On May 13th Hingham High School’s Global Citizenship Program gathered in the cafeteria for their annual symposium. This year the symposium entailed presentations of senior portfolios, a buffet style presentation/dining experience for traditional Malaysian dishes, a performance by the Triveni school of dance, and finally a brief ceremony to honor the seniors who have exemplified excellence in the program throughout their high school experience.
The Global Citizenship Program (GCP) prides itself on enriching students with global knowledge not only about different cultural events, but also with knowledge on current events and global conflicts. By allowing students to take in knowledge from such a variety of topics from a vast number of countries, GCP allows students to explore topics of their own interest and find what makes them feel most internationally connected.
In addition, the program is largely student-led with almost all of the events being those that students create themselves, taking away the incentive to memorize and repeat facts about different cultures as one might find themselves doing in a history class. The final culmination of these student-led initiatives is the symposium itself for the graduating class who have exemplified excellence in understanding the world around them by their own accord over the last several years. The program describes the event as being dedicated to the students who “have committed themselves to an intensive global studies and extracurricular activities focused around understanding and contributing to our interconnected, diverse world.”
With a variety of topics, the event began by allowing students and parents to browse through the multitude of different projects the seniors displayed. These projects included a variety of topics that appealed to the presenting student’s interests or past experiences. These projects included The History of Golf in Scotland, the India and Pakistani Conflict, Japanese Cuisine, Chinese emigration, and more. The options for the projects ranged from simply creating a research paper, to creating and trying cultural foods at home.
One of these cuisine based projects was that of senior Lila Johnson. Her project was centered around trying Mukimo: A Tanzanian dish consisting of mashed potatoes, corn, and pumpkin. Lila’s interest in the food stemmed from her trip to Tanzania last year. After completing her project, Lila elaborated on her experience creating her showcase by stating that “In completing my GCP project, my global horizons broadened because I was able to dive deeper into the nationality of a culture and learn about their traditions”.
Senior Tommy Hartnett also reported having a similar experience creating his project on the Gentrification of Mexico City. Tommy completed a five page research paper explaining the process of gentrification and the effects it has had on Mexico City throughout the last few centuries. When asked about the significance of his project, Tommy explained how he was afforded an “opportunity to connect with people of different backgrounds, interests, and cultures and to understand how all of our collaboration and hard work throughout High School has gotten us to this point.”
In addition to browsing the senior projects, food was also provided to give attendees an inside look into cultures they may not be familiar with. Aleeya, an exchange student from Malaysia that joined Hingham High School this past year, presented and explained the significance of both Mee Goreng (vegetarian fried noodles) and Kuih Ketayap (rolled crepe filled with coconut & palm sugar). Those who tried the food reported the notable flavors in both dishes that perfectly balanced sweet and savory to provide for a delicious combination that added to the cultural immersion of the evening. Also, every utensil, plate, bowl, or cup provided during the event was compostable, and aided in helping the new HHS initiative to eliminate the amount of trash that piles up in the cafeteria and instead replace it with compostable items that can be reworked and returned to the Earth in a mindful manner.
Partway through the symposium, the attendees welcomed dancers from the Triveni School of Dance: a non-profit organization based out of Boston dedicated to education and performance of Indian classical dance. The dancers delivered a unique performance representing the various cultures of India with both of the dances highlighting different styles of Indian dance and daily practices. Overall, the dance performance added another layer of cultural appreciation to the symposium and aided in the practice of learning about other societies through various mediums.
Finally came the presentation of senior certificates where each of the club advisors spoke briefly about each senior and their projects, making sure to highlight the seniors’ inspiration behind what drove them to pick their project topics.
Overall, the GCP Symposium was a success and can be regarded as a perfect model as to the program’s values of cultural appreciation and overall enthusiasm for the school community. For current freshmen or sophomores looking to join GCP in their efforts and strive to reach their full potential as global citizens, applications for the 2026-2027 school year are due this Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30 a.m. in room 284. Thank you to all those who attended the GCP Symposium for creating such an important and welcoming community event.
