New York, NY -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/06/2017 --The Gifts & Gifted Foundation, with founder Anthony Vandarakis, is presenting NYC public, charter and parochial schools the tools to embrace global competencies and 21st century requirements with the hope of producing an educational paradigm shift.

We call on individual educators, schools and districts to embrace reforms that will prepare our next generation of students for lifelong learning, meaningful action, and global citizenship.

"Twentieth-century assumptions about the world are rapidly becoming obsolete. Globalization, the digital revolution, mass migration, and the prospect of climate instability are triggering new concerns and demanding a new kind of graduate. At the dawn of the 21st century we are recasting our understanding of economics, communication, security, cultural identity, citizenship, and the environment. Indeed, a growing number of reports document the new demands and opportunities these changes present our youth. They call for more powerful, relevant, and self-directed learning that will prepare the young to live, compete, and collaborate in a new global scenario."

Mansilla, Veronica Boix., and Anthony Jackson. Educating for Global Competence: Preparing Our Youth to Engage the World. New York, NY: Asia Society, 2011. Web.

"Perhaps most perniciously in the United States—but, alas, not only in the United States—there is a deep distrust of education that attempts to transcend borders and to take seriously the customs, values, and priorities of nations and regions very different from one's own—and such provincialism and exceptionalism grows more fervent in times of crisis. Cosmopolitanism, internationalism, and globalism are often considered dangerous concepts or even "fighting words." "

Gardner, Howard. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness Reframed: Educating for the Virtues in the Twenty-first Century. New York: Basic, 2011. Print.

Gifts and Gifted is motivated by the potential for a sea change in education. No longer can the US PK-12 educational system continue to operate in two tiers: the factory/test prep model and the college preparatory track.

At its heart US education needs revisioning.

Global competence and the ability to act are no longer a luxury for the children of diplomats, but a necessity for all. In order to navigate an ever changing environment, to make meaning, to succeed and to ultimately contribute, education must help students stretch their lens of the world and see their one of a kind place in it.

The Gifts & Gifted Foundation was established in 2006 in Chicago and is a committed thought partner offering free curricular supports, teacher professional development, and school revisioning to PK-12 educators/schools.

anthonyvandarakis.org

About Anthony Vandarakis
Anthony Vandarakis completed his undergraduate degree at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois in 1997. In 2000, he was recognized by the Golden Apple Foundation for Excellence in Teaching and awarded a full scholarship for graduate school. He received his master's degree in education with a focus on Educational Leadership from the University of Illinois at Chicago (2002).

Mr. Vandarakis continued his higher education at Loyola University, on a Boeing Corporation Scholarship, receiving accelerated instruction in Aviation Science. In May of 2008, Mr. Vandarakis completed his Administrative Certificate requirements and holds a Type 75 Administrative Certificate from DePaul University.

Mr. Vandarakis has lived on three continents, working as an educator at prominent international schools. He is an avid traveler and has visited over 75 countries. Living in Harlem and working in the Bronx, Mr. Vandarakis takes advantage of the rich cultural opportunities all around him.

~Anthony G. Vandarakis is the Vice Principal at Tech International School in NY, NY, USA.~