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Global Perspective

Global Awareness
Understanding that the paradigm of a world with borders is one of the past, The Cushman School strives to educate our students to be responsible members of a global community. As can be seen in the highlights below, the School accomplishes this mission in a variety of ways, being ever mindful of the foundation of virtues, ever changing technology and academic underpinning necessary to accomplish such a goal.

Curricular aspects of Global Education:

Community Learning Partnership (CLP): The CLP is a collaboration created among schools in the Miami Shores area including The Cushman School, Miami Country Day School, Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School, Barry University and Doctors Charter School. The CLP strives to create awareness of globally important topics such as sustainability, diversity and recycling, developing world citizenship skills while emphasizing global awareness.
Integration of technology: The curriculum and the opportunities afforded by technology allow student to “travel” the world. For example, a recent 6th grade “visit” to China required the following:
- Write a journal entry for each unique place you visit in China.
- Each journal entry should describe the culture/cultural differences, the best part of the day, a description of the terrain and weather and descriptions of the different infrastructures, e.g. utilities, housing, transportation, currency, economics.
Spiraling social studies curriculum: As it spirals around worldwide adventures, the curriculum features explorations such as those described below.
Each student in the 4th grade studies one state in depth using many modalities for the State Fair project, providing the whole class an opportunity to learn about a multitude of states. This project is stepping stone from the 2nd grade study of pioneers, the 3rd grade exploration of our Miami community to the 5th grade study of American history and on to the 6th grade study of world history.
The fifth and sixth grade social studies program builds upon prior concepts taught over the preceding years and lays an important foundation for the challenging subject material covered during the middle school. Particular emphasis is placed upon understanding the United States’ place in the history of the world in order to comprehend the issues currently faced by our country.
The Teachers’ Curriculum Institute has produced two fascinating series of text books which are used as resource material, Geography Alive! and History Alive! Lessons and activities are based on five well-established theories: Understanding by Design, Nonlinguistic Representation, Multiple Intelligences, Cooperative Interaction, and Spiral Curriculum.
History Alive! America’s Past covers American history from the first migrations into the Americas through the 20th century. Intense interaction with the personalities, places, and events that structured our nation leads students to be both keen observers of and informed participants in U.S. history.

Created in partnership with scholars from the National Council for Geographic Education, Geography Alive! Regions and People creatively challenges students to use the tools of geography to view, analyze, and understand the world around them. The seven mapping labs and the program’s case-study approach turn students into geographic thinkers. As an additional benefit, the program has been carefully designed to build students’ content area reading skills.

In middle school, students engage in South/Central American studies and North American studies in alternating years so as to compare and contrast the two parts of the world. Hand-on activities in Spanish class, reading of Hispanic authors and a trip to Costa Rica and Washington, D.C. all make the curriculum come alive.
World Languages: It is our aim to prepare our students for the participation in a global community that will require cultural understanding and the ability to communicate through many contexts in a second or third language. All Cushman students take Spanish while additionally all middle school students are required to take Latin. Our Latin course is unique as students learn through seamless technology and hands-on experiences Greek and Roman civilization. Simple Mandarin Chinese is taught to all students through games, cultural activities and drama. These languages are delivered through an interactive, hands-on curriculum that focuses on oral communication. For example, the 5th grade studied the lives of Hispanic Master Artists such as Velazquez, Goya and El Greco. This allowed students an opportunity to acquire an appreciation of Hispanic Art by investigating their artists of choice on the internet, reproducing a painting of his or her chosen artist and preparing presentations on the time in history during which the artists lived.
Heritage Day: Fifth grade Heritage Day is a long-standing tradition that is celebrated in the spring of each school year. In preparation, students research a selected country representative of their heritage, create PowerPoint presentations and Excel spreadsheets incorporating maps, design family trees, illustrate wall hangings, and prepare speeches on their topic. Parents, grandparents, relatives and friends join us on this special day where each child has his/her own table display with ethnic foods and family heirlooms. Students dress in costume and deliver their speeches. It’s a wonderful day to appreciate the diverse population of our school.

Travel aspects of Global Education:

4th Grade Florida Week and the 6th grade trip: All students in the fourth grade engage in the study of Florida History and of how our state was impacted by world events. After extensive research, reading and writing, the students display their knowledge through visual and oral presentations. Field trips to South Florida locations which reveal Florida’s position on the timeline of world history are planned, e.g. Vizcaya, the Barnacle, the Cape Florida Lighthouse, the Miccosukee Indian Village, the Everglades National Park and the Venetian Pool. Likewise, the 6th grade travels up the east coast of Florida to the Cumberland Island National Seashore. Along the way, locations such as St. Augustine, Amelia Island Plantation, Ft. Clinch and Fernandina Beach provide perspective for students regarding the timeline of Florida history and the worldwide events which influenced the birth and growth of our state.
Sea Camp: Fifth grade students travel to the Newfound Harbor Marine Institute, an educational field center reflecting the ecosystems of South Florida. The N.H.M.I. offers hands-on programs in marine science and environmental education. It is an ideal site for exploring subtropical marine and terrestrial habitats then discussing similar global environments and situations, e.g. pollution, diversity/similarity in biomes.
Travel to Costa Rica: The biannual middle school trip to Costa Rica is an experience that is an integral part of our Science, Latin American History and Spanish curriculums. We believe that travel helps students connect learning with life. The self-confidence and global awareness our students gain from this travel experience becomes the foundation for a lifetime of discovery.
Travel exchange with China: Cushman students, teachers and parents traveled to China, visiting Beijing and the Elementary School at Hunan University. Travelers studied the culture and history of the country before departing students stayed with Chinese families. Students and teachers from this school in the Hunan Province visited Cushman for three weeks during two alternate years, bringing much to Cushman in terms of global awareness and world culture.
Summer trip to Spain: This summer, Cushman students, teachers and parents will embark on a trip to Spain and visit a variety of cities including Madrid, Toledo, Salamanca, Bilbao, and Segovia. The Cushman travelers will learn about the culture, history, and customs of Spain through full immersion with their friends from our ‘sister school,’ La Merced Jesuit in Burgos.

Service aspects of Global Education:

Service Learning in the Middle School: Service Learning connects school-based curriculum with the inherent caring and concern young people have for their world, whether on their school campus, at a local food bank, or in a distant rainforest. The results are memorable, lifelong lessons for students to foster a stronger society for us all. Service Learning differs from other forms of community service or volunteer work because the education of students and young people is always at its core. Students are actively participating in the process of understanding, integrating, and applying knowledge from various subject areas as they work to improve the global community. We at Cushman Middle School feel this is an important habit to cultivate. Cushman encourages a spirit of service among its students through participation in Student Government, Cushman Cares Projects, food drives, community service days and various other activities in conjunction with our diverse Service Learning themes. In a two year rotation, our students research and discover opportunities and issues centered around global and community issues
- School wide service projects: Through the Student Councils, the Cushman School Parents Association and Cushman Cares, Cushman has been able to reach out to the global community. Through donations to people in need such as the Haitian earthquake victims, troops in the Middle East, and school children in Afghanistan and Africa, Cushman families are able to give not just material items but also give the time, care, effort and concern that make the donations true gifts from the heart.