On October 5th, 2011 Harkins Middle School (HMS) Grade 7 Green Team students and staff visited Gimnasio Campestre K to 11 school in Bogotá, Colombia – that is, using SKYPE!  The HMS Green Team was joined in Miramichi by Juan Antonio, Principal for this all boys school and by Carolina Ferro in Bogotá, a teacher at Gimnasio Campestre. The 40 minute SKYPE session was kicked off in Spanish by Santiago G., Santiago A., and Tomas O. - our visiting Colombian students attending HMS form September 7th to November 26th, 2011.  This international event was filled with lots of laughter, waving, and excitement.  As would be expected, the 62 HMS students in Miramichi and the 35 Gimnasio Campestre students in Bogotá asked each other questions about sports, food, the weather, hobbies, and homework. Immediately after the SKYPE session the following kind words were received via email from Carolina: “It was a pleasure having the opportunity to meet your kids today. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. Thanks for setting everything up, it was really nice to interact with all of you and to see our kids.” As a final note, it’s important to mention that HMS Grade 7 students are currently exploring issues related to EMPOWERMENT as part of their Social Studies curriculum.  Thus, the goal for communication between the two schools and countries, was three fold: 1) allow our Colombian guests an opportunity to reconnect with their friends back home; 2) provide our students an opportunity to gain empathy toward their Colombian classmates; and 3) offer a 21st Century learning experience for our students that demonstrates how technology can be used for knowledge and empowerment by all ages and cultures.  Check out the photo gallery: http://hms.nbed.nb.ca/gallery/harkins-meets-columbia-skype