V.I. Education Commissioner Dr. LaVerne Terry has joined Education Secretary Arne Duncan and the U.S. Education Department in celebrating the 12th annual International Education Week, which highlights the importance of cross-cultural education and exchange.
This year’s theme of “International Education: Inspiring Students Locally to Succeed Globally,” will be promoted through International Education Week activities held in public schools from Nov. 14-18, and throughout the school year.
“As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, we must provide all students with an outstanding education, which includes global competencies,” Secretary Duncan said in a recent letter to the commissioner. “These competencies include the understanding of other cultures, histories, languages and values.”
Since the first celebration of International Education Week in 2000, Terry said that the territory has continued to organize a variety of activities, including numerous open house events scheduled to begin Monday in various public schools. The events are designed to give parents a chance to interact with their child’s teachers, and learn what they and the other students are doing. Students also discuss and write related essays or poems, which are usually posted throughout the schools for visitors to read throughout the week.
On the national level, the U.S. Department of Education is exhibiting works from Arte Postale designed by VSA, an international organization on arts and disability affiliated with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The department is also partnering again with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to demonstrate he importance of a rigorous science, technology, engineering and math education, as well as the importance of cultural understanding and foreign language learning.
For more information or to post a school’s International Education Week events online, visit http://iew.state.gov.