By Bonnie Adams
Government Reporter
Westborough – For middle school students living in a community such as Westborough, life can sometimes be a bit sheltered. But at the Mill Pond School, home to the district's grade four through six students, the philosophy is to look beyond the town's borders and be of service to others. And although they may not yet be ready to extend that outreach on an international level politically, the school's Sixth Annual Grade Six United Nations Summit held at the school June 10 gave these young students a good start.
According to Brooke Hauser, one of the teachers participating in the event, the summit was the culminating project of the sixth-grade Hornet Teams” yearlong interdisciplinary study of world cultures, international affairs and global geography.”
The day of the summit, the students came to school ready to portray the role of a past or present world leader, such as a president, civic leader or human rights activist. The students also dressed in appropriate clothing to represent their figure.
For the summit itself, members of the school's faculty, high school students and other guests from the community were invited to help facilitate discussions between small groups of Mill Pond Students. At the start of a discussion, each student spoke as if he/she were his/her character and told of some major accomplishments.
The main focus of the roundtable discussions was the issue of globalization and its impact – both positive and negative – on a wide range of issues such as education, poverty, hunger and science. During the discussions, the kids showed that they had not only done their homework but had also given the issues significant thought beforehand.
Regarding the positive effect of globalization, “Olive Schreiner,” South African author and pacifist advocate portrayed by Dana Goldy, noted that “it can help to spread information quickly via the Internet and Facebook, like when the tsunami and earthquake happened in Japan.”
“Countries can rely on other resources from other countries when they need help. That helps build trust on both sides,” John F. Kennedy (aka Brendan C.) said.
The students who are growing up in an age where there is 24/7 media exposure, showed through their remarks as foreign leaders, that they recognize the power and abuse of the media.
“Propaganda spreads through different marketing campaigns,” said Rebekah Artner, who portrayed Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland.
“Sometimes it makes countries want to be more like the United States, when they see what we are doing and what we have here,” said Caroline Grady, who portrayed the human activist Shirin Ebadi of Iran.
“The media concentrates on pop stars and not things like child labor laws,” Robinson added.
At times it was not just a particular individual that made a difference, the leaders noted; it was the group of unsung individual members as a whole, such as Doctors without Borders or Heifer International.
“Sometimes there's the domino effect, of someone who helps someone, who will then help someone else,” Schreiner said.
“An example of that is Doctors without Borders,” Vikram Matthew, who portrayed the Indian civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi. “They not only treat people, they teach others how to [treat patients] as well.”
It was like the old saying, the young leaders all agreed: “If you give a man a fish, you feed him. But if you teach him to fish, he'sl be able to feed himself for a lifetime.”
It was just one of many thoughts shared by an upcoming generation that can make current leaders hopeful about a peaceful future.