Global Engagement and Education

My Philosophy

Over the course of my life, I have had the privilege of visiting 17 countries and learning about various cultures through the eyes of a native. However, to me, global engagement doesn't necessarily mean having to go to a new place. While that is the best way to immerse yourself in a new world, the impressions and impacts of the world are everywhere around us: in our travel, work and education. These three aspects of my life are key in where I aspire to have a global impact and truly connect with our planet.

Investigating the World

One specific instance where I have had to investigate a global issue was as a Sustainability Ambassador, when I was researching the issue of climate change and how to tackle it here at home. I have had to learn about how climate change not only affects our community, but also the entire world. I understand more about the different systems that go into resolving the issues of climate change, and I also understand that as students, we really do have the power to catalyze sustainability for the better. I have done research into various different issues and come out with a number of solutions that, as a Sustainability Ambassador, I have pioneered, such as carpooling, safer routes to school and daily actions each of us can take to reduce our carbon and water footprint.

Recognizing Perspectives

As a student at the International Community School, our school's main motto is classic education and global application, so I have learned to apply this not only in my coursework, but also throughout my high school career. One specific example of schoolwork where I have had to recognize different perspectives is in our International Studies class, the equivalent of a general Social Studies class. I have included some of my coursework below where I've had to recognize and write about different perspectives throughout history, like when I had to design and write periodicals for a Kievan Rus' newspaper for our history project.

In our International Studies class, another program that all 8th, 9th and 10th grades students take part in is National History Day, or NHD. This year, I was fortunate enough to have worked in a group to produce a documentary which made it to the regional level of contest. Our documentary concerns a local topic, Seattle's Century 21 World Exposition, and we had to recognize the perspectives of the sources consulted to first, verify if they were accurate, and second, to understand the context in which all this information was recorded. The historical knowledge I gained about early Seattle and about different cultures is invaluable, and the World's Fair really did have a global impact: it was a real comeback for the United States against the Soviet Union in the Space Race, so it meant a lot to the development of the Cold War and technological progression as a whole.

Santoshi Pisupati Kievan Rus Newspaper.docx

Communicate Ideas

SantoshiPisupati9.docx

World Citizen Essay Contest

If you click on World Citizen Essay Contest above, you'll be taken to the contest results page.

This essay contest was introduced to me by my Humanities teacher, who recommended it as a great writing opportunity and a way to expand our horizons. The structure and research for this paper was not difficult to understand and do for me. I wrote about unpaid work by women and children in this essay, and placed 3rd in the High School Division this year. Writing this paper was different from most, because I needed to formulate my own solutions, and I didn't have a specific country's perspective to help me like in Model United Nations. In time, however, I was able to not only understand different regions' overall looks on the issue, but also communicate my ideas in an essay format in a meaningful and knowledgeable manner. The 2020 WCEC expanded my knowledge of a common worldwide issue, and urged me to promote action to counter it.

Spanish Final

As part of our Spanish Final for this year, we had to perform a skit entirely in Spanish, using vocabulary from a specific chapter. We chose to do a hospital, and the setting we imagined was definitely different than a normal doctor's office. The culture and geography of a doctor's office in Latin America had to be transmitted through a skit, and I think this experience really opened my eyes to different customs. Traditions don't only have to be in special settings; having traditions in one's normal life is equally as important to culture. Using technology to create our skit and acting it out, as well as working in a collaborative team, made this assignment different than the rest. As a world language, I feel incredibly privileged to have gotten this opportunity to test out my skills in a real-world setting.

spanish_final_script.docx

Taking Action

Letter to the Editor

Above is the letter to the Editor of the Kirkland Reporter by Annika Wegener, an eighth grader at Northstar Middle School and a fellow Sustainability Ambassador. She reached out to me for an interview to include in her second letter, and I gave my responses to her. The letter reached the Editor of Kirkland and is on the Sustainability Ambassadors website. I feel proud to know that my projects and everyday actions are not alone, but that other members of my community are taking action with me.

FBLA Community Service Project

This year, I worked with Ann Li and Jenny Pyon to bring our Future Business Leaders of America Chapter's Community Service Project to life at the State Competition. We made over 100 sandwiches as a club and donated them to Tent Cities 4 in Bellevue. Tent Cities is an organization that provides food and shelter for homeless women and children; our project placed 3rd at State and qualified for FBLA Nationals! I had a lot of fun working on this project, but also crafting the report and presentation. Our school has always believed in global service at a community level, and this value is exactly what we wanted to exemplify with our service project.

National Junior Honor Society Chapter President Experiences

In my eighth grade, I was a National Junior Honor Society Chapter President for Kirkland Middle School. NJHS has the criteria of service, scholarship, leadership, citizenship and character, all of which I exemplified as Chapter President. But NJHS is not only about understanding these qualities: it's about making them a seamless and pleasant experience for others. This was my true goal heading up the club: for everyone to not just be involved with service because it was a membership requirement, but because they truly wanted to be a part of something special.

President's Speech.docx

President's Speech

As President of our NJHS Chapter, one of my foremost duties was briefing new members on the principles of the club, rules and regulations and club updates. This is my speech I gave to new members at the New Member meeting; it sums up the club quite nicely, I think, and got a lot of members interested in more details about National Junior Honor Society.

Induction Ceremony

The best experience I could ever ask for as NJHS Chapter President was hosting our annual induction ceremony. Well over 100 students attended the event, where we welcomed new members into the club with our traditional candle lighting ceremony and the NJHS pledge, both of which I had the opportunity to lead as President of our chapter. It taught me a lot about making a true impact with words.

Teacher Appreciation Interest Meeting.pptx

Teacher Appreciation

A duty of NJHS Presidents is to lead Teacher Appreciation Week at our school. This week celebrates everything teachers do for us. I organized an interest meeting and kept it running smoothly using the following PowerPoint; I had previously headed up the Teacher Appreciation Week committee in seventh grade, so the duties were very familiar to me. We had a gift card raffle, daily intercom announcements and baked treats for the teachers to enjoy.

WE Scare Hunger Fundraiser

Kirkland Middle School hosted a fundraiser for WE Scare Hunger in partnership with National Junior Honor Society. Our cabinet decided to put pumpkin pictures on each classroom's door, and whichever homeroom raised the most money would get to keep their pumpkin picture as an achievement, and of course, a pizza party. The cabinet had a lot of fun cutting up printouts of pumpkins and sticking them on classroom doors, while waiting for the money to pour in! This experience taught us a lot about patience, follow-through and putting your dreams to the test and making them happen.

Pennies for Patients

One of the first fundraisers I was part of at Kirkland Middle was Pennies for Patients, the joint program with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The basis of the program was that students donated coins and change to the LLS, and then our cabinet would sort each of these coins at National Junior Honor Society meetings. In sixth grade, I loved walking door to door and collecting money from teachers as an Honor Society volunteer. But, to tell others about the campaign is an entirely different story, and one which I believe is a lot more rewarding. We spread awareness about this campaign through our OneNote Bulletin Board, announcements and posters throughout the school. I personally used a lot of my skills from my 21st Century Media class and advertising knowledge to ensure the information got to students from every possible angle. Looking back, we also could have used social media to advertise. This has been an All School Project in Kirkland Middle School for many years now, and this service experience gave me valuable skills in communication and math.

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