June 25, 2011
This morning we started out with our Greek breakfast and then headed to our first session downstairs in the Olympia room. Our first presenter was from Microsoft Hellas, Lia Komninou, who taught us all about internet and computer safety. Individual teams (Nebraska, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Romania, Indonesia) presented next about social networking and how to use it effectively to spread the word. They also shared with us how they use it in their countries. India shared that social networking is not used very much on the internet. They started a “Spread the word to End the Word campaign just by creating a pledge sheet and collected over 11 million signatures!!! Check out this cool video from the Nebraska team….
This morning we started out with our Greek breakfast and then headed to our first session downstairs in the Olympia room. Our first presenter was from Microsoft Hellas, Lia Komninou, who taught us all about internet and computer safety. Individual teams (Nebraska, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Romania, Indonesia) presented next about social networking and how to use it effectively to spread the word. They also shared with us how they use it in their countries. India shared that social networking is not used very much on the internet. They started a “Spread the word to End the Word campaign just by creating a pledge sheet and collected over 11 million signatures!!! Check out this cool video from the Nebraska team….
Our next session was about Unicef and we participated in an activity with needs and wants. Our athletes and partners were asked to look at the needs and wants presented and pare them down to the bare minimum. All teams did a great job!
Alexa Posen came to speak to us as well. She is from the Department of Education in the United States. She shared with us the US' plan for Special Education in the future.
Our final session for the day was about Social Justice. Colorado had us participate in an activity where you had to try and recognize someone by their knees only. The point was that no one should be judged from the outside, you need to know the whole person. This session was supposed to be longer but as we were finishing up the activity, the ENTIRE Shriver family came in. Maria and Tim and then various family members including their children came to meet with us. Maria had the Serbia team share the story they had shared at the SOI board meeting. Phillip (athlete) and Luca (partner) shared about their Unified Basketball team in Serbia. Team Venezuela then shared about how they were getting parents involved by having parent workshops so they could all work together-they were having a little trouble with translation so Jordan jumped right in and helped out!! (for those who don’t know, Jordan is fluent in Spanish!) The youth leader then asked for the youth to share about what they think social justice is and what they learned from the activity. Alli went and shared that she thought that social justice is that everyone should be treated the same and no one should be judged and that everyone deserves the same opportunity. Kim was so proud of her for sharing in front of the Shriver family—she was a pro!! It was in incredible session and was such an honor to be able to interact with this visionary family. They are truly carrying on their mother and grandmother’s legacy.
After that incredible session, we were given some instructions about Opening Ceremonies. Tonight before we left for the Opening Ceremonies, we were taken to a local restaurant by SOI. It was a traditional Greek restaurant. It was delicious! Jordan and Alli had spaghetti pie and Kim had an amazing Greek salad (cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, kalamata olives and olive oil) and Chicken Souvlaki. It was all delicious and one of the best meals we have had here. Once dinner was finished, we went back to the hotel to put on our uniforms for Opening Ceremonies and got on the bus. Check out our Opening Ceremonies post for details!
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