World of Wellesley

The Building Cultural Bridges Program (“BCBP”) is a Wellesley High School student-led virtual cultural exchange program for 4th and 5th graders in the Wellesley community. The program consists of two main parts for the students: a regular after school group meeting and a bi-weekly call with their “bridge” partner. 

• The after school Zoom meetings will last for around an hour at 4pm every other Friday from late March until May. There will be an assigned culture to learn about each meeting. Volunteer speakers from Wellesley who identify with the culture of the day will host short presentations followed by interactive activities such as crafts, dances, or easy cooking recipes.
• The Zoom calls with a student’s “bridge” partner will occur every other week for 15 mins at a set time for each child. The Wellesley students will be paired with a buddy from one of the well-established schools abroad that is connected with BCBP. A parent or high school student proctor will be present on both sides of the Zoom calls at all meetings. 

The mission of the BCBP is to increase global awareness and familiarize students with ways of life abroad, all from the comfort of home. Many children are so disconnected from foreign cultures that they have very little to no grasp of the world around them. The personal connection of the BCBP will show students that life in other countries is similar to their lives and very real.

For more information find the BCBP website https://sites.google.com/view/buildingculturalbridgesprogram/home 

Or Follow the BCBP Instagram Page: bcbpwellesley

For more information or to volunteer with BCBC contact bcbpwellesley@gmail.com 

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month, in recognition and acknowledgement of contributions towards, and influence upon, our national history and culture. The One Book One World fundraiser, sponsored by the Wellesley Chinese Language School (WCLS) in partnership with Wellesley Free Library (WFL) seeks to encourage the donation of AAPI related book and multimedia materials to the WFL, will support the creation of a special edition, annual newsletter with title recommendations featuring AAPI literature and multimedia resources, as well as film titles streamed via the library’s Kanopy subscription; and will enable ongoing resource sharing, community dialogues, a webinar lecture series and developing new partnerships with the greater Wellesley community to share best practices about integrating AAPI studies into secondary schools and college curriculum.

Click here to learn more information about Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month at Wellesley Free Library.

Calling all High School Students in Wellesley!

Here is an opportunity to win your share of over $2000 of prizes and make your voice heard against Racism, by submitting a Tik Tok video, a YouTube video or a written Essay!

Last year, World of Wellesley’s celebrated its 30th Anniversary. In recognition of this, for the first time, we will be offering three categories of competition for this year’s 4th Musikavanhu-WoW WHS Unity Essay Competition!

Select one prompt as described below and decide how best to respond to it in one of the following three formats (Please read the specifications at the end as they are very important):

1. Written – Awards will be given for essay submissions that are no longer than 750 words. Submissions must include all necessary citations, otherwise they will be disqualified.  Qualifying submissions will be scored/judged and ranked as below;
2. Audio / Visual (Short) – Tik Tok – Awards will be given for videos no longer than 60 seconds and no shorter than 45 seconds. Submissions must include all necessary citations, otherwise they will be disqualified.  Qualifying submissions will be scored/judged and ranked as below;
3. Audio / Visual (Long) – YouTube – Awards will be given for videos no longer than 5 minutes and no shorter than 1 minute. Submissions must include all necessary citations, otherwise they will be disqualified.  Qualifying submissions will be scored/judged and ranked as below;

Here are the 2021 Prompts

1.  Why Everyone (Conservative, Liberal or Otherwise) Needs to Unite in Defeating Racism in America.

2.  Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor To Name of Few Were Shot and Killed Primarily by a Continual Undervaluation of Black Lives. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Indigenous People Are More Likely Than Any Other Race To Be Victims of Police Brutality. Recently, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Have Faced A Spike in The Number of Violent Attacks Against Them, Even by Other People of Color, Due to A Misplaced Blame for COVID19’s Devastation. If You Were in a Position of Leadership, What Would You Do to Stop the Blatant Disregard for The Lives and Rights of People of Color in America?

Send your written submission or the link to your TikTok/YouTube submission to whsunityessay@gmail.com

All submissions are to be in by May 20th 2021.

Here are the Prizes:

Essays (Written) ;

Gold Medal – $400 and certificate;

Silver Medal – $200 and certificate;

Bronze Medal – $100 and certificate;

4th and 5th place: certificates

Short Audio / Visual – (To be submitted on Tik Tok) ;

Gold Medal – $400 and certificate;

Silver Medal – $200 and certificate;

Bronze Medal – $100 and certificate;

4th and 5th place: certificates

Long Audio / Visual – (To be submitted on YouTube)

Gold Medal – $400 and certificate;

Silver Medal – $200 and certificate;

Bronze Medal – $100 and certificate;

4th and 5th place: certificates

Specifications:

Criteria for judging the essays and the presentations include quality of the written essay both in form and content and student delivery qualities for the video submissions. Accuracy of facts, demonstrated mastery of the topic, effective communication of concepts, thoughts, and ideas, proper use of voice and articulation, and originality all are important. Plagiarism is not acceptable. Credit must clearly be given to any source where borrowed material is directly used or quoted.

Students will be marked and potentially rewarded, regardless of the conclusions they come to, per se, on the following:

Written

*  Thoroughness and accuracy of the research into the topic;
*  Clarity of reasoning and presentation of the data, opinion and facts unearthed by the research process; and
*  The practicality of solutions and actions to be undertaken by the student in ensuring that the following from the US Declaration of Independence “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” can be implemented to the elimination of racism in the Union, and in time, the world beyond;

Audio / Visual – Short (Tik Tok) Long (YouTube)

*  Thoroughness and accuracy of the research into the topic;

*  Clarity of reasoning and presentation of the data, opinion and facts unearthed by the research process;

*  Creative Impact; and

* The graphics, sound / music and or animation assist in presenting an overall theme that is appropriate and informs the audience, enhancing the concepts researched with a high impact message (in line with the chosen prompt).