As the coronavirus disease continues to spread and the uncertainty of the times in which we currently find ourselves, Westlake Academy has made the difficult decision to cancel our annual Westlake Academy International Mindedness Educator Symposium (WAIMES2020).  Please know that we appreciate your interest and your shared passion for creating and sustaining international mindedness on your campus.  We believe deeply in this mission and will re-evaluate our work in this area, how we can create stronger shared networks and a possible symposium edition in June 2023.



International Mindedness is an essential quality for life in the 21st century. To approach this, IB World Schools around the globe have embraced the notion of international mindedness to guide their school philosophies and educational goals so that they are aligned with the IB’s mission. Further developing a deeper understanding of international mindedness and related constructs is crucial to inform developments in the IB” (International Baccalaureate Organization 2012). 
#WAimes2020

Westlake Academy is hosting its fifth annual International Mindedness Educator Symposium.  This exciting event has been rescheduled for June 2021 at Westlake Academy in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 

Westlake Academy’s International Mindedness Educator Symposium is a conference focused on global collaboration.  This innovative conference is unique in that attendees will leave sessions with collaborative units of inquiry designed in concert with an international school.  In addition, each session is designed to give participants an opportunity to build a pathway to global collaboration. It is our hope that attendees of the conference will select, develop and schedule a unit of inquiry with a school in another part of the world, that this unit of inquiry will be executed with their students in concert with their partnering school(s) and that students will experience authentic learning embedded in international mindedness.  A secondary purpose of the conference is to create an opportunity for teachers and schools to create a professional network committed to global collaboration and preparing “future ready” students.

I hope you will join us this summer as we learn about the global collaboration continuum, share curriculum design ideas and build pathways to international mindedness. 

For any additional questions, please contact us at: waimes@westlakeacademy.org. 

Thank you,

Mechelle Bryson, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Westlake Academy, IB World School


Westlake Academy is an IB World School whose mission is to provide students with an internationally minded education of the highest quality so they are well-balanced and respectful life-long learners.


2020 Int'l Mindedness Educator Symposium

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