History of CIE
The Center for International Education began as a strategic initiative of Washington International School in 2003 when members of the Board of Trustees asked what responsibility WIS had to other schools to assist them in becoming more internationally intentioned. Under the leadership of Dick Hall, Head of WIS, and Kathy Kemper, Founder of the Institute for Education, CIE was founded.
In October, 2003 WIS hosted a two day conference titled Educating for Responsible World Citizenship. Local educators from area public and non-public schools attended, and the resounding comment was that CIE should move ahead and formalize itself, set a mission and goals, hire a director and continue to engage teachers, coaches and administrators in the issues related to international education.
With the direction of first a Founding Committee and then an operating Steering Committee, a mission was established and its Founding Director, Hugh Riddleberger was appointed in May, 2004. Hugh immediately set to meeting and talking with a number of organizations, individuals and agencies to determine what was already being done and to look for important partnerships to form. His report to the Steering Committee in June was that there were important partnerships to form but that no school or organization existed whose sole purpose was to help schools become more international in program and focus.
Concurrently, Hugh proceeded with his plans for LearnServe Ethiopia. This was CIE's first program with school teams from across the city, traveling to a distant developing country which is faced with some of the greatest global challenges facing our worlds today. Traveling with 26 teachers and students from six public and non-public schools, the LSE team engaged in on the ground projects in Ethiopia and returned to the United States transformed not only by the Ethiopian people but by the challenges we face as a global society and the need for schools to take action.
With the success of this program, CIE set a path to develop three programs for 2004-05:
The most significant issue CIE is engaged in for the remainder of the 2004-05 year to design and develop a site where teachers and students can engage in issues of international significance and to explore ways they can deepen their schools commitment to international understanding and world citizenship. Please investigate this site to learn more about CIE's efforts and mission. Let us know what you think.
- Steering Committee
- Sandra M. Baer, External Affairs Consultant, Nextel Communications
- Elan Blutinger, Managing Director, Alpine Consolidated, LLC.
- Tracy Gray, Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research
- Scott M. Gilman, Chief Executive Officer, SMG Capitol Investors
- Richard P. Hall, Head of School, WIS
- Kathy Kemper, Founder, Institute for Education
- Michael P. Kimsey, Executive Director, Kimsey Foundation
- Kate Meenan-Waugh, Teacher and Service Coordinator, WIS
- Jill Rademacher, Vice President, The Case Foundation
- Hugh C. Riddleberger, Founding Director, Center for International Education
- Tina Thuermer, Teacher and Alumni Coordinator, Washington International School, WIS
- George Vradenburg, III, President, The Vradenburg Foundation
- Founding Committee
- Gerard Baker, Chief U.S. Commentator, Financial Times
- Tracy Gray, Principal Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research
- Richard P. Hall, Head, Washington International School
- Michael Hirsh, Senior Editor, Newsweek
- Ambassador Robert Hormats, Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs
- Kathy Kemper, Founder, Institute for Education
- James V. Kimsey, Chairman, Kimsey Foundation
- Norman Ornstein, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute
- George Vradenburg, III, President, The Vradenburg Foundation
- Elaine Wolfensohn, Educator