Cranford Review 2016

16
On
Tuesday 7th June 2016, we were visited by another
of our American friends. David Kovatch handpicked
Cranford Community College as the school he wanted to visit
to deliver his first such session to, having been very impressed
during conversations with Cranford students at another event at
the US Embassy. Though his specific remit is Energy Attaché
at the US Embassy London representing
the US Department of Energy, he talked
at length with the students about several
other issues aside from energy policies
and issues. Amongst domestic American
politics, students were interested in finding
out about David’s concerns surrounding
Donald Trump and the US problems with
gun crime. Internationally, IS came up as
well as the Palestine question – which
just won’t go away. These conversations are
usually had with 6th form students, but on this occasion Mr. Fraser
and I decided to give our year 10 students this opportunity. They
were really impressive. Whilst none of them had ever been in a
position to meet a diplomat or the like, our students were mature,
well-researched and not at all overwhelmed by the experience.
They were confident in asking questions and responding with
their opinions. Mr. Fraser and I are extremely confident in this
group of politically engaged youngsters going on to be global
citizens when they leave school.
Mehmoona Yousaf
(Senior Teacher Head of RE Department)
“I think that the visit from the US diplomat was
beneficial to both the UK and the USA as it helped
us to see what we think of each other and keeps the
relations with other countries honourable and decent.
We discussed many topics such as politics (Trump in
particular), gun crime in the USA and opinions on each
other’s involvement in many world crises. Racism was
also a topic, albeit a short one and I thought that it was
good that they gave us cards for us to write our frustrations/confusions/fears
(or something like that) about the USA”.
Majid Anjum (year 10)
“I found that speaking with Mr Kovatch helped me to understand how other
countries function and how they tackle the problems that we are currently
facing, such as global warming, immigration and extremism. He also
provided me and the other students with an outsider’s perspective on the
EU referendum and how it would affect not only the UK but also America”.
Ali Sarwar (year 10)
“We the People”
Conference with the US
Energy Attaché
Invite to
Winfield House
On
Wednesday 6th April
2016, Zahra Butt and Ali
Aweis year 13 were invited along
with myself to Winfield House the
US Ambassador’s residence, to take
part in a debate on current affairs.
The students found the discussion
enlightening and
were amazed by
Winfield House and
the surrounding
estate.
Mehmoona Yousaf
(Senior Teacher
- Head of RE
Department)
“At first I
didn’t know
what to expect
when I entered
to the Winfield
estate; a
building which
has hosted the
likes of Barrack
Obama and
the Queen. What I did anticipate however
was for it to be illustrious, and it did not
disappoint. The 12 acre estate was a sight
to behold and we spent what seemed to
be an hour perusing the bottom floor of
the mansion: the paintings, beautifully
decorated chandeliers and exquisitely
detailed furniture. After that we sat in one
of the vast rooms where we spoke about his
trips to schools, as well as our thoughts
on the way he answered our questions. My
personal suggestion was that he tries to focus
more on the topics which come up frequently,
and that he allows us to see the viewpoints
of Americans our age through the click poll,
so that it can be a proper exchange, which
he thanked us
for. We ended the
visit in classical
American fashion,
with a group photo
and horrendous
music played from
an antique music
box”.
Ali Aweis
(year 13)