Middle School fosters exploration and encourages students to venture out with annual environmental camps, nature studies, and outdoor activities. The older students of the Middle School attend language camps in Mexico and Canada, which allow students to build upon their language skills and directly engage with various communities.
The first institution to offer the International Baccalaureate (IB), UNIS has the integrated IB program for students in the last two years in secondary school. The IB diploma gives UNIS students the opportunity for entry into universities worldwide.
With 35 languages being offered at various levels, the language program is a focal point of UNIS. By the time a student is in the third year in Middle School, students begin a third language, which is in addition to French or Spanish.
With the concentration being on different, as well as shared, cultural experiences, UNIS has a diverse staff to bring students an all-compassing global view.
For example, Walker said UNIS had French tutors from West Africa, Vietnam and Paris because it allowed students to learn French from diverse perspectives.
"So even in the learning of languages, when you think French is French, well it's not," he said. The host city of New York becomes a secondary facilitator of education and experiences, allowing students to take advantage of a plethora of cultural opportunities from exploring dinosaur bones at the Museum of Natural History to looking at the butterfly exhibit at the Bronx Zoo.
"This city is amazing and we encourage the kids to go out," said Walker. "That is really what we're trying to do -- build an international understanding through that connection through people both within this community and within New York."
Walker has two sons who attend UNIS and love the freedom that the city provides, but he said initially it "hasn't been easy" for them to leave their home in Australia and come to New York.
"They've come from essentially a rural environment in Australia-- from a fairly monoculture environment into this wonderful microcosm of society living in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world," he said. "For them, it has been a significant change."
But with the support and one-on-one attention by UNIS staff, counselors and mentors, his two sons have been able to adjust to the UNIS community as well as the city life.
For children who are first coming to UNIS, "they don't see the differences," said Walker. "It's amazing how we all become one because there is an environment here which encourages everyone to celebrate the difference -- to understand the other."
"And through that understanding -- to gain a desire to make this world and the community a place where everyone feels welcome and encouraged to be themselves, that's what I see happening in the classroom," he said.
For students graduating from UNIS and entering communities throughout the world, it is important for them "to become the ripples as they move out and experience the world and hopefully share some of their goals and aspirations for the world," Walker said.
Official Website of Global News Day for Children
Special report: Global News Day for Children
World media launch 24-hour global broadcast on Universal Children's Day
BEIJING, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- Major media organizations in the world have launched a 24-hour relay broadcast for children's rights on Universal Children's Day, which falls on Friday. The global media campaign, also called the "Global News Day for Children" program, was initiated by Xinhua News Agency and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to highlight the international media's role in helping improve children's living environments and promoting their healthy development.
Starting from 8 a.m. (Beijing time) Friday, Xinhua has been working with all participating media organizations in launching 16hours of Chinese-language coverage and eight hours of English-language coverage of education, culture, globalization, environment protection, disability, sport, charity, conflict, and traditions that are closely connected to children's lives and development. Full story
Xinhua News Agency, UNICEF sign MOU in Beijing
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Xinhua News Agency Vice President Zhou Xisheng (L, front) shakes hands with Dr. Yin Yin Wei (R, front), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative in China after signing a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Beijing, capital of China, on Nov. 5, 2009. A large-scale global media campaign for children' rights co-sponsored by Xinhua News Agency and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) was launched here Thursday in the run-up to Universal Children's Day, which falls on Nov. 20, in advance of a planned 24-hour global live multimedia coverage of events on the day. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)
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Xinhua, UNICEF unveil logo, website for "Global News Day for Children"
BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's Xinhua News Agency and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Monday unveiled the logo for "Global News Day for Children" and launched an official website for the event.
"Global News Day for Children" is a global media campaign co-sponsored by Xinhua News Agency and the UNICEF, to mark the Universal Children's Day which falls on November 20th. Full story
UN chief sends message for well-being of children worldwide
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday sent a message for the well-being of children across the world as the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Children's Day draw near.
The message, written and signed by the UN secretary-general in English and Chinese, reads:" Children are our future. We must work for health, education, equality and protection for every child in the world." Full story
