Ashoka
The first racially integrated school in Washington, DC, Georgetown Day School (GDS) identifies itself as “a private school with a public mission.” To that end, GDS has developed a robust service-learning program that spans prekindergarten through twelfth grade. The youngest students learn one-to-one correspondence by making sandwiches for a local nonprofit that serves the homeless. High school students complete at least 60 hours doing either one or two projects of their choice between the beginning of ninth and the end of twelfth grade. Beyond service learning, opportunities to step into another’s shoes are built into the curriculum. For example, third grade teacher Todd Liu leads an immersive experience at a nearby farm in which students experience colonial life for three days.
Robert Asher
On a personal level, Robert is particularly interested in GDS’s becoming a Changemaker School. As an educator for the past twenty years, he is keenly committed to developing passionate, compassionate and empathetic young people. While Robert believes he has done that more indirectly than directly, Robert does think his work with the School’s Horn of Africa Program that he co-founded ten years ago has been some of his most rewarding. Having led trips to Ethiopia and Kenya each summer (that involve a student’s year-round commitment to the Program), he feels strongly about everyone’s responsibility as citizens of the world. The School’s support of the Program has been emphatic, and the results have been extraordinary. Finally, Robert thinks the Changemaker Program has particular appeal to him because he feels ready to have broader impact. As powerful as Robert knows the Horn of Africa Program has been, occasionally he wishes that the reach was greater. Robert knows that they have changed lives – on both sides of the Atlantic – he just wishes the impact, particularly as an Institution, could be expanded. As a Changemaker School, Robert is hopeful that it will be