2022 Global Symposium World Water Day Global Scholars

By Renata Cioth Mulder

Keynoter Mina Guli drew on her experience as a water advocate, climate specialist, and ultra-marathoner to urge students to dream boldly, pursue their purpose, and believe they can!

At our 2022 Global Symposium on March 3, Ms. Mina Guli spoke to us virtually from Melbourne, Australia. She is the CEO of Thirst Foundation, a non-profit focused on raising awareness, creating urgency and driving action on water. Ms. Guli is part of the World Economic Forum’s community of Young Global Leaders, a board member of the Antarctic Science Foundation and has been widely recognized for her leadership to help close the gap on the UN Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) targets. She was selected and profiled as a critical changemaker at COP26 in Glasgow by Climate Investment Fund’s changemaker program. Ms. Guli has also spoken at the UN and the World Economic Forum and been featured in hundreds of national and global newspapers including in the New York Times, CBS This Morning, the BBC and CNN, and on an episode of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s acclaimed documentary series, Australian Story. She was also named as one of the 50 greatest leaders in the world by Fortune Magazine alongside the Pope, Apple CEO, Tim Cook founder and executive chairman of Amazon, Jeff Bezos and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Ms. Guli’s remarks synthesized many of the

“issues students have been discovering as they explored this year’s global issue of

Individually we focus, water scarcity. She described her first completed iron man as a make an impact. lesson in the power of dreaming big. After the iron man, she Together we change started “running long distances in the world. some of the most extreme places on the planet.” ” Ms. Guli’s “100 Marathons, 100 Days, 1 Reason” campaign brought media attention to the global issue MINA GULI of water scarcity through the stories of people she met in 197 countries as she ran her marathons. Through her work, Ms. Guli began a movement and has inspired the world. She also inspired Ursuline to take action. Keeping in mind that World Water Day is on March 22, Ms. Guli announced her #WorldWaterRun challenge: a seven day run/walk from 16-22 March, 2022. It was an online event that was open to everyone anywhere in the world. “Together, as a global community of water savers,

we have 7 days to complete a collective distance, equal to the circumference of the world: 40,075 km (24,901 miles).” Funds raised were directed towards clean water projects around the globe. Ursuline joined the challenge and organized a Virtual 5k Walk-a-thon March 18-20. Students logged over 310 miles and raised over $1,000 towards clean water projects around the globe.

We also organized our own events to mark World Water Day. One student activity involved Physical Education classes doing “TUS Walks for Water” on Kelly Mac Field. Students walked and carried gallons of water to better understand the efforts women and girls in other parts of the world may go through to access clean drinking water, often at the expense of an education. During lunch periods on World Water Day, students from the Environmental Club helped classmates calculate their personal water footprint using an online water calculator. After answering a series of simple questions, participants gained a better understanding of the importance of water conservation and ways they can personally make a difference to address water scarcity. If you would like to check out your water footprint, visit www.watercalculator.org

From left, Mr. Chris Bratt, Mrs. Shernaz Patel, Mary Wrotniak, Jordan Nero, Danielle Restaino, Emily Mays, Susan McGuckin, Mrs. Maria Barton, Mrs. Rosemary Beirne.

Congratulations to our 2022 Global Scholars who delivered their capstone presentations on April 29, 2022. These students have earned the Global Scholar distinction awarded by UEN to graduating seniors in the Ursuline sister school network who have successfully demonstrated throughout their high school years a strong interest in global citizenship, international issues and Serviam. Their capstone topics and college plans:

Mary Wrotniak – Global Food Waste & Food Loss. Overcoming technological, cultural and infrastructure challenges can reduce food loss and food waste in both developing and developed countries, such as India and the United States. Mary will attend Georgetown.

Jordan Nero – The Importance of Women’s Participation in Sport. An exploration of how cultural and societal norms in both Afghanistan and the United States can affect women’s and girls’ participation in sport. Jordan will start at Cornell this fall.

Danielle Restaino – Effects of Medical Resource Shortages in Lebanon. An examination of the shortage of medical supplies, healthcare resources, and infrastructure in Lebanon and how this adversely affects the people in this country. Danielle will be going to Fordham University to study mechanical engineering.

Emily Mays – Access to Special Education. Global advocacy for students with special learning should continue to be addressed and prioritized around the world, specifically examining the United States and China. Emily will attend University of Delaware where she plans to major in public policy.

Susan McGuckin – Poverty, Wealth Inequality & Class Gap in Colombia. Addressing the class gap crisis and wealth inequality in Colombia driven by disproportionate income and unemployment rates between men and women, the lack of social mobility, displacement, water scarcity and Colombia’s long history of civil unrest. Susan will attend the University of Michigan to study public policy, business, and languages.

On February 17, 2022 the Global Scholars Seminar class completed its four-week virtual exchange with our sister school, Brescia House School in Johannesburg, South Africa. Through shared lessons, co-teaching, and news films, students learned about the history of the Middle East conflict and looked at current events in the context of history. Each week in break-out groups, Ursuline and Brescia House students shared experiences across different cultures which shaped their perspectives. The students also enjoyed getting to know each other and learning about life as an Ursuline student across the globe.

Lauren Barton ’23, Elizabeth Cusack ’24, Grace Boynes ’23, Brigid Byrnes ’24, and Nuala Reynolds ’23.

Five Ursuline students completed the MERGE independent exchange study program in spring 2022. MERGE is the MENA-USA Empowering Resilient Girls Exchange 8-week virtual program among girls in the U.S. and the Middle East. Students formed global teams and explored practical approaches to building mental resilience for themselves and their communities.

The student projects included creation of a video and a website with mental health resources. These were considered valuable especially with the recent challenges during the pandemic. Great resources by teenagers for teenagers! Students also appreciated the opportunity to get to know other young adults around the world.

Amrit Singh ’23 and Morgan Adamson ’23, SecretaryGenerals of The Ursuline School Model United Nations Conference, led the student team that planned and hosted TUSMUNC IV on November 13, 2021. Due to ongoing pandemic limitations, the conference was again virtual for all schools except Ursuline. The participating schools were The Masters School, Brentwood School (in California), Ethical Culture Fieldstone, South Orange Middle School and South Orange Maplewood Middle School (New Jersey) and our own middle school. The theme of TUSMUNC IV was “Battle for A New Regime.” Amrit and Morgan expressed the hope “that this conference may build on our goal of challenging delegates to work together, even from opposing sides of conflict, towards a common goal of a brighter future for all.”