Shannon Sutherland

What is Smart? Shannon Sutherland

"What is Smart?" is a book authored by four middle school students and one high school student, about unique and innovative perspectives on how to view what might be considered smart actions within a global community. The authors' collective experience in learning about Africa through the Pencils for Africa educational program informs their perspectives and expands their viewpoints. The authors are compelled to travel beyond conventional norms of what is considered smart, to new views and vistas of smart actions, such as building a library in the slums of Kenya, that provide windows into possibilities and potential they had not previously considered. The "What is Smart?" book is a journey of exploration and investigation by these five student authors and the members of their global community, of what it actually means to be smart in an increasingly interdependent multicultural and multidisciplinary world.