QATAR FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL In New York City

Connecting Cultures for Global Good

Qatar Foundation International, LLC (QFI) is a US-based member of Qatar Foundation (QF). Its mission is to connect cultures and advance global citizenship through education. A not-for-profit organization headquartered in Washington, DC, QFI focuses on grant-giving and programmatic activities that promote education as a reliable facilitator of collabora-tion across geographical, social, and cultural boundaries.

QFI's innovative educational and volunteer programs inspire lasting exchanges of experi-ence and knowledge. By placing young people from diverse social, economic, and cultural backgrounds into effective, collaborative learning environments—inside and outside

the classroom; in person and online—QFI provides K-12 students in Qatar and the Americas with skills that will enable them to be engaged global citizens.

Within three core program areas—Arabic Lan-guage and Culture, STEAM (Science, Technol-ogy, Engineering, Arts, and Math), and Youth Engagement—QFI equips students to address the major global challenges of this century. Using Open Educational Resources and innovative online technologies, the students in QFI's programs prepare to tackle problems such as climate change, insufficient access to education around the world, and the need for cross-cultural dialogue, both globally and in their own communities.

MISSION

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MISSION / Qatar Foundation International

Four key themes—Commu-

nity, Challenge, Access, and

Dialogue—inform and unite

QFI's programs. We work to

build a global community,

address pressing 21st-century

challenges, make education

easier to access from any-

where in the world, and foster

cross-cultural dialogue.

Open Education provides un-

encumbered access to digital

resources, encouraging life-

long learning from anywhere.

We utilize Open Education

to develop learner-centered

experiences and promote

dialogue between classrooms

and communities spanning

great physical distances.

QFI is committed to teaching

the next generation to collab-

orate across cultures and

between communities. Using

interdisciplinary learning, we

teach young people to work

together to creatively solve

problems, so they may effect

change both in their home-

towns and around the world.

➜ GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP ➜ OPEN EDUCATION ➜ PROGRAMMATIC THEMES

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ARABIC EDUCATION IN NEW YORKIN TWO NEW YORK PUBLIC SCHOOLS, QFI AND THE GLOBAL LANGUAGE PROJECT (GLP)

EXPAND ACCESS TO FOREIGN LANGUAGE - EDUCATION WHILE ENHANCING CROSS-CULTURAL DIALOGUE AND UNDERSTANDING.

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Hamilton Heights School began in 2002 as a small academy, created by parents and teachers and housed in PS 28. Since then, it has expanded tremendously, earning full school status in 2007 and relocating in 2010. The school employs a progres-sive academic approach, emphasizing project-based learning and an open and collaborative environment. Hamilton Heights was the first public school in New York City to introduce Ara-bic-language classes, thanks to the support of GLP and QFI.

NEW YORK / Qatar Foundation International

Last September, Her Highness Sheikha Moza

bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation

(QF), visited Hamilton Heights School, where

students study Arabic thanks to QFI. After-

wards, she said: "I enjoyed hearing the children

speak in Arabic so enthusiastically, and it was

lovely to see that most of them are not of Arab

origin, which means the language reaches

families and communities who have not been

exposed to our culture previously."

At PS 261, located in the Boerum Hill neighbor-hood of Brooklyn, a QFI grant has enabled GLP to expand its Arabic-education offerings from an after-school initiative to a full-day program. PS 261, which stresses an enriched learning envi-ronment, uses a curriculum created by GLP—the same one utilized at Hamilton Heights School—to provide language training to an underserved population, focusing on acquisition, proficiency, and measurable results.

PS 261, BROOKLYN120 K-5 STUDENTS

PS 368, HAMILTON HEIGHTS SCHOOL, HARLEM43 K-5 STUDENTS

BROOKLYN

MANHATTAN

ALCI

Responding to the need for deeper, more positive engagement between people living inside and outside the Arab world, QFI created the Arabic Language and Culture Initiative (ALCI). The program provides opportunities for students from a wide variety of backgrounds to acquire language skills and learn more broadly about the Arab world’s history and culture. QFI is the only foundation with a systematic approach to significantly expanding the study of Arabic language and culture among public-school students in the Americas.

YOUTH ENGAGEMENT

QFI’s youth-engagement programs focus on three areas—education, leader-ship, and service—to spark action and curiosity in the world's next generation of leaders and educators. Utilizing technology and language, QFI readies young people to investigate parts of the world both near and far, understand varied perspec-tives, exchange ideas, and tackle community and global issues. During student-led projects, youth practice as-suming leadership roles and collaborating to accomplish common goals.

STEAM

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math)projects enhance classroom education and emphasize global, 21st-century challeng-es—climate change, biodiver-sity, and water conservation, among others. QFI utilizes hands-on, experiential ap-proaches and problem-based learning (PBL) to provide effective education and con-nects educators and learners from around the world to pro-mote collaboration between classrooms. This cross-cultur-al communication enhances science and math education for all involved.

➜ Expanding access to Arabic

education for youth in the

Americas.

➜ Providing Arabic teachers

training, networking opportuni-

ties, and classroom materials.

➜ Using technology to support

instruction and collaboration.

➜ Connecting students and

scientists around the world.

➜ Distributing high-quality,

usable educational materials.

➜ Providing enrichment and

service-learning activities—

youth ambassadorships,

learning expeditions, and more.

➜ Investigating the world.

➜ Understanding varied

backgrounds and

perspectives.

➜ Communicating and

exchanging ideas.

➜ Acting decisively to address

community and global issues.

OUR PROGRAMS

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Qatar Foundation International / PROGRAMS

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"At this school, you've got kids from all nationalities and socioeconomic back-

grounds and they're all coming here and coalescing around the love of language."

ANGELA JACKSONFounder and Executive Director of Global Language Project

"I was expecting that they weren't going to be open

to us, but that was one of the shocking things I discovered there. They were very open to our

religion, treating us like close friends, not the way the movies portray.”

JAWAHAR AL MAL A senior at Al Bayan Independent

Secondary School for Girls, who visited the US as part of a QFI-backed trip.

"You get to learn new words. It's a little hard; some-

times you forget. I like talking in

Arabic, and we get to play!"

JAYREN FOSTERA student in Hamilton Heights School's

Arabic-education program.

In September, 2013, the New York City Depart-ment of Education (DOE) will launch, with sup-port from QFI, a dual-language Arabic program at PS/IS 30, the Mary White Ovington School. The Bay Ridge, Brooklyn school is home to one of the city's largest populations of Arabic students and the fifth-largest concentration of Arabic-speaking English-language learners. The program, funded by a grant from QFI, will begin in PS/IS 30’s kindergarten this fall, providing a rich curriculum for English-speakers learning Arabic and Arabic-speakers learning English. It will be the first of its kind in New York City.

The DOE recognizes the educational, social, and economic importance of bilingualism in our global society—particularly in a city with

such a unique cultural fabric. Students in New York schools represent over 160 different language groups and a plethora of national, ethnic, and religious identities. The DOE has pursued dual-language education in a number of different languages to foster bilingual and multilingual development. QFI joins the DOE in its commitment to language learning at the K to 12 level.

Starting this fall, PS/IS 30 will serve kinder-garteners in addition to its intermediate-school students. The majority of families in the Bay Ridge neighborhood are immigrants from Yemen, Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria. The Dual Language Arabic program will serve as many as 25 students in its first year.

DUAL IMMERSION IN BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN

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Qatar Foundation International / DUAL-LANGUAGE ARABIC PROGRAM

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