Chicago World Citizen Award Luncheon 2010

benefiting education at the hostel

10 Years of Service

Hostelling International Chicago opened its doors in the fall of 2000, and we are celebrating 10 years of serving Chicago with the first annual Chicago World Citizen Awards. Recipients are Chicagoans who exemplify in their own way the peace-building mission of Hostelling International, "to help all, especially the young, gain a greater understanding of the world and its people through hostelling."

We hope that you will join us for this celebration.

During the 10th anniversary of the opening of HI-Chicago in 2000, we take this opportunity to honor the work of our fellow Chicagoans in building a more peaceful planet through cultural understanding.

Friday, December 3, 2010

11.30a - Reception
12.00n - Lunch served, Chicago World Citizen Awardees presented
1.15p - Closing Remarks

2010 Chicago World Citizens

Honorable Mayor Richard M. Daley

As we mark the 10th Anniversary of HI-Chicago, we are pleased to honor Mayor Daley for his commitment to making Chicago a truly global city. Mayor Daley has been a champion for the hostel and officially opened the hostel at the ribbon cutting back on December 4, 2000, Hostelling Day in Chicago.

Leslie Lancry

President and founder of Language Stars, LLC, Ms. Lancry embodies global citizenship by teaching languages to children at her 15 locations throughout the Chicago area and Washington D.C. and language programs in over 100 schools. She is dedicated to creating multilingual leaders for our interconnected world.

Heather Pavona

A teacher at Kelvyn Park High School, Ms. Pavona is committed to opening her students’ minds to the world and has partnered with the hostel since 2005.

Jasmine Sarmiento

A sophomore at Kelvyn Park High School, Ms. Sarmiento is a youth leader and is described by her teacher, Ms. Pavona, as “one of the kindest and most compassionate students.”

Together, we can create a more peaceful planet one student and one traveler at a time.

HI-Chicago is our local nonprofit hostel that teaches and promotes cultural understanding through travel and education. What could be more important in our diverse and endlessly interconnected world than respect and understanding of cultures?

Our educational model is to partner directly with schools, their teachers, students and administrators, to deliver curricula developed by the education team at the hostel. We train and support our partner teachers in learning and delivering our curricula, and we are proud to have a retention rate for teachers of over 90%. In fact, our high retention rate means that many teachers spend years on the waiting list waiting for additional funding so that they can join the program.