April 30th, 2008
Students from New York City to Edmonton Alberta to Esteli Nicaragua came together on April 30, 2008 to meet via video conference. At one point in the day there were 5000 students participating!

Many of these schools have been fundraising to suport the construction of a primary school in Esteli Nicaragua with Change for Children. Schools who participated in the eight hours of programming got to meet the school children in Esteli through video conference technology. A big thank you to Queen Elizabeth High School in Edmonton, Alberta for their vision, energy and partnership.


On Wednesday, April 30th, students from around the Globe, in partnership with Polycom and Change for Children, will be gathering via Video Conference to help raise awareness and funds for the building of a school for street children in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Starting at 8:00 AM MDT and running until 8:00 PM MDT that evening, there will be a large number of Video Conference sessions, including guest speakers, human rights workshops, beginner Spanish lessons, Salsa lesson and much, much more. Every hour, on the hour, for 15 minutes, students will have the opportunity to interact directly with Nicaragua and the students for whom the school is being built.

Priority for participation will be given to schools that are participating as fundraisers. We have no minimum requirement for funds raised; we merely ask each school to contribute what they can. As part of the project is to encourage collaboration between sites, there will be many opportunities for schools to get together and discuss what they are doing. One active site from each session will be reserved for non-fundraising schools.

*Please click here for the SCHEDULE
*School Fundraising - Who, How, Where?
*Visit the Collaboration Wiki Space A place to work together, share ideas and chat!


Queen Elizabeth High School: Terry Godwaldt, Sherrie Ritchie, Bette Ilich
Elementary: TBA
Rosslyn Junior High: Mike Prokopiw, Ed Harasem
Salisbury Composite High School: Janice Sundar
Sponsoring District: Edmonton Public Schools, Nurit Reshef; Elk Island Public Schools, Les Sereda




Observer/Participatant
A. Observe in one or more of our sessions. These schools will not able to ask questions or interact with presenters, merely observe. (24 max. sites per session)
B. Participate in one or more of our sessions. There schools will be able to interact by asking questions, sing, or dance with the presenters. Priority will be given to school participating as fundraisers. One of the four sites will be reserved for non-fundraisers. (4 sites per session)

Presenter (Mural or School Group)
As one of the purposes of the conference is to celebrate education, there are a number of opportunities throughout the day for schools to present an aspect of their school worth celebrating! Examples of this might include a class presentation on Nicaragua and Education, a performance from a choir, band, or even dance ensemble or a drama presentation. The sky is the limit! Just show us, and the world, what is worth celebrating at your school! (See below for more details.)

Fundraiser
Besides raising awareness to the plight of Street Children in Nicaragua, we would like to go further. We recognize that many Western countries have a privilege unimagined by most of the world. We can come, in safety and security, to a school within minutes of home for 8 hours a day, 200 days a year. In Nicaragua, many of the children don’t even have a school to go to.

In light of that, we are hoping to raise over $10, 000 to contribute to the Change for Children’s school for the Street Children of Esteli, Nicaragua. Students can participate in a variety of projects, raising their awareness of the state of education and poverty throughout Central America and the world.

The participants will receive the necessary sponsor sheets and information in the next couple of weeks. Before the Video Conference for Hope, students can raise funds through donors and sponsors.

Priority for participation will be given to schools that are participating as Fundraisers. At least one active site from each session will be reserved for non-fundraising schools.

On Wednesday, April 30th, students from around the Globe, in partnership with Polycom and Change for Children, will be gathering via Video Conference to help raise awareness and funds for the building of a school for street children in Esteli, Nicaragua.

Our goal is to bring together students from over 50 schools to listen to experts, debate issues, share personal stories, sing, dance, and celebrate the opportunity we share to have an education, free of persecution and hardship.

Our goal is to raise $10 000 through our Video Conference of Hope Marathon. Students will participate in activities for 24 hours, raising their awareness of the state of education and poverty throughout Nicaragua and the world. (The first 12 hours will be made up of the 12 hour Video Conference for Hope.)

Video Conference for Hope 2008 sponsored in part by: