PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Four students from the School District of Philadelphia have been chosen to represent the city at an international youth summit next year in Germany.
The four teens are the Philly school board’s student representatives. They’re getting their passports ready to take part in a weeklong youth parliament in Frankfurt, Germany May 13-17, 2024. The Global House of Young Voices is an assembly of young people from Frankfurt's 17 sister cities.
Philadelphia is one of those cities, along with Birmingham, Budapest, Deuil-La Barre, Dubai, Eskişehir, Granada, Guangzhou, Kairo, Krakau, Leipzig, Lyon, Mailand, Philadelphia, Prag, Tel Aviv, Toronto and Yokohama.
“I hope that we can all kind of tell the perspective of kids in Philly and how our education system goes,” said De’Naiza Watson, a junior at Science Leadership Academy. “I think it would be really cool to also get to talk to kids who go to school in other places and see how it kind of compares and contrasts.”
Watson will be joined by Constitution High junior Cavance Smith, Academy at Palumbo junior Doha Gassem, and Fatoumata Sidibe, a senior at Bodine High School.
Officials say the assembly’s goal is to promote education for global citizenship that incorporates the United Nations’ 17 goals for sustainable development, as well as strengthen the sister cities’ ties to Frankfurt.
Students will meet virtually starting in January to plan their agenda. After their in-person gathering in May, they'll reconvene virtually to track the progress of their work.
“I really hope before the trip comes that I can really get a sense of how my peers feel and see what I can do to really advocate for them,” said Watson.
The trip is coordinated by the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and funded by the city of Frankfurt.