The U.S. Department of Education’s 2012 Back-to-School Bus Tour is coming to Canyons School District.
The day after the 11th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, students from Brighton High School will participate in a demonstration of Face to Faith, an innovative global education program aimed at building understanding between different religions and addressing ignorance and hate, the root causes of intolerance, prejudice and conflict.
About 20 students will connect via an evening video-conference with 10 students from Xavier, a Jesuit school in Manila, Philippines, to discuss the role of faith and belief in today’s world and issues of identity from different cultural and faith perspectives. The Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2012 demonstration is part of the U.S. Department of Education’s 2012 Back-To-School Bus Tour. It will be attended by Brenda Girton-Mitchell, director of the Department’s Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, and local leaders and dignitaries.
Face to Faith is a global education program of the Tony Blair Faith Foundation US. It aims to help build understanding between students of different faiths and cultures by providing opportunities for dialogue via video-conferencing. By learning more about students of differing faiths in direct encounters, students are able to see beyond stereotypes.
Canyons School District was the first in Utah, and one of the first in the country, to implement Face to Faith, beginning in the 2010-2011 school year at Brighton and Hillcrest High Schools. Canyons was invited to showcase the program for the Bus Tour.
“Utah is becoming an increasingly diverse state. Students need the skills to communicate in a global society,” Canyons Superintendent David S. Doty said. “The recent Wisconsin Sikh shooting highlights that there remains a dangerous amount of misunderstanding surrounding religion in the United States. Canyons is honored to offer Face to Faith to high school students to help promote understanding among people of different faiths, cultures and beliefs.”
Tony Blair, Former British Prime Minister, founded the Tony Blair Faith Foundation after leaving office, as he believes faith underpins the core issues facing the world today. “Face to Faith establishes platforms for students of different faiths and cultures to learn from one another,” he said. “Through knowledge comes the possibility of peaceful co-existence. Where there is ignorance there is fear and where there is fear there can be conflict.”
