Global Education Dinner
Every March the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC hosts its annual Global Education Dinner. The dinner serves as a forum to recognize the achievements of the Council throughout the year. It also honors the work of citizens and teachers, government officials and diplomatic corps members, and Council supporters for their commitment to educating the national capital area community about issues of international affairs and the United States’ relationship with the world. Each year, three honors are given – the Global Service Award, the Global Citizenship Award, and the Teacher of the Year. The Global Education Dinner is a critical source of support for the World Affairs Council's public and educational programs for metro area citizens, teachers and students.
Global Service Award
2007 Global Service Award Recipient –Honorable Carl Levin (D-MI)
Senator Levin is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee where he has earned a reputation as a strong supporter of our national defense and an effective advocate for the elimination of fiscal waste. He is perhaps best known for his efforts to make our government both more efficient and more ethical. He authorized the Competition in Contracting Act, which has led to significant reductions in federal procurement costs. His Whistleblower Protection Act protects federal employees who expose wasteful practices. Levin also helped author the Taxpayer Bill of Rights which protects individuals and small business from IRS harassment. He was the principal author of the Ethics Reform Act of 1988, which simplified and strengthened ethics requirements for the legislative and executive branches of government and prohibited members of Congress from accepting honoraria from special interest groups. He has never accepted honoraria from special interest groups and in 1995 persuaded the Senate to adopt a strong ban on gifts to senators and paid trips. That same year he won passage of strict disclosure requirements for lobbyists in the Lobbying Disclosure Act, the first major overhaul of those laws in 50 years.
Long known as a strong advocate on behalf of our service men and women, Senator Levin is the recipient of the Harry S. Truman Award for distinguished service in support of national defense from the National Guard Association of the United States. In 2003, the Navy presented him with its Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest award given to a civilian, for exceptional service to the Navy and Marine Corps.
Senator Levin believes we must expand educational opportunities for all Americans if our nation is to remain strong and productive, He has fought for increased funding for the Head Start preschool program, Title I for educationally disadvantaged students, and Pell Grants and loans for college and vocational school students.
Senator Levin, a native of Detroit Michigan, graduated from Swarthmore College in 1956 and from Harvard Law School in 1959. In 1978 he won an upset victory in his first campaign for the US Senate, and has been re-elected in four subsequent elections. The Senator and his wife Barbara have three daughters and five grandchildren.
Global Citizenship Award
2007 Global Citizenship Award Recipient – Alma Johnson Powell
Alma Johnson Powell is Chair of the Board of Directors of America's Promise- The Alliance for Youth, a diverse and growing alliance of nearly 500 national organizations whose mission is to mobilize people from every sector of American life to build the character and competence of youth.
Mrs. Powell has served as the vice chair of the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and chairman of the National Council of the Best Friends Foundation, and chairs the advisory board for the Pew Center for Civic Change.
Mrs. Powell is the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Emerson College and the Civic Change Award from the Pew Partnership for Civic Change. She was honored by Washingtonian Magazine as Washingtonian of the Year in 1999.
Alma Powell was born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and went on to study speech pathology and audiology at Emerson College in Boston. She married Colin Powell in 1962 and spent the next 33 years raising a family and accompanying her husband on his various military assignments in the United States and overseas. During the early 1980s she served as president of the Armed Forces Hostess Association. When her husband was stationed at the Pentagon, she served as the Army liaison to the National Red Cross as part of a team of volunteer consultants from the military services. During General Powell's tenure as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she was the adviser to the Red Cross of the Military District of Washington. In addition to her many service-minded activities, Mrs. Powell is the author of two children's books. My Little Wagon and America's Promise.
Mrs. Powell resides in McLean, Virginia with her husband. They have three children and four grandchildren.
Teacher of the Year
Each year, the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC selects as its Teacher of the Year a DC area educator who has demonstrated outstanding dedication to teaching with a global perspective. The Teacher of the Year receives the Leonard H. Marks Award for Excellence in International Education – a $1000 grant designed to advance the study of international affairs in local schools.
The Council is now accepting nominations for the 2008 Teacher of the Year Award. Colleagues, students, parents and other community members can recommend a teacher for this award. To nominate a teacher, please send a letter detailing why he/she is a deserving candidate. The ideal candidate will be a teacher who uses school and community resources to present international topics in a unique and creative manner, and encourages his/her students to be active global citizens. Nominations must be submitted to the Council by December 31, 2007.
The Teacher of the Year award is presented at the Council’s Annual Dinner, which will be held in early Spring 2008. The Council’s Annual Dinner serves as a forum to honor the work of teachers, members of our government, the diplomatic corps, business leaders and others for their commitment to educating and engaging citizens in international affairs. For information on how to nominate a teacher, please contact Amanda Stamp at astamp@worldaffairsdc.org.
2007 TEACHER OF THE YEAR: Julie Caccamise
Each year the World Affairs Council of Washington, DC honors a deserving teacher who has made a unique contribution to efforts expanding international learning opportunities for their students. This year we honor Ms. Julie Caccamise, a teacher at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Washington, DC.
Ms. Caccamise is a committed educator who has taught students in a variety of settings, in parochial, charter, and public schools. Through her work, Ms. Caccamise has instilled in her students a love for learning and an awareness of their roles and responsibilities as global citizens. Her passion for international understanding is evident in the stimulating and engaging environment she has created for her students, who will often stay after class to continue lively discussions of current events.
In her current position at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School, where she has taught since 2005, Ms. Caccamise has brought new energy to the Wilson International Studies Program (WISP). She has worked to integrate the WISP program with the activities of the United Nations Association’s Global Classrooms DC, and uses her position as lead teacher for Global Classrooms to share her experience and expertise with other area teachers. Global Classrooms DC also oversees the Model UN program in the Washington, DC area. As the sponsor for her school’s Model UN Club, Ms. Caccamise hosted a digital videoconference between her students and a school in Baku, Azerbaijan to discuss the AIDS epidemic in Botswana. The club is currently working to develop a project to exchange community service opportunities on a global level.
BBC Radio has visited Ms. Caccamise’s classroom on three occasions for the “World Have Your Say” radio program, transforming it into a broadcasting center where her students are connected with their peers around the world to discuss global issues and learn from each other’s experiences. Ever the advocate for global and cross-cultural understanding, Ms. Caccamise regularly takes part in the Embassy for a Day Program for elementary and middle school students, and hosts ambassadors and international business leaders to give her students a first-hand understanding of life in other parts of the world.
Ms. Caccamise’s commitment to meaningful global understanding does not end in her classroom. This summer she will take part in a Learn Serve project trip to Zambia, where she will work on a water system project and on a library project for street children. She hopes to share her experiences with her students when she returns, enriching her school community with a more polished and extensive international perspective, and by example encouraging active involvement with international affairs.
