Despite Stella’s impact, DC Global Issues Network conference carries on

By Alexia Godron and Zaman Keinath-Esmail
Special to GSS

WASHINGTON — Thousands of flights, hundreds of schools — and even German Chancellor Angela Merkel, on her way to the White House to meet President Donald Trump — were grounded, closed or delayed Tuesday after a fierce winter storm slammed the East Coast.

Yet another casualty of winter storm Stella was something we’d been working on for months: The second day of the seventh annual Global Issues Network conference.

GIN was organized by students from Washington International School along with students from School Without Walls, a public magnet school in Washington that focuses on global citizenship.

The first day of the conference on Monday, March 13 included more than 300 high school students to discuss sustainable solutions to global issues such as climate change and women’s rights.

Also attending were guest speakers from the worlds of journalism, global education and development, and human rights, including keynotes by Jon Greenberg, senior staff writer at Politifact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning fact-checking organization, and Angelica Silvero, head of the speaker’s Bureau at the World Bank.

The decision to cancel the second day of the conference came Monday at 10:14 p.m. EST after more than 90 schools and school systems in the area closed down.

Major airlines, Amtrak and mayors in Washington and New York also announced cancellations or modifications to school and transit schedules Monday night as Stella moved from the Midwest to the East Coast carrying near-record snow levels and high winds.

.@NYCMayorsOffice declares state of emergency beginning at midnight. @NYCMayor urges New Yorkers to stay off the streets. pic.twitter.com/br0DAVZ8yd

— NYC DOT (@NYC_DOT) March 13, 2017

“I was definitely disappointed that the conference this year had to be cut short,” wrote Lourdes Puig, a student at School Without Walls, which is located near The George Washington University, site of the GIN conference.

“It was especially upsetting because of how well it had been going,” Puig wrote in an email, adding, “I am greatly appreciative of all of the people who attended and were so engaged throughout the day.”

Among day one activities were dozens of presentations and breakout sessions by non-governmental organizations and students on global issues.  

Though GIN ended earlier than expected, online voting continues for an art competition spotlighting works created by students who attended, as well as college and independent art classes, showcasing not only their work, but also how art can be used to raise awareness about global issues.

The contest winner will be announced Thursday morning after voting by conference attendees concludes Wednesday at midnight EST, according to the organizing team and the Art Judging Committee.

Our student organizing team also has created a special section on the GIN website for resources and presentations that would have taken place on Tuesday. Presenters and participants can contact the leadership team at gin@wis.edu to add material.

Students who would like to help organize or attend the GIN 2018 conference also should contact the student team at at gin@wis.edu.

Though the decision to cancel the second day of our long-planned conference was devastating, it’s been an interesting learning experience for us. We carefully undid all the planning it had taken us months to put together, and we were forced to focus on moving forward, rather than complaining.

But we’re already working on next year’s conference. And next time, we hope Stella will stay away.

—Godron and Keinath-Esmail are students at Washington International School. They were coordinators for the 2017 GIN conference. Follow them @DCGINConference.