurst Gardens). 

Sophomore Madison Auchincloss is one of 25 students in the Class of 2022 selected to participate in the ICGL Fellows program, a multi-year, co-curricular, team-based initiative that engages Upper School students in global issues. As a member of the Five Freedoms cohort, Auchincloss and her classmates are exploring the First Amendment. Read on for her reflections on a recent experience.

On Oct. 10, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) First Amendment Freedom of the Press Fellows attended the Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s (GFAF) 25th Annual Weltner Banquet. The Fellows met some of Georgia’s most prestigious journalists, judges and even Attorney General Chris Carr. 

GFAF President Richard Griffiths and GFAF co-founder Hyde Post spoke. Chief Justice Harold Melton delivered the keynote presentation and spoke from a personal place about the late Justice Harris Hines. Hines was a great defender of the First Amendment, who passed key legislation to help Georgia’s Sunshine Laws, which make public records available to everyone. He served as a Cobb County Superior Court judge and was honored posthumously with the Weltner Freedom of Information Award. Post was honored with the Founder’s Award. 

Through conversation with attendees, the Fellows were able to further understand just how deeply the First Amendment impacts journalists and those who work in law. 

On Sept. 20, Lauren Heuser, managing editor and strategy officer of News-Decoder, a global educational news service for young people, spoke with the staff of the MidKnight Times, Pace's Middle School newspaper.

News-Decoder partners with schools around the world and accompanies students through an editorial process that includes identifying story ideas, conducting reporting, consulting experts, developing multimedia content and publishing for a global audience.

“We help students develop journalistic skills and behaviors that make them better global citizens,” the organization says. Pace is the first school in the Southeastern U.S. to partner with News-Decoder.

Do you have a drawer full of plastic grocery bags, a stash of bubble wrap you don't know what to do with or a closet stuffed with old dry cleaning bags? We have you covered! 

In a cross-divisional collaboration, Pace has joined forces with the Center for Hard to Recycle Materials (CHaRM) to collect soft plastics now through Oct. 26. Municipal recyclers rarely accept this form of plastic, so CHaRM works to keep it out of landfills, oceans and waterways.

The Pace division that collects the most plastic will win a Trex bench made of recycled plastic. Drop items such as plastic grocery bags, dry cleaning bags, over-wrap on products like toilet paper or paper towels, bubble wrap/air cushions, Ziploc bags and other hard-to-recycle plastics in the labeled bins located in each division. Bins will also be available at the Fall Fair on Saturday, Oct. 26, the final day of the challenge. 

With the start of the 2019-2020 school year, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) launched the ICGL Fellows program, a multi-year, co-curricular, team-based initiative that engages Upper School students in global issues.

For the next two years, the 25 sophomores selected for the program, guided by faculty mentors, will explore one of the following concentration areas: Global Health, Art & Urban Sustainability, Food & Culture and Public Policy. 

Global Health Fellows’ studies involve a closer look at HIV/AIDS and its treatment. The group recently attended Emory University’s Vaccine Dinner Club, which brings together researchers, clinicians, policy makers and communicators interested in the practice of vaccine science.

Art & Urban Sustainability Fellows are exploring sound design and last month traveled to Ponce City Market to hear from Ben Coleman, curator of Flux Projects. FLUX 2019 will bring together multiple public art projects at Ponce City Market over several days in late September. Fellows will return to experience the sound art installation later this month. 

The Buford Highway Farmers Market provided our Food & Culture Fellows with the opportunity to dive deeper into the intersection of food culture and immigration along food corridors. Students sampled the market’s offerings, tasting foods they had never tasted before.

With freedom of the press as their primary topic, our Public Policy Fellows recently spent an afternoon with Richard T. Griffiths, president of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, which fights for government transparency and free speech.

Look for more updates regarding Fellows’ studies in the months to come!