In 1987 I met Sergey Tolstikov, who at the time was the lead English teacher at Moscow Experimental Gymnasium 710.  Sergey, along with many of his colleagues at School 710, and other schools in Moscow, St. Petersburg (Leningrad at the time), Pushchino, Yasoslav, and Chelyabinsk teamed up with American teachers to create the Global Thinking Project, a hands-across the global environmental science and education program.  Over the years we supported exchanges of secondary school students and their teachers, researchers from the Russian Academy of Education, Georgia State University, & Agnes Scott College.  The project expanded to include Australia, England, Czech Republic, Argentina, Spain, Singapore, Canada, Japan, & Botswana.  Hundreds of students worked together on one of the first Internet-based environmental science projects used a project-based and inquiry program: The GTP: Environmental Science on the Net.

Using Macintosh SE 20 Computers, the GTP set up a telecommunications system in 1991 linking ten schools in the USSR and the U.S.

We involved students in conducting research on topics that focused on Earthday-like themes or projects including: The Green Classroom, Project Clean Air, Project Solid Waste, Project Water Watch, Project Soil & Project Earth Month.  Students worked with their teachers to investigate these projects locally, and then used the GTP website to collaborate and share data with each other.  We were also fortunate to obtain grant money from the U.S. Government (USIA) to support three major exchanges of secondary students and teachers from Russia and the U.S.  Students lived in each others homes, went to each others schools, and participated in research, as well as global conferences held in Moscow and Atlanta.

About a month ago I heard from Jessica one of the former U.S. GTP students who had participated in the first USIA funded exchange in 1995.  She asked if I could help her come in contact with her host Russian family—a family she had lived with 15 years ago.  I contacted Sergey in Moscow, and asked him if he could help find Jessica’s Russian host family.  We had her host’s name and school (Moscow Experimental School 91), and the lead teacher in the exchange.  Yesterday, Sergey emailed me with the email address of the Russian student, and today on Earthday, the American student was able to email her host family in Moscow.  I received this note from Jessica:

Thank you so much for your help, and I also want to thank you for all of your work with GTP.  It was the experience of a lifetime for my husband and me.  We both look forward to traveling to Russia again someday! I remember Sergey speaking at our summit meetings.  I also wanted to tell you that I work with another GTP student, that traveled to Russia the same year that my husband and I did.  She (Brooke) and I were hired at Battlefield Primary School the same year.  We recognized each other from the GTP experience immediately, even though she was from another school! I teach 2nd grade, and she is our Speech-Language Pathologist.  She and I often talk about our experiences, and that was 15 years ago! Wow time flies!  Again, I appreciate everything!

As Sergey said in one of his emails, it is always great to hear from one of your former students, and learn a bit about the impact on their lives.

Sergey Tolstikov (on the left) at an initial meeting among GTP American and Russian students in a Moscow Hotel, 1995.