"Young people have the wisdom and the tools to ensure a sustainable planet. Now, you are our teachers. How Can We Help?"
ACS Athens president, Dr. Peggy Pelonis, was interviewed during the summit and shared some of the key points of that interview.
When asked if she could tell students one thing about sustainability, what would that be? She said:
When asked what some of the lessons learned from the pandemic were and ways in which we can improve Ed Tech she responded by saying:
"The important thing with Ed Tech is to have very well designed synchronous and asynchronous courses. This will support more independent learners across the world and ensure that there is a balance in screen time so that it's not detrimental. The next important thing is to train teachers to create well designed synch and asynch courses".
"When we come from a place of wellbeing, we project good things to the world; good things about ourselves, other people and about the community”.
Dr. Pelonis continued in saying:
"The first step is raising awareness among those who do have access to education or are decision makers in education, about who and where in the world there is no access. The next step is taking responsibility to provide access both individually and collectively. This not only benefits the individual but makes for a stronger planet."
Wendy Kopp, Teach for All
"Culture and education are interdependent. We are all products of the culture within which we grew up and these cultural patterns influence and inform education. Imagine what happens in multicultural cities or environments or in international schools where different nationalities come together; how cool is that? how colorful"!
One unique aspect of this year's WISE summit is that young people took center stage. These change makers in education selected their own topics and speakers to actively contribute to the discussion.
Among these participants, Dr. Pelonis singled out Wendy Kopp of Teach for All and Archica Droga, a young university student and entrepreneur, whom she had the pleasure of working with since her high school days.