50 Stories for 50 Years: Kate Meenan-Waugh, Former Director of the Center for International Education at Washington International School

August 31, 2022

To celebrate our 50th anniversary year during 2018/19, we collected stories and profiles of people and institutions that have helped us build our organization, which first began as one person’s dream in 1968. We will feature one story per week on our blog. Please enjoy these “50 for 50” profiles featuring ASSIST’s dedicated board members, dynamic staff, welcoming host families and enthusiastic ASSIST Scholars.

Kate Meenan-Waugh
Former Director of the Center for International Education at Washington International School

What better way to spend a spring day than with a 90-count crew of ASSIST scholars, fellow students and staff from their schools—and some of the brightest, most engaging college professors around? With topics ranging from “Jazz Diplomacy of the 1960’s and 70’s” to “Should We Attack North Korea?” to “The Role Water and Geography plays in Middle Eastern Diplomacy,” everyone present had something to learn, discuss and think about.

The day-long seminar, the second collaboration between ASSIST and the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, brought together students and staff from 18 of our ASSIST schools to the beautiful Georgetown University campus in northwest Washington DC.

As registrants filtered in, undaunted by challenges presented by tourist-heavy April-in-DC cherry blossom traffic, shrieks and hugs abounded as ASSIST Scholars who hadn’t seen each other in months reconnected. The previous August, they had bonded over the shared excitement of embracing a new adventure: a year at an independent day or boarding school in the U.S. Now after nearly eight months in the U.S, the ASSIST scholars were all ears (and all eyes, on the campus tour) for this peek into the world of a top-level U.S. university.

The caliber of the delivered lectures, the facilitation of discussion, and the fielding of questions provided a taste of what this level of education is like. On the part of the professors, there was no effort or need to “dumb” down content or references: The audience of young people was interested, engaged and impressive, comprehending the implications of complex issues. And for many, the day represented an introduction to what the training for a life focused on global service in diplomacy, finance, policymaking, or international law might look like.

This collaboration between Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and ASSIST represented a mingling of shared values and an opportunity for our member schools, their ASSIST scholars, and other students and staff from the schools to spend a special day in a college environment, catch up with old friends, and make some new acquaintances. As one of the participating professors commented after the event, “What a very impressive bunch!”

About Kate:
Kate Meenan-Waugh has enjoyed nearly 40 years working in education as a teacher and administrator, specializing in global history and the creation of programs to expand global education. Her experience as a year-long exchange student in high school affirmed to her the value of experiential education as a means of personal growth and intellectual and cultural expansion. She began working as an ASSIST volunteer in 2001 at Washington International School, where she was the ASSIST school representative. In recent years, she has interviewed and evaluated ASSIST candidates, worked at the annual orientation for in-coming scholars in August, conducted school and host family visits and, as chair of the Washington DC chapter of ASSIST, organized events for area scholars and supporters. She is a graduate of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and did extensive graduate work in international counseling and education at New York University.