Two Bays, One World Launch

Good Morning. I want to thank all of you for joining us today. Gathered here are distinguished guests including His Excellency Mr. Ahmad, Ambassador to the United States from Bangladesh; Dr. Robert Rice, the District of Columbia’s Superintendent of Schools; representatives of renowned organizations such as the Smithsonian Institution, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, my good friends from the Conservation Fund, as well as members of the State Department family.

Here also are perhaps the most important people of all: students, teachers, and administrators from our region’s public schools who will participate in the very exciting program we are about to announce. I want to take a moment to recognize Alfonzo Powell, principal of Washington, D.C.’s Bertie Backus Middle School and the students and teachers joining him; Garry Steele, 7th Grade Principal of Alexandria’s George Washington Middle School and the students and teacher joining him; and Fred Jenkins, principal of Anne Arundel County’s Central Middle School. You are the reason we are here. Thanks to all of you for coming.

It is fitting that we are gathered here on Earth Day -- an occasion when we renew our commitment to preserve the planet’s beauty and bounty for future generations -- to announce an exciting new program that will spur environmental awareness among young people.

On behalf of the U.S. Department of State, I am pleased to announce the launch of Two Bays, One World. Starting next fall, students at the middle schools represented here today will spend two months comparing and contrasting the Chesapeake Bay and the Bay of Bengal. As they do so, they will learn about the unique contributions that these ecosystems make to the local environment, economy, and culture.

Students will learn these valuable lessons with the help of expert lectures, a field trip to the Bay, and interactive dialogues with students in Bangladesh.

In fact, the last aspect of this proposal is one of its most exciting facets. It is my hope that through the interaction that these students will have with their peers on the other side of the world in Bangladesh, they will gain a greater understanding of another culture. In that regard, I am pleased to announce that the William Carey Academy in the Chittagong region of Bangladesh will also be participating in the program. We at the State Department look forward to employing our resources to connect the young people of these two nations.

Of course we could not have launched this ambitious undertaking without the support of our many partners. I want to thank the Smithsonian, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, The Conservation Fund, and the representatives of the area’s public school systems for lending your resources and expertise to get this project off the ground.

And I want to say a special thank you to Bud Rock, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary in the OES bureau, for envisioning this program. Two Bays, One World is part of our Bureau’s “Partners in Education” Initiative, which Bud started 2 years ago. Through this initiative, we are helping to bring the global expertise of our bureau’s staff to the local school systems in our community.

Thank you again to all of you for joining us on this momentous occasion. We hope that Two Bays, One World will prove to be a fun and rewarding experience for these young people that will give them a lasting interest in the environment.