7th Graders From 6 Brooklyn Schools Chosen as 'NYC Junior Ambassadors' to the U.N.

By Kings County Politics News Service

BROOKLYN, NY — Seventh-grade students from six Brooklyn schools or programs were named 2016-17 "NYC Junior Ambassadors" to the United Nations this week by the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs.

The innovative program, only in its second year, was designed to empower students across the city to see themselves as global citizens.

Out of nearly 100 applications submitted by educators, 20 diverse classrooms and after-school programs across the city were chosen by a selection committee comprised of local and global leaders.

Here are the six winning schools or programs from Brooklyn:

• Children of Promise, 54 Macdonough St., Bed-Stuy (The first and only after-school program and summer day camp in NYC specifically designed to meet the needs, interests and concerns of children left behind by parents serving time in prison.)

• East New York Middle School of Excellence, 605 Shepherd Ave., East New York

• Boerum Hill School for International Studies, 284 Baltic St., Boerum Hill/Cobble Hill

• Montauk Intermediate School (J.H.S. 223), 4200 16th Ave., Borough Park

• NIA After-School Program at the Christa Mcauliffe School (I.S. 187), 1171 65th St., Bay Ridge

• The Robert Fulton School: The Magnet School for Exploration, Research and Design (P.S./M.S. 8), 37 Hicks St., Brooklyn Heights

Approximately 600 middle-school students citywide will participate in the program — almost twice as many as in 2015, the inaugural year.

As NYC Junior Ambassadors, the students will learn about international affairs — human rights, gender equality, migration, refugees, the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals, etc. — through the integration of the U.N. and its work into their curriculum.

All participating schools and programs will get a behind-the-scenes look at U.N. operations via field trips to the U.N. campus, where they'll interact with high-level experts, and via classroom visits from a U.N. ambassador.

The NYC Junior Ambassadors program is a partnership between local and international organizations including the NYC Department of Education, the NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, the U.N. and the U.N. Foundation.

To learn more about the program, visit NYC.gov/NYCJuniorAmbassadors.

Photo via Children of Promise NYC/Facebook

A version of this article originally appeared on the Kings County Politics news site