Testimonials

Teacher Reactions

It was an enriching program for both our students and us, the facilitators. Our students were completely stimulated by the challenging academic environment.... During our first day during our weekend at Tufts, our students were intimidated by the language and vocabulary used by the keynote speaker and students from other schools present.... After that first night, they engaged us in a long discussion around issues of language, intelligence, and experience...

Each time they spoke, they became aware of their own knowledge and power.... Increasingly they began to incorporate words into their vocabulary which only two days ago they had complained to us about not understanding. Finally, the power of such speakers as Ruben Zamorro and Oscar Arias raised the quality and intensity of the discussion to an even higher level. It was incredible to see how an event like this was able to create an environment where students became anxious to access knowledge, digest it, and then use it to exchange and challenge ideas with other students.

Joshua Sean Thomases, El Puente Academy for Peace and Justice, New York

This is a tremendous program with unlimited potential for high school students. Providing high school students with an intense introduction to academic scholarship, professorial expertise and foreign affairs specialists raises student expectations of themselves and impacts powerfully on their education. We have seen evidence of this as the students transferred their experience to their history classrooms.

Jonathan Sills, Chair, Social Studies, Brookline High School

We feel like we learned a great deal, practiced our verbal, negotiation and even argumentative skills, and met some amazing people.... Thanks for taking the time to pay some extra attention the high school students, who, contrary to popular belief, are concerned about the future, do have a few important words to say, and do possess some legitimate ideas and solutions. The simulation definitely got our minds thinking.

The North Springs High School Delegation

The fact that we were able to communicate through e-mail with Tufts students and with high school students from other participating schools made the program unlike any other in the country at the secondary level... My students felt that it was an invaluable intellectual exercise which provided them with a scenario in which to put their knowledge to practical use while interacting with peers from all over the country.

Monica Markovits, History Chair, Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School

Many of our students have participated in various international political simulations in the past such as the Model UN at the Hague. It was their unanimous opinion that this was the most challenging, stimulating and worthwhile exercise of all. We are looking forward to establishing an educational link with Inquiry as we feel that it provides our students with an unparalleled opportunity to learn about and experience, through simulation, the important social, economic and political issues of the day.

William E. Bennett, Jr., Instructor, and Tracy Romm, Coordinator, International Baccalaureate Studies, Atlanta International School