Summer 2012 - InterConnections 21

Summer 2012 Newsletter
Photos courtesy of Evan Huggins, Elise Stiegler, Elizabeth Whelan and Mark Pommer
JHMS Students Create Lifelong Connections with Austrian Sister City
From June 20-July 2, 2012, IC 21
sponsored an exchange trip for thirteen 7th
and 8th graders from Jackson Hole Middle
School (JHMS) and three chaperones.
The students were based in Lienz, Austria,
living with Austrian families, going
to school, and exploring the different
regions of East Tirol and nearby cultural
sites in Italy.
“Students left Jackson singing
country-western and returned
from Austria yodeling and having
visited Mozart’s birthplace.”
-Elise Stiegler, JHMS Counselor
JHMS counselor Elise Stiegler initiated
the exchange program three years ago with
a pen pal activity in a 6th grade English
class. Elise is a niece of Olympic gold
medalist Pepi Stiegler and daughter of Peter
Stiegler, both of whom grew up in Lienz
and have been prominent in the Jackson
community for many years. Lienz is a sister
city of Jackson.
During the 12-day trip, the group visited
the Hohe Tauern National Park, camped
in Jesolo, Italy, and visited Venice. Other
highlights included participating in an endof-year
concert at the local Austrian school;
staying at the Maria Luggau Monastery
and Basilica in Lesatchal; meeting the
Mayoress of Lienz; and visiting the vibrant
city of Salzburg—Mozart’s birthplace.
The students and their families spent
almost a year organizing local fundraising
events to cover trip costs. Many in the
Jackson community had become aware
of the exchange program in the spring of
2011, when 16 students from Lienz visited
Jackson. Before their trip, the Jackson
IC 21 newsletter is printed on recycled paper
Austrian and Jackson students in front of a statue of Mozart, Salzburg, Austria. Photo courtesy of Elise Stiegler
students met weekly to learn basic
German phrases and vocabulary and
become familiar with Austrian customs,
culture, and currency.
The exchange program, which in many
ways culminated with this trip, has
strengthened an ongoing connection
between Jackson and its sister city
in Austria. In addition, it has helped
sensitize a group of Jackson students
to the pleasures and exigencies of
adapting to a foreign culture, set them
on the road to becoming global citizens,
and made them aware of some of the
diverse and exciting opportunities
awaiting them beyond their classrooms
and the Tetons.
-Elise Stiegler, JHMS Counselor
UPCOMING IC 21 EVENTS
August 29: Community discussion facilitated by
Dr. David Shlim on Mountains Beyond
Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer,
A Man Who Would Cure the World, JH
Historical Society and Museum
September 6: Public discussion with Paul Farmer
and Ophelia Dahl of Partners In Health,
facilitated by Alexandra Fuller, Walk
Festival Hall, Teton Village
September 8: Old Bill’s Fun Run, organized by the
Community Foundation of Jackson Hole
November 13-14: Teton County Model UN Conference,
JH High School
December 5-7: UN Student Conference
on Human Rights, New York City
More information and photos on these and
other IC 21 programs, including our new
TCMUN training materials, at www.ic21.org.
Like our new Facebook page!
InterConnections 21 • PO Box 960 • 3705 Canyon Road, Wilson, WY 83014 • e-mail: evan@ic21.org • www.ic21.org

Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl conduct a home visit in Cange,
Haiti, January 2012. Photo courtesy of Rebecca Rollins,
Partners in Health
Trip to Ghana Opens Eyes
On March 21, 2012, I boarded a plane bound for
Ghana with 12 fellow students and three trip leaders.
After months of preparation and anticipation for this
IC 21-sponsored journey, we were ecstatic to finally
arrive at the Trinity Yard School (TYS), just outside the
Ghanaian fishing village of Cape Three Points. The plan
was to spend two weeks at TYS working on meaningful and sustainable service projects.
Our primary goal was to set up and organize a library of English language books on
the top floor of the new TYS school building. In addition, we hoped to teach classes at
Cape Three Points Primary School, improve facilities at TYS, and set up a simple bike
workshop for use after our departure.
We had hoped to accomplish our work goals and of course have some fun at the beach,
Paul Farmer and Ophelia Dahl Talk about
Partners In Health in Jackson Hole
With generous support from Sophie Craighead and The Engelhard Foundation,
IC 21 will present a discussion by Partners In Health (PIH) cofounders Paul
Farmer and Ophelia Dahl on September 6
at Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village. The
discussion will be facilitated by best-selling
author Alexandra Fuller and preceded by a
fundraising dinner at Terra Hotel.
PIH is a global organization that delivers high-quality health care to people and
communities devastated by the joint burdens of poverty and disease. Founded
in 1987, PIH quickly began developing a model of community-based care by
treating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in rural Haiti and the slums of Lima, Peru.
Subsequently, national health authorities in both countries incorporated the
lessons learned in these pilot projects into national health systems. PIH has gone
on to influence World Health Organization (WHO) policies on HIV/AIDS and
TB and worked tirelessly to reduce the price of drugs used to treat these diseases worldwide. Currently PIH works in 10 countries:
Burundi, Guatemala, Haiti, Lesotho, Malawi, Mexico, Peru, Russia, Rwanda and the United States.
Farmer and Dahl’s Jackson visit is taking place in the context of PIH’s 25th anniversary. In conjunction with the visit, IC 21 is
organizing a community book discussion on Mountains Beyond Mountains, Tracy Kidder’s Pulitzer Prize winning account of Paul
Farmer’s work. Dr. David Shlim, an expert in travel and tropical medicine now based in Jackson, will lead the discussion, which will
take place on August 29th.
“This trip has made me think
about everything I do and how
I look at the world. It will
influence my career path, my
friends, my choices, everything.”
-CJ Hoeft, JHHS ‘13
but by the end of our time at the Yard, so much more had emerged from the trip than expected. Incredible friendships were formed
with our peers at TYS, as well as younger children from the village; the library was transformed into a beautiful and functional space
for learning; and a modest bike workshop was built and used to teach basic bike maintenance classes. The trip has made us all more
appreciative of our lives here in the States and inspired many of us to pursue international service work.
Student Action for Sustainability
This spring, the student-run Alliance Against Climate Change (AACC) at Jackson Hole High School (JHHS) launched a program
to reduce energy consumption throughout the school. Though it proved difficult to measure the amount of energy saved by
this initiative, the program raised awareness among students and staff about the importance of conserving energy and boosted
membership in the AACC.
“We are looking to implement
long term renewable energy
solutions so that we can
‘make a difference’ for both
today and years to come.”
-Erin Weiss, JHHS ‘14
of installing solar panels on the roof of the new
concession stand at the JHHS sporting complex.
This solar array would offset the year-round energy
consumption of the complex’s lights and scoreboard.
The students are formulating a business plan that will
outline costs and help them raise project funds. IC 21
and the Jackson Hole Energy Sustainability Project (a
$6.3 million initiative of the Town of Jackson, Teton
County and Lower Valley Energy) are advising the
SFS on fundraising and planning. In addition, the
club is working with LONG Building Technologies on
assessing JHHS energy usage and Creative Energies on
the feasibility and design of the solar array.
At the end of the school year, new AACC officers were elected to
replace the graduating seniors who had founded the club five years
earlier while at Jackson Hole Middle School. The new leadership team
has started developing an ambitious program and changed the club’s
name to Students for Sustainability (SFS).
Currently SFS is
exploring the feasibility
SFS officers Carli Swenson, Mackenzie Moore, Erin
Weiss, and Elsa Roush (from left) in front of the new
concession stand, JHHS sports complex, Jackson, WY.
For more on the PIH book group,
fundraising dinner, and the public
event visit: www.ic21.org/PIH.
Cape Three Points 5th graders and Jackson students in the
newly furnished and stocked Trinity Yard Library.
Photo courtesy of Evan Huggins
-Morgan McGlashon, JHCS ‘13
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Susie Rauch, Ed.D., President, Wilson, WY
Joe Albright, Jackson, WY
Bill Field, Jackson, WY
Eugene B. Skolnikoff, Prof., MIT, Cambridge, MA
Ann C. Smith, Wilson, WY
Mary Kay Turner, Jackson, WY & Washington, D.C.
ADVISORY BOARD
Casey Box, New York, NY
Len Carlman, Esq., Wilson, WY
Jean Garrison, Ph. D., Laramie, WY
Addie Henderson, Jackson, WY
Jurate Kazickas, New York, NY
Gilman Ordway, Wilson, WY
Bea van Roijen, Wilson, WY
Mary Woollen, Wilson, WY
Libby Crews-Wood, Wilson, WY
IC 21 STAFF
Evan Huggins, Program Associate
InterConnections 21 is a 501c3 non-profit organization (EIN: 84-1379499).
Contributions are tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law. Please make checks out to IC 21 and send to PO Box 960, Wilson, WY 83014.