Faculty and student representatives attended The World Leading Schools Association’s Global Educators Conference in Prague from July 18 to 20. Attendees discussed topics that continued last year’s student conference theme, “Education for the Human Condition.”

Educators, admissions counselors and teachers from high schools and colleges around the world also traveled to the conference in order to understand the different aspects and effects of the human condition on education. Through seminars and breakout sessions, attendees learned how to apply this knowledge within the classroom and the world of academia.

Head of External Relations Ed Hu represented the school’s leadership team in Prague. He said his main goal was to help advance Harvard-Westlake position on the global stage.

“It is helpful to hear about and connect with others from schools around the world to understand how we are all dealing with common issues,” Hu said. “One of the themes was how other schools with high-achieving student populations are dealing with the issues of mental health, wellness, stress and balance.”

Former President Tom Hudnut served among the founding heads of the organization, which allowed the school to become one of the original founding members of WLSA.

WLSA Student Council Vice President and Photography Editor Caitlin Chung ’20 was invited as the 2018 Student Conference Delegate to speak about “Being a Student Today”. Chung said she was grateful to have gotten the opportunity to take part in the WLSA conference.

“As a student, it was amazing to be given a platform in which I was able to speak in front of educators from all over the world,” Chung said. “As a high schooler, I never knew I would get the opportunity to have my opinions heard by such an audience.”

Chung had attended many of the presentations that the teachers had attended as well and said she was able to relate to many of the things that were portrayed about the students.

“It was really interesting to have teachers come up to me afterward and engage in a really meaningful conversation where we were able to raise different points and get a better understanding of the students’ perspective and the teachers’ perspective,” Chung said.