Sometimes a seed. . .

globalcooling.jpgSometimes it just takes the seed of an idea to inspire others.

Last night I was checking in on Twitter, feeling a little discouraged, and fellow librarian Jenny Luca just happened to tweet that her students’ live Project Global Cooling concert was just starting their broadcast from Australia. This was a concert they organized for free, donated their time to on a weekend, and broadcast around the world for free via Ustream.

If you’re not familiar, Project Global Cooling was the seed of an idea sown last summer by Clay Burell–an attempt to interest students in hosting world-wide concerts to, as Clay wrote, “implant a consciousness of climate change” around the world.

And now, last night, I was watching the fruits of that seed–students who not only inspired their own school, but inspired artists to appear for free, and even received a letter from a government official in Australia honoring their efforts. And Clay’s site lists other efforts going on around the world in the next week or two.

Sometimes we cast seeds out into the world-wide garden and don’t know what will come of them, or if anything ever does. But seeing the work these students around the world are doing to participate in something larger than themselves makes me believe that it is important for all of us to keep casting those seeds of the idea that we can each of us, no matter our age, make a difference.

Thanks Clay and Jenny for sharing your efforts.

Image Credit goes to Jenny Luca’s school.

8 thoughts on “Sometimes a seed. . .

  1. Thank you Carolyn for watching our efforts on ustream and taking the time to comment on what my students have been able to achieve. They are going to be thrilled tomorrow when I forward this link to them and they see that the world really was watching. How powerful is it to realise that you can make an impact in Texas from a tiny corner in Melbourne, Australia. This is why I love this medium and why I think it is important to show our students what is possible – their voices can be heard around the world and they can make an impact. I, too, often feel discouraged and think that it’s all too hard to make the shift happen. Yesterday was a great day and comments and posts like yours inspire me to keep going – we are on the cusp of something that is going to change the way we teach and, more importantly, change the way our students learn.

  2. Thankyou so much for all of your support! It is such a great feeling to know that we actually pulled the concert off, but even better when we know we have affected people from all across the globe! The internet amazes, how people from across the earth can communicate, it is truly astounding. I had so much fun at the concert, and although not everything ran as smoothly as hoped, it was still a great experience. I love the fact that our aim was to raise awareness, and that we fulfilled this. Thanks so much for youโ€™re blog and for tuning in, everyone at the project global cooling team really appreciates it ๐Ÿ™‚ Also thanks Clay, for setting us this challenge! Mission accomplished.

  3. Carolyn, Jenny, Taylor – What’s also amazing is how your Melbourne event – AND P.R. from the govt and Sammy J to your poster – inspired my students in Seoul to up their game. Since seeing your concert and Jenny’s posts about it, they seem to have learned how much is possible – and they didn’t believe this before.

    So thanks, students, for being teachers to my students.

    Here’s to next year ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Hi Carolyn, I’m the very proud Principal of Toorak College and I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you taking the time to view and then respond to the “Project Global Cooling” work of our students. One of the 3 key strategic directions our school is taking in the coming years is “Internationalism. ”

    It is one thing to know that the speed of travel and communication have served to shrink the globe so that we may discover and explore diversity, but it is quite another to be truly internationally minded.

    Itโ€™s one thing to be an outsider looking in with curiosity, and quite another to cultivate common eyes and to focus them on common interest.

    If, in the lifetime of our children, nationalism is to give way to internationalism, it is unlikely to happen easily or without conflict. If we are to minimise the risk of a fractured future, we must open doorways for young people that emphasise what we share rather than how we differ.

    Todayโ€™s students have a huge stake in sustainability and they will need to understand the environmental, economic, cultural and spiritual dimensions of that concept. Young people want to make a difference to their world and, through work like Project Global Cooling, they have shown that they can.

    To do so consistently, they will need to move beyond the boundaries of the classroom in their thinking and their experience. They will need to broaden their frame of reference and embrace a concept of neighbourhood defined more by mutual interest and less by location or language. They will also need to embrace the technologies that are now so empowering.

    The support and enthusiasm of people like yourself and our own Jenny Luca place you in the vanguard of “Boundary Breakers” and I want you to know that your efforts are appreciated. I only wish I could find the time to engage more fully with you and your colleagues but please be assured that I am a quiet but persistent supporter. It’s not just the kids who are making a difference!

    Cheers
    Noel Thomas

  5. Noel,

    Thanks so much for your comments. I agree it is really important to transcend the walls of the classroom and you put it so well–“to embrace a concept of neighbourhood defined more by mutual interest and less by location or language.”

    I applaud Jenny, Clay, and students like Taylor who pulled off this event and helped make those global connections real ๐Ÿ™‚

  6. Hi All,
    Thanks so much for leaving comments and thinking about our PGC in Australia. It has been really good feedback and I am really glad to hear all these great opinions from you.

    It was a great effort from us and we are really pleased with the result. Even though there were a few hicups along the way it was a great day and ran very smoothly. The hardest part for me was helping blow up the ballons… there was 200 of them! It was very tiering.

    It was a great day and everyone really enjoyed it. The day was very successful and most of the people who turned up were students so it was really good to see the school getting behind us an coming.

    Thanks again to everyone who was involved, came, saw it or even left a comment about it.

    Thanks,
    Kelly Anderson

    GO PROJECT GLOBAL COOLING!!!

  7. Hey everyone!
    It’s so cool to hear that myself and other year nine girls can pull off a Global Concert, as well as inspiring people in the process.
    It was so fun and although stressful in parts..we seemed to accomplish the mission that Clay Burrell set.
    Thanks for everyone who supported us, it was awesome to know that people on the other side of the world were watching.
    ๐Ÿ™‚

    Bec True

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