TGS and PTIS students worked together on their first mathematics integrated project with a host school. Students built catapults and worked in groups to determine the quadratic function that modelled the trajectory of their M&Ms. They then used this quadratic function to determine how far away their catapults needed to be placed from a target in order to hit the target. Overall, it was a very exciting math activity that allowed our students to interact with other 10th grade math students and to apply their mathematical skills.

Tony Wagner, Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard University, speaks to THINK Global School and Traidhos Three Generation Community for Learning about his newest book, Creating Innovators. Students and faculty engage in a dialogue with this renowned educational consultant on technology, skills, and preparing learners for the 21st century.

Dear Parents,

As I write this email my skin is soaking up the early afternoon rays. In an attempt at escaping from my computer screen and appreciating the day, I am sitting by the massive swimming pool. I have a pen in my hand and a notebook in my lap. Although writing on paper and then typing later adds to the amount of work I have to do, I’ve found that stepping away from routine often puts a new perspective on what’s at hand. This could not have been truer this past week.

On Thursday, February 2nd the students and Residential Life Staff said goodbye to the teachers and the PTIS campus and boarded vans. We headed off to a hill tribe village about an hour and a half away from campus. The trip served a multitude of purposes. We participated in community service, learned about the Palong Hill Tribe (a group of Burmese living in Northern Thailand), played with children, slept in tents, sat around a campfire and learned many things about each other. Those three days gave me a new perspective on the people who make TGS what it is.

Our project was centered in the village’s school. In three days we built a bathroom, created a cement path around one of the classrooms, and built a bamboo fence around the perimeter. Teamwork, enthusiasm and determination were the driving forces that enabled us to complete the project.

The team consisted of TGS students and staff (Brad, Monique, Lindsay and I) plus special staff members Jo and Ashley in addition to children from the community. We formed lines and passed buckets full of sand and rocks from one hand to the next. We didn’t just build for people; we built with the same people who will continue to benefit from our efforts for years to come. Jo and Lindsay captured the teamwork and special moments on film and many of the photos are already on SPOT.

While the work was physically demanding and the sun was hot, everyone remained in good spirits. Being outside, away from technology or other distractions, we found ourselves engaging in conversations. I learned a lot about everyone. Not only did I learn little bits about people’s lives, I learned that many TGS students love playing with little kids. Yada and Charis, our Thai students, shined as interpreters and through their language skills and everyone’s body language and patience, our students became big brothers and sisters to a group of energetic and happy kids. At the end of each workday we cleaned our tools, said goodbye to our new friends, and rode in trucks back to our camp. Each night we ate a Thai feast and then sat around a campfire.

Although I enjoyed every moment of the trip, my highlight was sitting around the campfire with the unique and fantastic students and staff that make up TGS. On our last night we engaged the students in a processing exercise that required everyone to take on a role and to discuss tourism based on their persona’s perspective. What ensued was a thoughtful, inquisitive, deep and impressive conversation. I have worked with hundreds of international high school students, but I have never been surrounded by such a thoughtful and intelligent group of teenagers.

These teens, your teen, remained engaged and outspoken for two hours. Their curiosity and global citizenship were apparent and it was obvious that they were enjoying the conversation. The discussion eventually came to an end and then everyone shared something they appreciated about the person sitting to their left as well as something they learned about that person.

After the last thought was shared, a sense of pride and appreciation washed over me. I feel fortunate to be supporting and facilitating the growth of these youth into intelligent, balanced, and inquisitive global citizens. I hope that after reading this, you feel something similar about your son or daughter. Be proud.

I know that my positivity and overall good feeling about the trip is shared by everyone who participated in it. In an attempt to continue the momentum, we will be having a bonfire on the PTIS campus Sunday night. We will continue to engage students in thought provoking conversations while they roast marshmallows and bananas, and make s’mores (graham crackers, chocolate and roasted marshmallows). I can almost guarantee that the night will end with someone playing guitar and 25+ voices singing along.

Stepping away from our usual routine enabled us all to appreciate each other as well as the opportunities and experience we have had and the ones that lie ahead.

Hugs from Thailand,
-Yosefa Gilon

Prejudice cannot see the things that are because it is always looking for things that aren’t.

-Unknown.

The world we live in is inhabited by all sorts of different people, yet we are all the same in a way. Differences, however, can scare us and make us come with judgements without concrete reasons. This can lead to a negative division not to anyone’s advantage. In the short story “Priscilla the Cambodian” from the book Sightseeing, Rattawut Lapcharoensap uses a change in the main character’s attitude to elucidate a broader prejudice against Cambodians in Thai culture and pose a possible solution.

Prejudice is caused by the lack of understanding. The Thais in this story are raised with comments that Cambodians bring diseases and rats, and even that they are “the real rats” (1429). The main character was taught by his parents to be scared of the “Khmer Rouge” (1320), in which Khmer means Cambodian. He doesn’t even know what “Khmer Rouge” means, yet his guess is it’s bad. This causes fear in him towards Cambodians and thus a barrier between the people.The main character’s friendship with Priscilla breaks this barrier, changing how he thinks of Cambodians. The author here explores the area of how friendship between children could bring forth changes in prejudice between groups of people. Younger people tend to have a less solid view of things. They are more open to changes and new ideas.

The main character’s change of attitude gives a comparison between before and after. “Before we met Priscilla, Dong and I in our unflappable boredom would sometimes stand on the rail and throw rocks just to hear the satisfying clang on the Cambodians’ corrugated roofs” (1267). This states the change of how he used to treat the refugees with no respect, but somehow he changed after meeting Priscilla. In the beginning, his view on the Cambodians was much influenced by the views of his parents. However, getting to know one of them allowed him to see things from their point of view, and how they are in reality. When his father’s friends were drunk, the character had felt the urge to “tell the men that the refugees had built a proper outhouse hidden discreetly behind a hedge”(1432), and that they “didn’t s**t and p**s indiscriminately like Father had said” (1432). He, unlike the adults he used to believe, had finally gotten to know the Cambodians and see life from the other side. It might have been the Thai culture of that fear for adults that stopped him from saying it out loud. Hopefully, getting to know other cultures and seeing the contradiction would encourage him to say out the truth despite cultural barriers.

“Priscilla the Cambodian” goes through a climax where the change of the character’s attitude becomes clear. The new idea of having empathy for the refugees is put in the spotlight when the guys in the development burned the Cambodians’ shantytown. “I walked down the stairs with my heart in my mouth” (1446). When he saw the clues that lead to the prediction of what his father might be doing, he feels sorry for the victims. His description of the fire as “that awful red flickering” (1446) shows the grief he feels for the Cambodians’ shantytown being burnt. He asks, “What about Priscilla?” (1446). This suggests the fact that friendship gives space for empathy and care. Thais are actually known to be kind, and so it shouldn’t be too hard for them to accept a new people once they defeat their fear of the unknown. It brought a big change to one person, and that one person could bring a change to another person, and so forth. This could branch out into even hundreds of people with changed minds, just by that one person.

Prejudice is mostly caused not by logical reason, but rather the lack of understanding. Rattawut Lapcharoensap states in “Priscilla the Cambodian” that realizing this could bring forth a change. Most adults are harder to convince of a new idea, but children aren’t. Everyone should be allowed to explore their opinions. Adults might have a messed up idea, but children shouldn’t be led to that too.

Project #1: Fish Pond/Cement Slab

Students worked together to dig a large enough hole to create a fish pond that will help to promote sustainability within the community, as they usually go to the river daily to fish. A pond will allow them to maintain the fish longer and help teach the children responsibility. The dirt was repurposed to make the ground level with the outside of the building where we laid cement.

Project #2: Bamboo Fence

Another group lugged over large bundles of bamboo and spread out along a barbed wire fence. The bamboo has been cut into thin lengths and pieces were woven in and out of the barbed wire to create a fence that was more pleasing to the eye – not to mention a little safer. As TGS took to making the fence, local children came out and started helping by handing bamboo to us, some weaving pieces themselves.

Project #3: Boys and Girls Bathroom

The new toilets for the school already had the wood beams erected. Students got to work mixing cement and laying bricks to create walls around the space and close it in. There were numerous local people helping keep the brickwork level and in line, while giving tips about how to mix cement and the right amount to lay out to keep the bricks together. Groups switched from task to task every hour or so, and there were plenty of breaks for shade, snacks, and water.

Photography by Joann McPike and Lindsay Clark

The first thing we saw of the community was a bridge. A home-built, rough bridge made of thick trunks and tree planks. It was one of those bridges you don’t really know what to expect from, but as you walk on it is surprisingly stable. I feel like this bridge mirrored the village and its inhabitants well. I didn’t know what to expect from them at first, but when we started working, they helped and made the day so much better- especially the kids. It was amazing to see how these small 6-year-olds would just grab a hoe from one of us and start digging, or join our chain and pass heavy buckets of cement or dirt to the next person. I felt like they were truly grateful for our help, and they wanted to thank us with more than words. It might not be true, but that is how they made me feel.

I don’t know how I’d feel about the visit without the kids there. I would’ve gotten a great experience, but I’d probably not remember it as fun, and as a place I’d want to go back to. Working with smiles and laughter surrounding you makes any labor a thousand times better. When two kids come running towards you and start tickling you with broad grins on their faces, it enchants your day. The language barrier didn’t matter, but lucky as I am, we had Yada in our group. She could pass on information like the fact that I apparently have ‘a giant’s teeth.’

I have not only learned how to build a bathroom, make a barbwire-bamboo fence, or how to make concrete (I still remember the proportions of one sack of cement, fourteen buckets of sand, twenty buckets of gravel etc.), but I’ve learned a lot about my fellow TGS friends. I though that after three months with them, I’d know almost everything about them. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Now I’ve seen people I never would have imagined being the center of attention, and it was due to the children being involved. I’ve also seen people I never envisioned doing dirty jobs build a barbwire fence while stepping in ‘human waste’. Also, I’ve learned more about myself. Apparently, I’m deadly scared of a Swedish lullaby as Alice kindly reminded me about. I’m also awfully bad at remembering Thai names, and I can actually sleep on rock-hard pillows.

This is a trip I’ll remember forever. At first I didn’t think it would top the Chimborazo visit. I thought it would be the same, hard work with TGS and fun nights. I was right about the hard work and the fun nights, but it was so much more than that. Instead of working in the Hill Tribe, we worked with them.

Dear TGS,

WE HAD SEEN HIM in the back of the class, walking around, watching us. With a shock of peppered white hair and a smile permanently tugging the corners of his mouth, he is the picture of a man happy with his life. He didn’t speak much; sometimes, he’d ask us what we were doing. It was only until two days later that we were formally introduced to him, the Harvard professor Tony Wagner.

Dressed in a Hawaiian-inspired shirt and casual pants, little would have expected the man who walked onto the stage to be of such responsibility and passion. Most would think such dignity and wisdom would be encased in a suit and tie and a serious expression to match.

They enter smart, and they leave smart. The question is, are they innovative?

His eyes light up and he waves his hands while he speaks, drawing out the problems in education rarely spoken about. There are 7 skills that young people need to succeed:

• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
• Agility and adaptability
• Initiative and entreprenership
• Effective oral and written communication
• Accessing and analyzing information
• Curiosity and imagination

The world operates digitally now, and education must be adjusted to suit the younger generation as “digital natives” and the hope for the future.

Education is the most isolated part of society in evolution, falling behind science and technology. Wagner mentions how even the best schools rely on textbooks, a one way “consumation” of information, nonexistent student-teacher relationships, and rote memorization. This education completely contradicts the working world, where information is at our fingertips and collaboration and communication is key. How can our children be expected to solve the mounting world problems when the skills needed is not cultivated in them?

His honesty cuts deep into everyone. Educators are leaving the education system outdated because they are so isolated themselves. They live most of their teaching lives alone, not seeing the importance of digital devices and communication skills. Because of the problem trickling down the stream from educators to students, students come out of high school unable to formulate their own thoughts into clear concepts, unable to analyze, and unable to solve problems.

After a moment of silence, questions start pouring in, first from Anat, A’ntonia, and Charis, and then from Alex, and a PTIS teacher.

How can students form good, trusting relationships in big classes?
What about the schools without digital devices?
Aren’t we “consuming” you?
How can IB teachers incorporate digital media into the curriculum when the IB exam is a written one?

Wagner smiles at each question and answers with a heartbeat’s hesitation. Many of the questions are met with a nondefinite answer, but for every question he struggles to answer, he brings up and deepens other points such as the expanding technology world and the outdated methods of even the most prestigous curricula.

In the stretch of an hour, the unorthodox looking man had joked, explained, and smiled his way to a convinced audience. With a quick laugh and bow, he was off again, in the same quick and energetic manner of a youth.

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It might be difficult for others to really gauge what it’s like to be ‘on the ground’ with THINK Global School. Through these interviews with the traveling members of faculty and staff, it becomes evident what has drawn this unique group of people together at the world’s only global, mobile high school. These 12 individuals, representing 6 countries, speak about what the blend of travel and education means to them.

Although I’ve had a great life so far, I felt like a part of me is still missing, an urge to discover something that I haven’t yet had the chance to experience. Once I was used to this feeling, I found out about THINK Global School. I sent in my application, which was filled with a video biography, designs from my shirts, and a few other things that I had put together. I received an email of acceptance, and I was astonished. No other emotion or thought was in my brain, just the feeling of astonishment.

Ideas on expired goods. What goes through your head when you see fine looking ‘expired’ food?