Co-authored by: Dr. Mike Johnston and Dom Verwey
“The world has never been more ready for you!”
Alex Budak – Becoming a Changemaker
A collaboration is born out of the Changemaker Conference
AISB
One unassuming day in December 2022, Dom was pulled into the principal’s office for a meeting. And no, it wasn’t anything ominous, but rather to jump onto a Zoom call with a guy called Mike from Frankfurt International School (FIS). You see, Dom was moving forward on a student leadership vision at the American International School of Budapest (AISB) and perhaps Mike was a solutionary piece to the complex puzzle that is student empowerment and impact. Mike has a simple message: “Let’s be changemakers”. Dom was hooked. And so the plans started to form, to inspire some AISB students and get to the FIS Changemaker Conference by March 2023. With the help of some eager changemaker teachers, AISB drew in seven future changemaker students and set off on a journey, the outcome of which no one expected.
FIS
In a first semester riddled with online learning and masks due to the pandemic, Mike was seeking change agents at FIS to kick start a leadership program that would inspire students to create change. Who knew in October 2020 that a 15 hour leadership online course, facilitated by the Jump Foundation for grades 4 to 11, would develop into a powerful student movement known as Changemakers. Now, in June 2023, FIS looks back on a journey where students created an amazing 2022 conference for 300 FIS students internally and then turned their attention to hosting 300 students from around Europe in March 2023. FIS partnered with Inspire Citizens and the impact was immense. Find more detail here with an Inspire Citizens Vignette. It was inspirational, motivational, and empowering, with Changemakers of all kinds gathering to make a better future. The conferences were wonderful outcomes but the impact it is having on the learning at FIS is going, and will go, well beyond a 3-day event. Take a look at the outcomes of two years of gatherings.
What came out of the conference?
“I expected inspiration and energy, but not sure I expected awe. Our students were still planning the next steps on the train home. They are greatly elevated and I’m sure others will see it and join as they share back (next week already) and implement our ‘We Will’ statements. I’m Looking forward to meeting again and proudly tallying all of our Changemakers’ successes.”
“Massive amounts of gratitude to FIS! This conference was in and of itself a changemaker – it changed our students. They believe in themselves that they are capable of doing and becoming. All of you are incredible! Thank you for all you did to lift, inspire, and support! We look forward to great things to come, from implementing our power statements to staying in touch with this fantastic group of educator and student changemakers, to meeting you again at future conferences and activities. Let’s go do some good!
For AISB, there were four tangible impact plans created by students that evolved from the inspiring Changemakers Conference:
- The Changemakers Club – a rebranding of a current service club to support connecting the community to change-making strategies, tools, and ideas. Their first step is to increase the connection to, and visibility of, the SDGs.
2. The Sustainability Council – inspired by a similar setup at FIS, the group is wanting to look strategically and schoolwide at the sustainability of our policies and practices, while supporting the community to achieve sustainable project successes by simplifying and streamlining the process of sustainable initiative creation.
3. Safe Space – creating a physical space of wellbeing for students, who may be provided with the space, time, and resources, to focus specifically on student mental wellbeing.
4. Mini-Changemakers Conference in November 2023 – run by students, for students; the AISB students who attended the FIS Changemakers Conference inspiring AISB Middle School students to become changemakers.
Alongside these came the inspiration for AISB to establish a partnership with the JUMP! Foundation to support all student leaders, present and possible, in their capacity as servant leaders and build comprehensive student leadership models and pathways.
For FIS, the conference was a leverage point in a long term changemaking drive to both impact learning and scale tangible action projects within the community and externally. The conference itself was an action plan and meant to connect a multitude of change efforts across two campuses and all divisions at FIS. The impact has been widespread.
- The Middle School students at the FISW campus now run a Changemaker day for all 5th graders on both campuses leading into PYPx.
2. Adults and students are learning impact tools for change that will be common across all divisions and on two campuses. The conference toolbox is an example.
3. XChangemaker is being created to keep all these students in touch to continue to amplify their change efforts locally and regionally.
4. Students are involved in strategic planning at FIS to alter how time and space is used to apply their learning for Changemaking personal projects and meaningful action for all ages.
For the region and beyond, the impact will amplify after Munich attended to learn how to host for May 2024. Doha attended to run a Middle Eastern version of Changemaker, and AISB is running an internal version with hopes of scaling to the city and country.
One common occurrence heading back from collaborative conferences can be the feeling that you are going back alone. You need to do it all yourself. This was NOT what happened at the FIS Changemaker Conference. At no point during or after the conference has anyone felt they do not have a network. Whether it be the amazing FIS Changemaker Conference Team lending a hand in sharing and mentoring others looking to run similar conferences, to the globally-based individuals and organisations involved in the conference that continue to be the bridges to wider impact, new changemakers have everything at their disposal to make it all happen.
So, what’s next?
It is abundantly clear that the world is in need of positive, moral, collaborative leaders who have a vision for a better world. Our planet needs it, people need it, and most of all our students deserve it. What role will you play to create the future we wish to see?
Upskill yourself and try stuff
- Try the Changemaking tools and resources from the conference (Ask Dom, Mike and Kathryn)
- Take a Compass Education Course or try a lesson plan from the resource bank (Ask Mike and Dom)
- Engage with Inspire Citizens or listen to the podcast or read and try a vignette (Ask Mike)
- Engage with the lessons from the institute for Humane Education (Ask Katheryn)
- Engage with Jump Foundation for amazing learning experiences. (Ask Dom and Mike)
- Engage with MAD Courses to learn from entrepreneurs around the world. (ask Mike)
- Engage with Orenda Learning for amazing service learning support. (Ask Dom)
- Sign up for Sima Academy, an online platform committed to creating a more just, inclusive, and equitable world. (Ask Mike)
- Work with Spaceship Academy for entrepreneurial impact (Ask Mike)
Engage with the Global Community
- Join the “Flock of SDG’s” a group of empowered people trying to impact education and our future. We meet online a few times a year, here’s the Padlet (Reach out to Kathryn or Mike)
- Bring a group of students to Changemaker 2024 May 23-25 in Munich! Here’s the Interest Form (Ask Kathryn)
We look forward to hearing from you!
Frankfurt – Mike Johnston johnstonmike34@gmail.com / michael_johnston@fis.edu
Budapest – Dom Verwey dverwey@aisb.hu / domverwey@gmail.com
Munich – Kathryn Berkman kberkman@mis-munich.de