2010 Global Action Week Events around the Nation
USA 2010 - © Chris Stelmarski Bryan Namoff, Jessica Alba and Congresswoman Nita Lowey at a press conference announcing the Education for All Act on April 21, 2010.
From coast to coast, students, teachers, politicians, celebrities and soccer players joined together during this year’s Global Action Week to make a difference for the millions of children around the world who do not have access to a primary education. Part of a series of events around the world, Global Action Week in the US took place April 19-25 and marked the launch of the 1GOAL: Education for All campaign, an initiative to make Education for All the legacy of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Global Action Week in Washington, DC
In the nation’s capital, GCE-US hosted a standing-room-only press conference on Capitol Hill, where Congresswoman Nita Lowey introduced the bipartisan Education for All Act of 2010. The bill, co-sponsored by Congressman Dave Reichert, provides a roadmap to create a Global Fund for Education. Actress Jessica Alba joined the event to launch the 1GOAL: Education for All campaign in the United States.
Lily Eskelsen, vice president of the National Education Association, and Francine Lawrence, vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and president of the Toledo Federation of Teachers, spoke at the conference. Representatives from the DC United soccer team and GCE-US coalition members attended to show their support for Education for All.
Fourth-grade students from Rock Creek Valley Elementary School in Rockville, Maryland also attended the press conference to present Jessica Alba and Congresswoman Lowey with letters they wrote in support of global education.
To view a slideshow of the April 21, 2010 press conference, click here.
Global Action Week at School
Using the Lesson for All in their classrooms, teachers played a crucial role in spreading the word about the urgent need for education for all children during the 2010 Global Action Week in the United States. In classrooms across the country, students learned about the millions of children who do not attend school. They learned that 72 million children of primary school age are not in school because they have to work, they can’t afford school fees or because they are girls.
In one sixth-grade classroom in Palm Bay, Florida, Tracy Lally used the Lesson for All activities in her social studies lesson. Her students wrote to their representative in Congress and Congresswoman Nita Lowey, one of the sponsors of the EFA Act.
One sixth-grade student wrote to Rep. Lowey, “You should support the 1GOAL Campaign because the kids that are not educated could be our next world leaders. They should become educated because the educated people can help end poverty. They can also help make other countries a better place and end war and make peace.” To read more letters from Tracy Lally’s class, visit the American Federation of Teachers’ 1GOAL website.
Watch Tracy Lally teach the Lesson for All in her class.
Events around the Nation
Students and teachers, citizens and GCE-US coalition members hosted exciting events throughout the week to raise awareness about the challenges of global education.
- In New York City, the National Education Association worked with the John Lennon Education Tour Bus, a non-profit, state-of-the-art mobile audio and HD video recording and production studio, to allow high school students to create original music videos with the 1GOAL theme.
- In Philadelphia, community leaders and activists participated in a workshop to highlight the needs of the millions of out-of-school children around the world. In Denver, Colorado, more than 200 students, government leaders, teachers, and professional soccer players attended a rally at the Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy to raise awareness about Education for All. More than 30 teachers in four school in Denver pledged to teach the Lesson for All in their classrooms.
- In Florida, teachers and students participated in a roundtable discussion about Global Education at Emerald Cove Elementary School in Wellington.
To view a slideshow of just some of the exciting events around the country during 2010 Global Action Week, click here.
Did you host an event during Global Action Week this year? Email info@campaignforeducationusa.org to send us photos and tell us what you did.
