Two schools fly the SA flag in New York
The students have been able to share cultural experiences and build long distance friendships online.
JOHANNESBURG SOUTH – New York City Mayor’s Office has invited two extraordinary Johannesburg schools to a student exhibition, celebrating the completion of the Global Partners Junior (GPJ) Programme.
The two schools, Glenanda Primary School and Tiisetso Primary School, are part of the exciting online-based international exchange programme with New York City Global Partners Junior (GPJ) for the 2013-2014 programme.
GPJ is a programme located in the Mayor’s Office in New York, targeting 30 children between the ages nine to 13 years to be in the programme at a time.
It provides an extraordinary opportunity to foster global awareness, build computer literacy, and develop communication skills in English for children.
But before they flew to the Big Apple, the children attended an award ceremony at Glenanda Primary School on Friday August 14, where they were recognised for completing the programme.
Children from both schools have been linked with their peers studying at the Renaissance Leadership Academy in New York.
The two schools were identified by the City of Joburg’s Community Development department, ensuring that there was social cohesion as one school comes from an affluent area and the other from the township.
The partnership came as a result of the visit in 2011 by the City of Johannesburg’s Executive Mayor, Cllr Parks Tau, to New York, where he held talks with the then New York City Mayor, Michael R Bloomberg.
During the visit, the GPJ requested Mayor Tau and his entourage to identify a local school to be part of the programme.
Since then, the two schools have been part of the programme enrolling yearly. Through this initiative the students have been able to share cultural experiences and build long distance friendships online.
