Reproduced with permission from nj.com
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WodrldCast, sponsored by the Silvio Laccetti Foundation, is a web-based educational experience linking high schools across the globe. In its first edition, students met face-to-face to discuss urgent local environmental problems which have a broad significance worldwide. By every measure, this Global Summit was a complete success.
The two hour WorldCast featured presentations from 9 schools in the NJ-NY Metro Area, Brazil and Italy. Topics included: The problems in the Brazilian Rain Forests, including the little know problem of wildfires therein; Analysis of urban sprawl, urban ecoculture and infrastructural weaknesses in Venice and New York City; Dilemmas of the Jersey Shore and tourism; Conditions in the Polar Ice Caps as seen through student interviews of Enzo Baracco, a world-famous environmental photographer.
New Jersey schools which participated included: Becton Regional in East Rutherford, Pt. Pleasant Boro and Watchung Valley Regional in Warren. Other schools included La Scuola d’Italia in New York City, Marco Polo Liceo in Venice, the Novara School District, Italy, Kirmayr Prep, Serra Negra, Brazil and the Rotary Interact Club in Serra Negra.
WorldCast was headquartered at the NJ Sports and Exposition Authority’s Meadowlands Conservation Center in East Rutherford.through the courtesy of Vincent Prieto President of NJSPEA and Terry Doss, Co-Chief Scientist at the Environmental Center. Ca’ Foscari University in Venice supplied the internet platform for the effort while the Education Office of the New York Italian Consulate played a role in coordinating trans-Atlantic communications. In all, over 100 students, and scores of institutions worked together with the Laccetti Foundation to realize this unique effort.
Aside from meeting and learning from each other, most students
were both excited and awed by presenting to a world audience from New Zealand to Greenland. As
many students, teachers, and even parents commented afterwards, WorldCast was a growth experience for all involved.