Empowering Student Action


BY RICHARD REILLY AND ELLEN THORNE


HKA student attendees: Front Row, Mia McDonald, Isabel Musco, Emily Brenker, Emily Rupper, Rachel Chan. Back Row, Maeve Culhane, Anna Loretan, Graham Campbell.


In March 2015 HKA sent its first delegation of Grade 7 and 8 students to the Global Issues Network (GIN) Middle School Conference. The event was held in Singapore, with hundreds of students from around Southeast Asia participating.


The purpose of GIN is to empower young people to collaborate locally, regionally and globally to create solutions for global issues. At the conference, HKA students heard inspirational keynote speakers and participated in a range of workshops. It was a fantastic weekend of learning and making new friends.


But the ultimate purpose and value of GIN is not what happens at a conference, but rather how students apply the conference learnings at their own schools. At HKA, the GIN delegates formed a student-led global issues action group to translate their learnings into action. Initially, they decided to meet once a week to discuss how to take action on global issues locally and made a presentation to their peers about the conference itself.


Building on that, they worked together to identify a single issue for research and action in the near term. The group decided on child labour in the chocolate industry, especially the role that consumers can play in improving the lives of children by making socially responsible purchases.


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Next steps included: n


Research n


Inviting guest speaker Kristine Nudds (parent and Corporate Social Responsibility consultant) to present to them about the chocolate industry and fair trade


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Creating both a video (including interviews with Secondary School students) and a presentation for their peers


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Sharing their work at a Secondary School assembly to raise awareness of child labour in the chocolate industry, what fair trade is, and the role of consumer choice.


Looking ahead, the team’s longer term goals include making Hong Kong Academy a fair trade school and exploring service projects and opportunities related to child welfare. We are very proud of these students for engaging in authentic student-led, student-initiated action motivated by their interests, strengths and ongoing reflection. They embody the HKA mission fully in these efforts.


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