Columbus School students from both High and Middle School will travel to Panama for the 2017 Global Issue Network (GIN) Conference on March 8th-13th.

Students will work with school groups from other South and Central American countries to develop solutions for global issues issues such as reducing plastic paper usage and greenhouse gasses. Their ideas will then be exchanged with other students working to address the same problems.

“Our job is to create a presentation based on the topic that we’ve been assigned. This is a very extense project that requires us to have solid research information about the topic, create an action plan and making an activity,” Paloma Urrea, Columbus School 9th grader, said.

The conference provides students an opportunity to expand their problem solving skills and meet students from around the world who contribute a different point of view.

“It’s a lot of hard work that requires dedication and commitment like staying days after school or even gathering outside of school to practice our presentation. Everything has to be really well rehearsed to show our good handling of the subject and professionalism during the conferences,” Urrea said.