We’ve added new roles and expanded our team! iEARN-USA is delighted to announce the addition of five new members to our organization. These newly created positions will help iEARN-USA advance our goals and strategic priorities in order to provide impactful global education programs to K-12 youth, to support and train educators and youth workers, and to improve the quality of life on the planet. Please join us in welcoming these new team members.
Connie Rensink joined iEARN-USA in January 2020 as Director of Global Education and Outreach. As a global education specialist with 12 years of experience in the classroom, Connie is dedicated to helping teachers and schools integrate global competency into existing curriculum and her vision is to prepare students to flourish in an interconnected world. As Director of Global Education and Outreach, Connie is responsible for developing and implementing iEARN’s strategy to offer high-quality, engaging global learning opportunities for K-12 youth while growing the number of U.S. students engaging in iEARN projects and gaining global competence. She works hand-in-hand with the Director of Training and Professional Development to ensure alignment between youth programming and educator training. Connie believes relationships with internal and external partners, including iEARN’s International Network, are vital to enhance iEARN’s programming, expand our reach, and generate support for iEARN’s programs, and she is excited to foster these connections.
Sandra Randon joined iEARN-USA in March 2020 as Director of Development. Sandra is an international development specialist who most recently served as the Director of Business Development at STEAMRole Inc. Sandra joins iEARN-USA to lead the strategic direction and overall management of the fundraising operations across individual, corporate, foundation, event, and public funding sources. As the Director of Development, Sandra will serve as a key representative of iEARN-USA, engaging a broad spectrum of funders and supporters as the organization continues to grow and diversify its revenue streams. With significant fundraising experience and the ability to build strong and enduring relationships, Sandra will ensure iEARN-USA creates and delivers on its ambitious development plan.
Roshana Nabi joined iEARN-USA in March 2020 as Program Coordinator. Roshana has several years of project management experience with non-profit organizations in both New York City and Geneva, Switzerland. As Program Coordinator, Roshana will coordinate the activities for the launch of a new project called Design Squad Latinx. This project will meet the unique needs and challenges of Latinx students through fun and engaging STEM programming. The focus on adapting the program for Latinx students comes at a time when they are disproportionately underrepresented in STEM education and careers. In addition to working on Design Squad Latinx, Roshana also compiles and analyzes data on iEARN-USA’s teacher-led projects to help the organization assess project outcomes and impact.
Alexander Levin-Epstein joined iEARN-USA in March 2020 as Program and Communications Assistant. Alexander has several years of professional and academic experience working in cross-cultural exchange, social and youth development, and communications. Alexander assists with the organization’s programming by helping to implement events and projects with both the Grants Teams and the Education Team. In addition, Alexander is responsible for contributing to the development of a comprehensive digital communications strategy for the organization, as well as creating content across social media channels and our website, in order to highlight and share the impact that iEARN-USA has on students, alumni, educators, and the entire global education community.
Christa Miller joined iEARN-USA in March 2020 as Office Manager and HR Administrator. Christa is a dynamic Human Resources professional with more than 15 years of experience working with both profit and non-profit organizations. As Office Manager and HR Administrator, Christa is responsible for guaranteeing that our office runs efficiently and that our team members feel valued, supported, and appreciated. By fostering an environment in which the whole organization can flourish, Christa ensures that team members can focus on their work on a day-to-day basis.
Jennifer Russell, although not new to iEARN-USA, is stepping into a new position as Director of Training and Professional Development. In this role, Jennifer will create a comprehensive plan to train and develop educators and project facilitators to deliver meaningful virtual exchanges for K-12 youth. She will work with the international network and partners to develop and implement training activities such as online courses, webinars, workshops, and self-guided resources. She is looking forward to supporting iEARN’s community of passionate educators to lead impactful virtual exchange experiences for the youth they serve.
iEARN is offering educators a 60 Day Free Trial with access to Learning Circles and iEARN projects as a rich component of distance learning.
ACCESS TO OVER 100 IEARN PROJECTS – An iEARN project is a collaborative academic endeavor between two or more groups of students and educators in different parts of the world. These projects take on many forms, but most are rooted in project-based learning. Explore our projects HERE
SPECIAL EDITION OF HELLO WORLD LEARNING CIRCLE – This Five week Learning Circle invites teachers and students new to iEARN to connect with the classes across the world even while we are apart. This virtual exchange experience will introduce the basics of Learning Circles including Teacher Introductions, Class Surveys, and the Exchange of Information. Learn more HERE
We will receive your registration and approve it within 1 business day.
Congratulations to all the iEARN students from around the world who submitted their original art for the 2019 iEARN-USA Holiday Card Competition, with their interpretation of the theme of “Creating a More Peaceful World.”
The competition is inspired by the iEARN Global Project, Holiday Card Exchange, facilitated by Judy Barr from iEARN Australia, in which classrooms exchange holiday cards from their cultures with their international peers.
We received more than 100 entries from K-12 students from twelve countries: Belarus, Georgia, India, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Russia, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Ukraine, and the United States.
From this incredible selection of card submission, we’ve selected three winning designs which will be shared as iEARN-USA’s official holiday card designs for 2019!
The winning designs and all submission can be viewed below!
2019 iEARN-USA Holiday Card Competition Winners
All 2019 Holiday Card Competition Entries
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Through iEARN-USA’s programming and partnerships K-12 youth participate in transformational international experiences as as part of their education, supporting their growth to become globally competent citizens, ready to succeed in higher education, career and in life. Learn more about iEARN-USA by visiting https://us.iearn.org.
Inspired by the iEARN Global Project, Holiday Card Exchange, facilitated by Judy Barr from iEARN Australia, iEARN-USA is holding a Holiday Card contest and inviting any K-12 iEARN students from around the world to participate and design a holiday card. The contest runs from October 15, 2019-November 20, 2019.
The theme for this year’s competition is “Creating a More Peaceful World” and we’re looking for submission from youth sharing their universal wishes for a more peaceful world.
Enter the Contest
https://forms.gle/crQK35yPUs5cTqPD9
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Submission Criteria:
Contest Theme: Creating a More Peaceful World
Card Description: We are looking for cards that share universal holiday wishes for a more peaceful world
Original drawings/designs: cards can be hand drawn, painted, etc. or created digitally through a design platform of your choosing (i.e. illustrator, Canva)
# of Entries per student: one entry per student
Submission deadline: Extended to November 20th
Eligibility:
To be eligible to participate, the student must be in K-12 and associated with an iEARN educator
Our Spring 2019 iEARN Online Educator Course, Introduction to Online Collaboration and Global Projects, has come to an end. A total of 27 teachers from 16 countries successfully completed the course. They were from Albania, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Honduras, Paraguay, Philippines, Morocco, Sierra Leone, South Korea, Tunisia, Uganda, United States, and Uruguay. The teachers were split into two course sections led by experienced iEARN facilitators from Brazil and the United States.
The course taught participants about global project-based learning with iEARN. It prepared them to participate in a virtual exchange project with their class, and to collaborate with other teachers from around the world. Through the course, teachers learned how to integrate collaborative, project-based learning into their teaching practice while addressing local/national educational standards. They also discussed ways to prepare students for online global communication and project work, and to evaluate their learning. Following the online course, teachers select and implement an iEARN project in their classroom.
“Through a common, shared experience, I hope to help my students make global connections. My community is small, rural and somewhat isolated. My students are young and definitely need to learn more about the world; however, this learning will be more powerful if we are learning with the world as we learn about it.
I am excited to introduce my students to the UN SDGs and to iEARN. This project will increase not only world knowledge, but also unity and brotherhood. My goal is to reduce the isolation in which my students live.” – Molly Amen, United States
To learn more about Professional Development opportunities, click here. If you have any questions, please reach out to [email protected].
iEARN-USA announces the second annual Tonya Muro Leadership Award – an award to iEARN educators and youth to support learning or professional development opportunities, which allow them to excel as leaders and global citizens.
iEARN-USA experienced a great loss when its Executive Director, Tonya Muro, passed away on March 5th, 2018. Following her passing, iEARN-USA established the Tonya Muro Memorial Fund so that donations made in her memory will support her legacy and passion for global education. Each year, iEARN-USA recognizes and supports educators or youth leaders in the iEARN network for their commitment to building an interconnected, peaceful and just world as Tonya Muro Leadership Award recipients.
As we approach the one-year anniversary of her passing, we reflect on our memories of Tonya, her impact on teachers and youth in iEARN’s network, and look forward to continuing her legacy as a leader in global education.
The next leadership award nomination will open in 2020, and will support an iEARN educator or youth leader to attend the 2020 iEARN International Conference and Youth Summit. Check back for more information or subscribe to the iEARN-USA newsletter to receive notifications about all of iEARN-USA’s programs and opportunities.
In 2018, iEARN-USA presented the Tonya Muro Leadership Award to four promising global educators from the U.S. and around the world to attend the 2018 iEARN International Conference and Youth Summit, in Winchester, Virginia. Since last year’s conference, the award recipients have returned to their home communities and continued or started new global education activities locally. Their reflections, stories, and impact are included below.
Cristina Bosio Ferrer, Argentina
Cristina was honored to receive the Tonya Muro Leadership Award in 2018 and to attend the 2018 iEARN International Conference and Youth Summit. Following her attendance at the conference, she was featured in the local newspaper and on the radio in Argentina, including in El Mileno (pages 18-19).
“The most beneficial part of these meetings was the great cultural exchange we achieve, personal enrichment through knowledge, we strengthen friendships with those who share projects in networks, solidifying all we work in a virtual way, which becomes real during these days lived with so much joy and energy. From each encounter, we return to our homes with new ideas, and a strong push to continue creating new instances to share with colleagues and students and to encourage and promote those transformations that help to build a more livable, fair, democratic, free and solidary world within a framework of culture of peace.â€
In 2019, Cristina is working to host the Fourth iEARN Latina Meeting to be held July 8-10 in Asunción del Paraguay. She is also facilitating iEARN projects – Atlas of Diversity and Protectors in Action, as coordinates the Red TELAR iEARN Argentina along with Rosy Aguila and Adela Bini.
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Renee Day, USA
Renee Day is an highly active member of the iEARN community and a member of the iEARN-USA Global Education Ambassadors (GEA). Renee has found that iEARN projects engage students in all disciplines and allow students of all abilities to participate in global education. As part of the iEARN project, “Be Kind, Don’t Leave Them Behindâ€, Renee engaged her local community and school, Riverside’s Ramona High School, by incorporating the “USA for UNHCR Tent Walk: The Journey of Child Refugees,†which was featured in her local paper, The Press-Enterprise.
In the 2018-2019 school year, Renee continued to engage her students with global collaboration and project based learning, and community service opportunities: “I plan to continue the refugee project in order to raise awareness about the experience of child refugees and address the need for displaced children to receive an education. I plan to have students connect with local community groups and develop a partnership with iEARN teachers who also want to develop ways to deliver educational support to displaced children.â€
In November 2018, iEARN-USA Renee shared out her expertise in iEARN Global Projects and collaboration on a Global Educators Webinar, along with fellow GEA Laura Nietzer. Renee spoke at the 2018 iEARN International Conference and Youth Summit about her memories of Tonya: “We were all inspired by Dr. Muro’s passion and commitment to global education. Her vision to transform students’ learning experience through the virtual exchange opportunities provided by iEARN inspired my District leaders to commit to global education.â€
She also serves as the advisor for the Model United Nations program in which students engage with the local community to address global issues facing youth. Below is a video created by the Model UN at Ramona High School inspired by the iEARN Project Water is Life addressing UN SDGs 6 and 14.
Ramona High School’s Model UN “Water is Life” Project Video
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Allan Kakinda, Uganda
Allan expressed his gratitude for receiving the Tonya Muro Scholarship Award: “With the award and attendance of the iEARN 2018 conference, I was able to network, share and learn more global leaders. This renewed my commitment to global collaborative education and encouraged me to continue my work with iEARN. Additionally, I was able to establish new partnerships for iEARN Uganda such as Digital Promise that have seen our students now pick interest in 3D technology and video making.â€
Following the conference, Allan and iEARN Uganda have been working on a new collaboration with Digital Promise Global on the MY World 360º project. “It has helped many of the iEARN students in Uganda start to think about how to positively contribute to the SDGs and document these contributions as they learn to use the latest technology (3D Mobile Applications). We hope to use the new equipment donations, not just to improve our participation in the MY World 360º project, but also our overall participation in iEARN projects as well as improving the teaching and learning experience in the different schools.â€
Onesmo Ngowi, Tanzania
Through his scholarship experience, Onesemo Ngowi was inspired to launch a new program through iEARN-Tanzania, The Tonya Muro Global Leadership Scholars Program.
“Tonya Muro’s vision and philosophy of empowering girls, especially from underprivileged communities, will live on in Tanzania. Tonya had a great history with Tanzania and we feel honored to host this program.â€
In its first year, five Tanzanian women educators have been selected for the program and will receive a mentorship and training in leadership, technology, and entrepreneurship skills. The program will culminate in the the each scholar implementing a service project in their home communities related to gender equality, women’s rights, and quality education.
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