The Global Scholars program has undergone significant changes within the past year, which has led to a record number of 19 students enrolling in the senior capstone course, the final step of completing this program. First created in 2013, the Global Scholars program highlights the importance of diversity and understanding and encourages students to create a more connected world. When students complete the program, they receive a Global Scholars Certificate on their diploma. Social Studies teacher Heather Panahi, the current head of this program, says that this program “capitalize[s] on something at Dana that we do really well, which is preparing our students and impassioned global citizens.”
One change to the program is the new dinner symposiums, which will take place around twice a trimester when guests from the greater community come to Dana Hall. These dinners include conversations with the guest speaker and will be open to both students who are enrolled in the program and those who are not. According to Ms. Panahi, these dinner symposiums “expos[e] students to the changemakers of our community and learn from [the speakers].”
The second change that has been made is that community service has become a bigger part of the program. There is now an added service activity that all Global Scholars must complete before graduation, on top of the 20 hours of community service that all sophomores are required to complete. Science teacher Angela Macedo, director of community service, highlights which service trips are eligible for credit to this program.
Finally, previous students had to complete 12 global activities outside of class, such as going to a restaurant that serves food from around the world, and then write a reflective piece about each activity. However, students are now allowed to use an activity that they did in class as one of these 12 activities, as long as it connects to a global theme. According to Ella, a Dana Hall junior who is currently enrolled in this program, this change is helpful because “sometimes it’s hard to find times to get stamps and go to restaurants and so it’s really nice that [Ms. Panahi] ha[s] things at school that are built in.”
Overall, Ms. Panahi believes that these changes make this program more inclusive and equitable, such as the changes to get rid of the travel and B minus average requirements, as well as letting students include a class activity as one of their 12 stamps.