by Christina Bakoyannis

Acs Athens Middle School Students Celebrate UN Day With The Chair Of The UN Human Rights Committee

by Christina Bakoyannis, Middle School Faculty and UN Day Advisor

“How long have you worked in the UN?” “What made you want to work in the UN?”

“How can one begin to work in the UN?”

These were some of the questions that middle school students had the opportunity to ask the Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee and ACS Athens alumnus Dr. Photini Pazartzis. Eighth-grade students followed the presentation in the theater, while sixth and seventh-graders had a live stream presentation in their advisory classes.

Dr. Photini Pazartzis, an ACS Alumnus, Professor of International Law at the University of Athens, and the Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee, honored us with her presence to speak to middle school students about the United Nations and the UN SDGs. Dr. Pazartzis spoke about the foundation treaty of the UN, the three pillars, and specifically the Human Rights Committee, in which she has been unanimously elected as Chair. Students were able to understand how the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) are linked to the three pillars.

“ACS Athens is a small United Nations,” Dr. Pazartzis told students.

“You are very lucky to be in this school; you have people from all over the world that are your friends and will remain your friends.”

She also stressed the importance of how having a goal in mind could help one develop their future career.

The guest speaker was introduced by Dr. Pelonis, who also gave the message to middle school students that the purpose of education is for you to take positive action to improve life and living on the planet.

Students were also involved in this day’s event. Specifically, a member of the Student Council spoke about the UN SDG advisory work and how sustainability can be achieved through personal commitments to the UN SDGs. The Middle School Honor Code shared information about the World International Day for Tolerance and how tolerance is an integral part of our ACS community and one of the club’s goals. The day also had a touch of music as Ms. Mancl’s Intermediate Instrumental Music class played This Land Is Your Land, and a member of the Student Council read the lyrics.

A beautiful event with many powerful messages and a strong sense of community and belonging.

ACS Athens Middle School Students Make Commitments to the UN SDGs

The ACS Athens Middle School has a strong tradition of celebrating United Nations Day as a commemorative event. This day has a theme, and for the past three years , the theme has been “Imagine the Future. Be a Changemaker”. This theme aims to develop students that are the future changemakers to improve life and living on the planet.

In order to prepare for UN Day, students explore and discuss the 17 SDGs in their advisory classes. Furthermore, each advisory is assigned one SDG, and students are challenged to explore it in depth in order to take action by making a personal commitment to their specific UN SDG. Students share their commitments on a discussion forum in the moodle shell that hosts all of the UN SDG resources.

During these restricted times, students have posted personal commitments to the UN SDGs based on the UN Guide called “170 Daily Actions to Transform Our World”. Here are some examples of personal commitments:

meat and dairy consumption.”

“I believe that installing a solar panel for your home would be a very good idea because fossil fuels result in polluted air.”

“In our advisory class, we are focusing on Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. We chose to turn off the tap when brushing our teeth and taking a shower.”

“The action I chose was to support local farmers’ markets and eat local food.”

Students mentioned how they could convince their friends and family and also use social media to spread awareness.

The MS Student Council spoke about the UN SDG advisory work and how sustainability can be achieved through personal commitments to the UN SDGs.

Dr. Photini Pazartzis, an ACS Alumnus, Professor of International Law at the University of Athens and the Chair of the UN Human Rights Committee speaks to middle school students about the United Nations and the UN SDGs. There is a thematic spiral so that three main themes of the UN SDGs are touched upon during their threeyear middle school experience. Through this continuum, students thus gain a holistic perspective of local and global issues, which could help them think critically about solutions.