Alternative Education Center's global education initiative started in 2016 with its original name, International Junior Writers Club (IJWC). It used writing across the curriculum platform to expose Alternative Education students from Odessa, TX, to the world while learning their curriculum. The goal was to provide Alternative Education students with opportunities at least once a month to discuss and write about how the lessons they were learning could help solve pressing problems in the community and the world. They were encouraged to connect with students from other parts of the world to see opportunities beyond the boundaries of Odessa. As its core mission, IJWC sought to promote global education through K-12 students' global collaboration, cross-cultural understanding, global competence, global citizenship, and awareness of global sustainable development goals.
In 2022, the project transitioned its focus from writing to counseling and changed its name to AEC Global Education and Counseling. The current project aims to integrate global education into guidance and counseling to promote students' personal, social, educational, and career skills while learning global competence and global sustainable development goals. Students are empowered to see for themselves the significance of developing their fullest personal, social, educational, and career potential in order to help solve local problems that reflect the challenges of the world for the brightest future they deserve.
