Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School District No.1

Published purpose

This project twins St. James School in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, with Presentation Brothers College in St. George, Grenada. The focus of the project is to foster a cultural exchange between the two schools and empower students to become active global citizens. It provides the students with the opportunity to identify a global issue that they care about, then develop and put into action a project tackling that issue. Working together, the two schools address three areas. The first is a cultural exchange through video conferencing and other technology. The second aspect is the environment, with students learning and designing projects about protecting an endangered ecosystem in their own country, then sharing what they have learned. The third aspect has students in Calgary collect and ship specific books to Grenada to bolster the school library at Presentation Brothers College. This project is part of a two-year pilot initiative designed to engage Canadian and developing-country teachers and students in joint learning projects. The International School Twinning Initiative (ISTI) aims to provide an enriched interactive learning environment to benefit both Canadian and developing-country classrooms. Through the ISTI, Canadian students and teachers gain greater insight into international development, a greater appreciation of their role as global citizens, and an enhanced ability to communicate international development issues. The ISTI is part of the Global Citizens Program, which seeks to raise awareness and increase knowledge of international development and provide opportunities for youth to participate in international development.