Global Village: A Look Into Jenks International Scholars Program’s Big Event
By Isabella Quintero
Colorful trifolds that tell stories of generations, games from all over the world, kids opening their eyes and their minds to cultures they had never been exposed to. In the early October air, you can hear the laughter and awe coming from the kids as they go from region to region, gaining a more cross-cultural understanding.
The Jenks International Scholars Program (ISP) holds their annual Global Village event in early October where they travel to the Jenks Intermediate schools and present the different regions of the world to these kids in ways that are fun, interactive, and educational.
The 2025 Global Village leads this year aimed to distinguish this year's event from previous years by emphasizing the importance of interactive elements within the regions.
“Interactive elements could be anything from making a bracelet, doing a dance, listening to music, playing a game, really anything other than just being talked at and looking at a board,” said Jack Whitetely, one of the two Global Village leads.
Latin America region members press Hispanic Heritage Month-themed temporary tattoos onto the kids.
No matter what the activity is, these students are encouraged to engage with the world beyond what they’ve grown up with through these hands-on experiences.
Each region’s booth holds a trifold and their choice of activities to do with the kids. Each group has carefully crafted their trifold from weeks of researching and preparing to present it to the kids. They become an expert in their activity, whether that is learning the dance, playing the game a million times, practicing how to do henna, and even more.
ISP member Neha Koushik doing henna on the intermediate students’ hands.
ISP consists of juniors and seniors who have the chance to interact a lot more during the weeks leading up to Global Village as they all work together in their regions, and during the event itself.
For Jenks High School, this event is a demonstration of our diversity and ability to immerse ourselves in different cultures, but for the International Scholars Program, this event is one of our biggest outreaches to the community, and we spend August to October working on it to make sure we’re providing the intermediate students with the best possible experience.
“Global Village gives ISP the chance to share the cultures they’ve grown up with or immersed themselves in with kids that will grow up with more awareness of the world outside of their bubble,” said Whiteley.
Central Asia region members share information about their region to the intermediate kids, showing their hard work on their boards and activities.
Along with Global Village, ISP works on their Night of Culture that takes place later in the month of October. This is a similar event, where each region presents their culture but it's held in the Jenks Performing Arts Center, and gives these groups the chance to put on a bigger show for a bigger audience, Night of Culture is available for anyone to buy tickets to go watch the presentations.
For any questions involving the Jenks International Scholars Program or Night of Culture, contact the ISP teachers Dr. McCrackinn, Mr. Engle, Mrs. Taylor, or Mrs. Henson.
