Sunday, March 31, 2013

Ask Mr. Vice President Questions!

As our departure date creeps closer and closer, we are frantically packing, figuring out passports, and getting excited for the big trip! As Ben mentioned in a previous post, we have the unbelievable privilege to meet the honorable Al Gore. I am still in disbelief that we were granted this unbelievable opportunity. Other youth leaders will be asking the Vice President questions, and if you have anything you would like us to ask him, or ideas on how to MC the event, please feel free to post them in the comments. Also, be sure to stay updated as the trip gets closer and closer!!

--Aida

Saturday, March 30, 2013

VIP Meeting with Al Gore!

We just found out that we are going to be meeting with Al Gore in an exclusive VIP meeting before he gives his keynote address. There will only be 2-3 other groups there. The reason that we were selected to attend is because, unlike other schools, we have already experienced a Glocal Challenge. As a result of this, we will be serving as a model for the other groups that are going to be at the conference. The other groups there, groups who will be selected by EF who have completed their own Glocal Challenges online, will present their ideas to Al Gore, and utilize the Vice Presidents experience in reforming the environment to further their plans. We, the students from CRLS, will be serving as the MC's for the event. We're extremely excited for this opportunity and hope that you follow us on our excursion!

--Ben

Monday, March 18, 2013

What is the Glocal Challenge?


Hi everyone!
We're so glad that you have chosen to follow us as we embark on the adventure of a lifetime to Costa Rica. Hopefully this post will answer your questions about what we did to get there, and what we will do once we get there. In January we started our Glocal Challenge adventure. Glocal is a combination of Global and Local. This year's Glocal Challenge was about the environment. Our task? To identify a local environmental issue, isolate the problem, research global solutions to the same problem, and create an implementable solution. After a month of hard work, the competitions started. Fantastic ideas and presentations came together to the climax of the competition. When it was all said and done, two teams won trips to Costa Rica! The two winning teams projects were about paper usage and green roofs (more information to come on our projects!)
So, we have won this challenge, however our journey is far from over, What are we going to do in Costa Rica? We begin our 10 day venture on April 13 and return on the 22nd. Over the course of those 10 days will we explore Costa Rica for 8 days, and attend the Global Student Leaders Summit for the last 2 days. While traveling around Costa Rica we will traverse the rain forests by zipline, visit an active volcano, and participate in the reforestation of mangrove trees. At the Global Student Leaders Summit we will work with other students on our Glocal Challenges, and listen to Al Gore speak! Keep checking in on our blog and keep an eye out for our articles!
--Ben

Welcome!

Hi all! Welcome to the Glocal Challenge blog. This is our first post, and we will continue to post, as frequently as possible, as we continue on in our adventures to Costa Rica, and beyond, in our environmental plunders. The four of us, Aida Muratoglu, Izzy Gray, Clio Macrakis, and Ben Austin, are the student journalists for the Challenge. We will be posting on this blog, as well as writing newspaper articles for the Register Forum (The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School newspaper) as well as for The Cambridge Chronicle. Clio will be taking pictures and making videos, and Aida, Ben and Izzy will be writing articles. We are all very excited to take on this opportunity, and we hope you will have fun following us around Cambridge and into Costa Rica!!

--Aida