by George J Elbaum

September 23, 2011, was the last day of Charles Wright Academy’s (CWA) Global Teen Summit 2011, with 24 high school students from Poland and the United Arab Emirates visiting CWA for 10 days with their teachers and staying with CWA host families.  The annual Global Teen Summit is designed to promote peace and social justice by exposing the visiting students to and developing their understanding of the concepts of universal human rights, fair trade and sustainable life styles, and by demonstrating how the choices that each of us makes every day can impact the world.  The core of the Summit is a series of speakers whose personal experiences reflect directly on these subjects, and their presentations are followed by group discussions on these very concepts.  Both this year and last year my presentation was the first time that some of these students heard from a Holocaust speaker.  The Summit’s founder, organizer, and guiding force is Nick Coddington, whose amazingly intense and varied background is exceeded only by his enthusiasm in instilling these concepts in his students.   (This presentation was arranged by Janna Charles and Ilona Kennedy of the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center and the photos are courtesy of Ann Vogel, a CWA Parent Volunteer.)