QATAR FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL In New York City
Connecting Cultures for Global Good
MISSION / Qatar Foundation International
MISSION 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 collaboration across geographical, social, and cultural boundaries. QFI's innovative educational and volunteer programs inspire lasting exchanges of experience and knowledge. By placing young people from diverse social, economic, and cultural backgrounds into effective, collaborative learning environments—inside and outside
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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 Language and Culture, STEAM (Science, Technology, 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.
➜ GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
➜ OPEN EDUCATION
QFI is committed to teaching
Open Education provides un-
➜ PROGRAMMATIC THEMES Four key themes—Commu-
the next generation to collab-
encumbered access to digital
nity, Challenge, Access, and
orate across cultures and
resources, encouraging life-
Dialogue—inform and unite
between communities. Using
long learning from anywhere.
QFI's programs. We work to
interdisciplinary learning, we
We utilize Open Education
build a global community,
teach young people to work
to develop learner-centered
address pressing 21st-century challenges, make education
together to creatively solve
experiences and promote
problems, so they may effect
dialogue between classrooms
easier to access from any-
change both in their home-
and communities spanning
where in the world, and foster
towns and around the world.
great physical distances.
cross-cultural dialogue.
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NEW YORK / Qatar Foundation International
ARABIC EDUCATION IN NEW YORK IN 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.
PS 368, HAMILTON HEIGHTS SCHOOL, HARLEM 43 K-5 STUDENTS
MANHATTAN
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 progressive 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 Arabic-language classes, thanks to the support of GLP and QFI.
PS 261, BROOKLYN 120 K-5 STUDENTS
BROOKLYN
At PS 261, located in the Boerum Hill neighborhood 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 environment, 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.
Last September, Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation (QF), visited Hamilton Heights School, where students study Arabic thanks to QFI. Afterwards, 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."
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Qatar Foundation International / PROGRAMS
OUR PROGRAMS
ALCI
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT
STEAM
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.
QFI’s youth-engagement programs focus on three areas—education, leadership, 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 perspectives, exchange ideas, and tackle community and global issues. During student-led projects, youth practice assuming leadership roles and collaborating to accomplish common goals.
STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) projects enhance classroom education and emphasize global, 21st-century challenges—climate change, biodiversity, and water conservation, among others. QFI utilizes hands-on, experiential approaches and problem-based learning (PBL) to provide effective education and connects educators and learners from around the world to promote collaboration between classrooms. This cross-cultural communication enhances science and math education for all involved.
➜ Expanding access to Arabic
➜ Investigating the world.
➜ Connecting students and
education for youth in the
➜ Understanding varied
scientists around the world.
Americas.
backgrounds and
➜ Distributing high-quality,
➜ Providing Arabic teachers
perspectives.
usable educational materials.
training, networking opportuni-
➜ Communicating and
➜ Providing enrichment and
ties, and classroom materials.
exchanging ideas.
service-learning activities—
➜ Using technology to support
➜ Acting decisively to address
youth ambassadorships,
instruction and collaboration.
community and global issues.
learning expeditions, and more.
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"You get to learn new words. It's a little hard; sometimes you forget. I like talking in Arabic, and we get to play!" JAYREN FOSTER A student in Hamilton Heights School's Arabic-education program.
"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.
"At this school, you've got kids from all nationalities and socioeconomic backgrounds and they're all coming here and coalescing around the love of language." ANGELA JACKSON Founder and Executive Director of Global Language Project
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Qatar Foundation International / DUAL-LANGUAGE ARABIC PROGRAM
DUAL IMMERSION IN BAY RIDGE, BROOKLYN In September, 2013, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) will launch, with support 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 kindergarteners 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.
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Washington, DC | 202.652.0147 | @QFINTL | fb.com/QFINTL | qfi.org
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MANHATTAN
BROOKLYN
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