In a much-anticipated launch of an innovative global partnership, fifth and sixth grade students from Bloomfield Public Schools met virtually with peers from Colégio Mãe de Deus in Londrina, Brazil.
The students talked about their interests, cultures and hobbies – and asked questions of each other. There will be more of these cultural exchanges with the Brazilian students in the coming months.
Dr. Joseph Renzulli, world renown pioneer in gifted education and teaching strategies to promote academic growth for all children, was in attendance. He praised the partnership as a method to promote global awareness and respect for different cultures. The American Psychological Association named Dr. Renzulli among the 25 most influential psychologists in the world.
The initiative was sponsored by Renzulli Learning. It is a curriculum enrichment online system, developed by Dr. Renzulli. His highly regarded methodology transforms the way students learn and how teachers teach. It places the student at the center of the education process, focuses on their strengths and allows them to pursue their own interests.
Bloomfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. James Thompson, Jr. praised the partnership as a creative approach to enhance experiential learning for the district's emerging Gifted & Talented program, known as SOAR .
" I cannot wait to see how our partnership develops throughout the year," Dr. Thompson said.
SOAR Enrichment & Talent Development Teacher Jeanne Pascon agreed that the potential of the partnership is promising because it will broaden the knowledge of students from two different countries.
"This opportunity to see beyond our local community into the lives of students their age will be eye opening (for our students), both for what is so similar across the world, and also for what is so vastly different," Pascon said. She has a personal connection to Brazil because her husband is a native and she has family there.
Brazil is the largest country in South America. Renzulli Learning Executive Vice President Ivan V. Krieg said these global exchanges provide students with "a broader perspective of the world and how they fit into it."
“We at Renzulli Learning are extremely proud at the opportunity to work with the visionaries at Bloomfield Public Schools to develop this important global collaboration between students from the United States and Brazi,l” Krieg said “Research demonstrates that student participation in group research projects produces advanced learning skills, which can then be applied to all subject areas and leads to higher academic achievement.”