Note to Correspondents

UNITED NATIONS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL TO HOLD GRADUATION CEREMONY

FOR CLASS OF 2009 IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY HALL, 28 MAY

 

The graduation ceremony for the United Nations International School’s (UNIS) Class of 2009 will take place at 3 p.m. on Thursday, 28 May, in the General Assembly Hall.

Greg Mortenson, co-author of The New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea, founder of Pennies for Peace and Executive Director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute is the guest speaker.  Mr. Mortenson has dedicated much of his life to promoting community-based education and literacy programmes, especially for girls, in remote mountain regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Representing 53 nationalities and speaking 34 languages as their mother tongues, 62 per cent of the 122 graduating students have attended UNIS for six or more years.  Some 56 per cent of them are affiliated with the United Nations community, 29 per cent are part of the international community and 15 per cent represent the host country community.

The students will leave UNIS for more than 80 of the world’s finest universities in 12 countries and 18 states within the United States.  They are equipped with the best secondary-level preparation the world has to offer, the prestigious International Baccalaureate programme.  At UNIS, students have had the privilege of daily exposure to all the world’s cultures through social interaction with peers and instruction from a faculty representing 26 countries.  As a result, they have developed values and understanding that will prepare them truly to become citizens of the world.

UNIS was founded in 1947 by a group of United Nations parents to provide an education that would foster global awareness for their children.  From its modest start as a nursery school for 20 children in 1947, the school has grown to a K-12 college preparatory school on two campuses, enrolling 1,575 students from more than 120 countries.  It offers classes in nine languages and a balanced and rigorous educational programme that enables students to meet the entry requirements of universities worldwide.  Continued emphasis is also placed on community service and the value of the arts in daily living.

For further information, please contact:  Marjorie Nieuwenhuis, Director of College Counselling, United Nations International School, tel.:  212 584 3116, e mail:  mnieuwenhuis@unis.org.

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For information media • not an official record