Last LAST post of 2011

It was a wonderful celebration today between Pre K and 5th grade students as we got together to share gifts and snacks for the last time in 2011. As always I was proud of the way the 5th graders looked out for their reading buddies, putting their arms around them, helping them choose food and open presents and later on outside. After our snacks were finished with and we were all on a bit of a sugar high, it was time to burn off some energy in the playground so we took off with books in hand. The reading lasted for around ten minutes and then the lure of the swings took over. I’m not sure who had more fun pushing who but there was lots of laughing and running, squealing and shouting as our Reading Buddies made the most of their time together. We will miss Michelle from 5KP and Rebekah from Pre K when we get together again after the Holidays. Keep safe girls and never forget your great mates back in SAS Pudong. Happy Holidays boys and girls, see you in 2012.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615

Last Post of 2011

Hi Parents
2.5 days to go… the countdown is well and truly on!
I introduced the Secret Santa idea to your children ten days ago, and many of them have been swapping presents,
doing kind deeds and leaving small gifts around for each other. Tomorrow is the day they are supposed play Secret Santa and
give a wrapped gift to their classmate.
I bought some ‘back up’ gifts just now, as I talked to a couple of students this afternoon who were not sure they had
anything yet… but hopefully, most or all of them are organized and don’t let their ‘receiver’ down tomorrow.
Thanks for your help, I know this is a busy time of year for you, I tried to put the responsibility on the students,
not you, but I know that is not always the case (my daughter is also participating!!!)
Happy Holidays, Keep Safe and see you in January
Kimbra

2.5 days to go… the countdown is well and truly on!
I introduced the Secret Santa idea to your children ten days ago, and most of them have been swapping presents, doing kind deeds and leaving small gifts around for each other. Tomorrow is the day they are supposed to play Secret Santa at our 5KP classroom party and give a wrapped gift to their classmate.
Many of them had also bought something to give their reading buddy when we went to Santa’s Workshop, so I encouraged the rest of them to buy something very small for our Reading Buddies party tomorrow… party, party, party!
I bought some ‘back up’ gifts just now, as I talked to a couple of students this afternoon who were not sure they had anything yet… but hopefully, most or all of them are organized and don’t let their ‘receiver’ down tomorrow.
Thanks for your help, I know this is a busy time of year for you all; I tried to put the responsibility on the students, not you, but I know that is not always the case (my daughter is also participating!!!)

Screen shot 2011-12-13 at 8.14.05 PM

As you travel around, probably by plane, during the holiday season, keep in mind our Roots and Shoots Program.
Zero Emission Travel is a chance for families to give back to the Earth by offsetting carbon output from family travel. Simply 25 RMB can plant one tree in Inner Mongolia and remove 250 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Donation envelopes can be picked up from ES, MS, or HS offices starting from Jan 4, 2012, and will also be handed out. A donation will place your name in the EAGLE magazine, and a tree with your name on it on a paper cutout version of the Inner Mongolian forest. For more details please visit: www.tinyurl.com/0carbon.

Depending on when your child is leaving for the holidays…
Wednesday and Thursday-Math Test
Wednesday, Thursday and Friday-Essays are Due

Here are the ASA Dates for the New Year along with who is doing what; paper copies will be sent home with your child before the vacation but I know they sometimes get misplaced with the excitement of the holidays!

Screen shot 2011-12-13 at 8.20.34 PMScreen shot 2011-12-13 at 8.22.18 PM

Happy Holidays, Keep Safe and see you in January (Bye Bye Michelle… Don’t be a stranger!)

The Power of One

This morning, thanks to a link sent to me by my friend and colleague, Tina Bui, our class departed from their essay writing for a wee while to check out something special going on in the world; kids their age making a difference.
We went to the Huffington Post where the students spent twenty minutes looking through the short snapshots about 11 kids who made a difference in 2011. Students then followed more links to read about children who raised money, gave of their time, and inspired change in others and then wrote about who they thought was the most inspirational and why, on their own blogs. Take some time to read who your child admires; it is always inspiring reading about other people who do good; something all of us could learn from.

It was interesting to see who the kids chose; did they choose the person who raised the most money, the one who was the youngest… what about the 11 kids on screen really affected your child? Was it the issue? Have a conversation with your child, about the Power of One.

Screen shot 2011-12-12 at 8.51.58 AM

News of the Moment

Rain Rain Go Away…

Nothing could dampen the kids spirits yesterday as they were very excited about seeing the Picasso Exhibition. Thank you to Mia’s Mum for joining us, and Mr. Power too; I know the students benefited from your knowledge and guidance as we walked through the fantastic gallery. I was impressed with the students’ behavior and commend you on your field-trip etiquette 5KP.

As 2011 draws to a close, there are a few things we need to do to wrap up the school year…

We need to say goodbye to Michelle, one of our best bloggers, who is sadly leaving us for the Puxi campus. If anyone else knows they are leaving, could they please e mail me asap. On the same note, please e mail to let me know if your child will not be here on Friday the 16th of December, a half day, or of course if they are leaving even earlier than that as we have lessons and activities planned until the very last hour.

Between now and then, we will finish our First Essay for the year and be tested on our Fraction Skills in our Unit 5 test. Our students have enjoyed their ‘homework free week’ so perhaps over the weekend or certainly next week, they need to brush up on their ability to:

* Find equivalent fractions
* Convert between fractions and mixed numbers
* Convert between fractions and percents
* Add fractions
* Order and compare fractions
* Estimate value in circle graphs
* Measure sectors of a circle graph
* Construct circle graphs from data

Our Unit Test will be on Wednesday or Thursday, before Winter Break no matter what!

Well done to the 5 Eagle Leaders from 5KP on a wonderfully rewarding trip to Chongming Island to give out the Giving Tree bags to students who really appreciated the generosity of our SAS students; thanks to those of you who contributed, it was a humbling experience to witness the joy on the childrens’ faces as they received many things that our children take for granted. Never stop giving 5KP, it feels so good.

Tomorrow, it is business as usual as we work through our Science Lego Unit, our Fractions and our Essays. Remember to wear your house shirts, return your ASA forms and bring cash for Santa’s Last Day at SAS… Happy Friday!

* Find equivalent fractions
* Convert between fractions and mixed numbers
* Convert between fractions and percents
* Add fractions
* Order and compare fractions
* Estimate value in circle graphs
* Measure sectors of a circle graph
* Construct circle graphs from data

How do you spell new moan ya?

Give me a P! Give me an N? Give me an E? Etc Etc Etc

What does it spell?

Pneumonia!

After three doctors, three weeks on anti-biotics and three weeks of coughing, that is all behind me now; thanks for you patience!

Now, to the News of the Moment!

Report Cards are coming home tomorrow.

‘New Students’ I wonder what your former report cards looked like…A’s and B’s…Percentages? Comments?

Students who’ve been at S.A.S. for awhile… how many ‘2’s have you received in years past…how many ‘4’s???

What are your hopes and dreams for your child’s report card parents? Are you aiming high? Preparing for the worst?

None of my current students have received a report card from me before so I’ve spent some class time this week showing them the reports I have been writing, because they are THEIR report cards and it is more important than anything for me (well, not ANYTHING, but you know what I mean) that my class understand how I give their grades and why I am writing what I am. When I say writing, parents and students, I mean laboring, dwelling, reflecting, thinking, pondering, worrying, comparing, drafting… report cards seem to be a pretty important gauge of a child’s progress here at S.A.S. and so I really care about what goes into them. There are so many considerations, reports are so subjective.

Screen shot 2011-11-29 at 7.20.58 PM

So, for the record, I want you to know some things for when you’ll be reading these report cards yourself.

1. 1 doesn’t get given out often, and if it does, parents are generally aware of it before it is allocated, or at least understand why it is being given due to testing etc.

2. I give 2’s…lots of 2’s… but I don’t think I give as many as I should! 2 means the child is making progress, a reasonable assumption at the start of a new year.

3. 3 is for 3, it is a great place to be, when I give a 3, I hope you feel hap-py! (read with rhythm please)

4. I think a number 4 on the first trimester report card is very very rare and I don’t give them lightly. They are to be given when students are going above and beyond.

I hope you take some time to read the comments I’ve written on your child’s report card (their eyes immediately jump to the numbers) Admittedly there is some cutting and pasting going on with longer narratives, however, I try really hard to let you know that I KNOW your child and have their best interests, their ongoing learning and their happiness in mind as I teach them and as I write my comments.

Santa’s Workshop…

Next Tuesday at 2 pm we will be visiting Santa’s Workshop with our cute little reading buddies, Mimi is certainly excited to do her VERY OWN SHOPPING!
Students will have the opportunity to purchase gifts for others if they choose. I have talked to the class about this and explained that who they buy for and what they buy is entirely up to them but that in years gone by students do tend to end up spending between 100-400 rmb depending on the size of their family, if they buy for ayis or drivers, teachers or friends etc. I have also told them they don’t need to buy anything for me there, instead, I am open to accepting chocolate, massage vouchers and all other forms of bribery all year long!!!! But seriously, I WILL accept gifts at anytime! But REALLY seriously, I was just checking to see if you are still reading as “we’ve only just begun” (comment naming the band who had that hit tune and your child will receive a coffee bar pass this Friday!!!) Just trying to keep myself amused!

Art Field Trip…

If you’d like to come along to the Picasso Exhibition at the Chinese Pavilion at the Pudong Expo Site our class are heading there on Wednesday December 7th along with 5MM. We will be leaving school around 10 am and returning around 2 pm.

If you want to be a chaperone you must come to and from the Exhibition on the school bus, and will be allowed to attend free of charge. Please email me if you are interested. We are able to take two chaperones from each class. The first two people to contact me via email will be our chaperones.
If you are third or beyond to apply and are happy to pay 80 rmb to come along, you are welcome to attend but please let us know asap as we need to organize buses and accurate numbers.

Thank you and you can see here for more details about the Exhibition itself.

Permission slips were sent home today with your child.

Pudong Elementary will be having a NO HOMEWORK week from the 5th to the 9th of December. The purpose of this week is to provide families with a special opportunity to spend the time usually allocated to homework, towards doing a variety of different activities together. Below you will find a list of possible activities that can be done throughout the week.

  • Taking a walk together and talking about your day
  • Cooking together
  • Reading to each other
  • Playing board games
  • Giving your child jobs to do around the home i.e. setting the dinner table, taking the dogs for a walk, cleaning out their bedrooms
  • Writing up the Santa’s Workshop wish list together
  • Emailing family members – grandma’s grandpa’s
  • Making a thankful (grateful) list- in 2 languages
  • Playing card games, such as Go Fish, Uno
  • Build a card house-see how high it can go
  • Build a tent in the living room/dining with blankets and read with a flashlight inside
  • Have your child/ren put on a show…Have them create their own costumes.  Set a show time. Pop popcorn.  Don’t forget to film it
  • Play hide and seek inside house/apartment.
  • Take a photo every hour and do a photo journal of the day
  • Play dress up and take pictures
  • Going through toys and choosing some to donate to orphanages OR TO OUR CLOTHING DRIVE LISTED BELOW..

Clothing Driveand while I am cutting and pasting…

How about supporting Santa’s Workshop next week and our Animal Rescue Group at the same time:

Screen shot 2011-11-29 at 6.42.37 PMWhile we are speaking about animals…

Do you have old dog toys lying around your house?  Half bags of treats your fussy pets won’t eat? Cages they’ve outgrown or leashes a little frayed?  Well, Animal Rescue will take ALL your used pet items off your hands!

Almost 1000 dogs were recently saved outside of Sichuan.  They are now being housed in a temporary shelter in Sichuan with very few supplies.  We will wash and sort your old items and donate them to this shelter. There is a box outside the MS/HS cafeteria for drop-off, or bring your donation to your teacher’s classroom who can contact us through Mrs. Rosen for pick-up.

NOTE: We are also very interested in collecting old blankets or sheets not good enough to donate to clothing drives.  These dogs are going to get VERY cold this winter without our help!

Also keep your eye out at Santa’s Workshop for a way to make a 10 kuai donation to purchase a brand-new small pet blanket in the name of YOUR pet for a Sichuan dog this holiday season!  You’ll also get to sign a huge card letting all those dogs know you care!

In other news…

Our Second ASA sessions begin when we get back from our Winter Break (January 9th-February 16th.) The Booklets will be sent home this Friday and must be returned to the Elementary Office, via me, by Friday December 9th. It looks like there will be some great activities, some of which have limited spaces, so make sure to check it out and return as soon as you can.

In Class…

Math: We have begun our 5th Math Unit on Fractions with a Pre-Test and as a grade level we are trying to differentiate our instruction more, discussing ways we can challenge the students that need extension, and still cater for those who need more in-depth instruction.

Writer’s Workshop: We started work on Essays today; I LOVE this unit and have high hopes for successful pieces that will be published between our Winter Break and Chinese New Year; stay tuned. In the meantime, help your children by giving them examples of things YOU feel passionate enough to write an essay about.

Reader’s Workshop: We’ve finished up our Book Clubs on Social Issues and I believe your children learned a great deal, not just about the issues they read about, but also the complexities involved in working within a team; negotiating group dynamics and different learning styles. Now we move on to a Non-Fiction unit.

Social Studies and Science: As we wrap up our Migration Unit, (have you seen your child’s movie about YOU on their blog yet?) We prepare to begin our unit on building where we go beyond just constructing Lego, looking at many areas of basic engineering, models and designs; the kids enjoy this unit and so do I.

Phew… I’m tired just thinking about it all! Good Night

Many Morning Messages for Marvelous Mothers!

Hi Parents

As your child may have told you, I am home sick with pneumonia and hope to return fully to class on Monday; the coughing just got too much and after two weeks of anti-biotics, the only thing I was missing was rest so on Doctor’s Orders, I am trying to get some (we working Mum’s are not so good on the ‘rest’ part.) Here are an assortment of notices for your attention. I’m sorry I will miss you, and your children, and my own daughter Hannah at tomorrow’s band and strings performance but from hearing 5KP practice, I know they will be wonderful. Now, onto the news…. Remember, Students should wear nice white shirt, black pants/skirt, black socks and shoes for tomorrow’s performance…


5th Grade Band & Orchestra Winter Performance

Friday, November 18

2:00 PM

Auditorium

Parents and families of 5th grade students are invited to our show! Please come early so you can also see the Art Show in the Foyer before hand where your child’s work is on display. Teachers will be taking down the artwork on Friday and Monday, but wanted to extend an invitation for you to take them home with you on Friday after the 5th Grade Band Performance.  It is a great opportunity to assure that your child’s work will make it home!  For the parents of the Pre-K thru Grade 2 students, you are welcome to come to room 219 to get your child’s portfolio.  They will be laid out on the tables by classrooms.

We will be taking down the artwork on Friday and Monday, but wanted to extend an invitation for you to take them on Friday after the 5th Grade Band Performance.
Great opportunity to assure that your child’s work will make it home!  For the parents of the Pre-K thru Grade 2 students, you are welcome to come to room 219 to get your child’s portfolio.  They will be laid out on the tables by classrooms.

Giving TreeScreen shot 2011-11-17 at 11.04.39 AM

Dear Friends,

I am writing to you tonight as the faculty advisor of the HS Giving Tree Club. With a few days to go before this year’s collection campaign winds up on Nov 22, we have reached the 360 bag mark, which puts us within reach of our goal of 540 bags, though we obviously still have a ways to go.

First, thanks for your generosity and support of this project, to the many of you who have donated money to sponsor children.

I know that some of you feel that a personal connection is lost when you don’t actually go out and fill a bag yourself. However, this year’s donation-based system also allows us to provide significant support to Home Sweet Home (another local charitable organization) by ordering clothing from them.

For those who have not yet contributed to this year’s Giving Tree project, and would like to, a contribution of RMB 200 provides a fleece jacket, hat, mittens, shoes, school supplies and a toy to a child in need here in Shanghai.

Many thanks,

Michael Chao
HS Math Teacher
Faculty sponsor, HS Giving Tree Club

Week Without Homework

Pudong Elementary will be having a NO HOMEWORK week from the 5th to the 9th of December. The purpose of this week is to provide families with a special opportunity to spend the time usually allocated to homework towards doing a variety of different activities together. Below you will find a list of possible activities that can be done throughout the week:

• Taking a walk together and talking about your day
• Cooking together
• Reading to each other
• Playing board games
• Giving your child jobs to do around the home i.e. setting the dinner table, taking the dogs for a walk, cleaning out their bedrooms
• Writing up the Santa’s Workshop wish list together
• Arts and crafts
• e-mailing family members-grandma’s grandpas
• Making a thankful (grateful) list- in 2 languages
• playing card games, Go Fish, Uno, build a card house-see how high it can go
• build a tent in the living room/dining with blankets and read with a flashlight inside
• Have your child/ren put on a show…Have them create their own costumes. Set a show time. Pop popcorn. Don’t forget to film it.
• Play hide and seek inside house/apartment.
• Take a photo every hour and do a photo journal of the day
• Play dress up and take pictures
• Going through toys and choosing some to donate to orphanages

Panda Book Awards

Ask your child about the meeting they had this morning regarding these awards and read about them here on our Library Blog

Information for the Students for Friday’s Lessons -Work on the following, Friday Periods 1 and 4.

We have begun to look at the African country of Sudan where, as we have discovered, “Political Migration” happens on a very large scale. We are reading about Sudan in our Read-A-Loud about the Sudanese Refugee Kek, “Home of the Brave” and also as we look at the Video Clips taken from the film “God Grew Tired of Us”.

We will watch the following four clips from National Geographic.

From Southern Sudan to Northeastern United States. (Sudan’s civil war forced over 25,000 Lost Boys to trek across sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety. Hear their stories from Kakuma Refugee camp.)

Sense of Place and Community (In America, the Lost Boys reflect on the culture they left behind and reminisce about life back in Sudan.)

Cultural Differences (Watch as the Lost Boys experience for the first time what most American’s take for granted and as they gain valuable insight on American ‘norms.’)

Responsibility and Leadership (Now a grown man living in the United States, John Dau helps his friends and family back home, and raises awareness in America about Sudan.)

Your task is to…

Complete a new blog post with the title “Lost boys of Sudan” and answer the following 3 questions that are in bold below. Feel free to watch the clips again if you feel that you have missed something or need more information to answer the questions.

  • What have you learned about Dinka culture? What values do the Lost Boys hold? How do those values compare with your own?
  • What questions and fears do the Lost Boys have about life in the U.S.? What questions and fears would you have if you were moving to a new place? What differences do you see between Dinka culture and American culture? What are some of the challenges the Lost Boys encounter? How do they adapt to life in the United States?
  • What sense of responsibility do the Lost Boys feel toward each other and toward their families and friends still in Africa? In what ways are they trying to improve their own lives and those of their families and friends?
  • Answer your questions in complete sentences so your audience feel like they understand more about the Dinka culture and the struggle these people have been through.

Remember your final project for this unit will be to:

Create a slideshow of at least 10 photos, and record your voice narrating the timeline of a relatives life.

Interview a relative and create a timeline of their life. This timeline will require a short narrative for each of their moves. Write down in advance when the person migrated and why.  I will be your script for when you record your soundtrack.
For example:

Timeline of Simon Power
1973
A beautiful baby boy was born in Geelong. Two happy parents named
Shirley and Michael Power gave birth to Simon, in Geelong Hospital on the 10th of April.
He would live in my first house until the age of 6.
1979
Simon moved 2 kilometers to the house he would spend the next 13 years in. It was this house that
he remembered  the wonderful bedroom he had and his favorite friend, a dog named Taffy.
Taffy would spend all of the her 12 years living at the same house as Simon…

Have a look at Cooper Parham’s to see an example of the finished product. Mr Power will be in on Friday at 12.30 to help you with this, but it is what I want you working through first two period’s Friday so that you are making progress.

Parents it would be good for you to look at some of the finished products of the Migration Unit too, by going to Ms Rekate’s blog and clicking on any of the students on her blogroll. This will help you know where the students are heading, we hope to have them reach this stage by November 22nd. They have been collecting photos and writing up the interviews they did with family members so they are almost there…

That’s All Folks…


Kliptown visit a Success…

Positive Initiatives Bring Success

Dear Parents and Students
We have wonderful opportunities coming up to reach out and support people less fortunate than ourselves in the coming months. The season of Giving is upon us and as we celebrate together as families, whether it be with ThanksgivingKwaanzaHanukkahChristmas or just reflecting on our good fortune, it is always important to remember that there are people who aren’t feeling so positive as Winter sets in around the northern half of the World.

All of you should have received information about our Giving Tree Program by now, I hope you are able to participate; this year has certainly been made easier for all of us with the option of being able to send in money and have someone else fill up a bag for us. I am excited to report on another activity you may not be familiar with unless you were a family at our school last year.

Screen shot 2011-11-05 at 5.55.45 PM

The Kliptown Youth Program came to perform for us this morning and our whole Elementary school was there to see it. I was so fortunate to be able to take my class to see this group last time they were here, and thrilled I get to do it again this month. The only downside to their last visit, was that when they were done, and they had danced, and shared their journey, all of us were left wanting to give, to reach out and help this community who were giving so much, and living on so little. However with little time to get something organized, we were unable to offer them much more than our best wishes and heartfelt admiration. I am dearly hoping that this visit will be different. I strongly encourage you to ‘dig deep’ if you are able, as the inspirational journey these people have been on is wonderful to be a part of, even if it is just a very small part.

Here is some more information including an easy way you can financially contribute to the Kliptown Youth Program. Alternatively, if you would like to send in money to me, rather than completing the form below, I am more than happy to make a donation on your behalf. I am collecting money on behalf of the Elementary School if you would like to make a direct donation, please send it in to me. Please ask your child what they learned from this morning’s performance and the follow up discussion in Mr Martin’s classroom.

KYP Program Poster

KYP Donation Form

KYP Poster 2011

Screen shot 2011-11-05 at 5.56.53 PM

So Parents…What exactly do you do???

Hi Parents,

Today at our 5th Grade Planning Retreat, we were discussing what sort of field trips we could plan for your children this year, and you came up in the conversation. In the past, we have had field trips to GM as one of our 5th grade parents worked there; it was a real blast for the kids to see how different parts of the factory and offices worked and the visit complimented our Science units on Inventions, and on Models and Designs beautifully.

So… where do YOU work? How do you spend your days? Is there any way you could allow our students a peak into your busy world? We know this won’t be an option for all parents, but if you believe that your occupation might have something to offer our students, whether it be us coming to you for a fully fledged field trip, or you would be able to come in and share your story with us like Annette’s Dad Wayne will be doing during our Inventors Unit… then please, PLEASE, drop us a line so WE can learn from YOU!

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In other news, we had a great time this week in class, so many fun things are going on right now. We finished our fantastic Read-A-Loud, The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine which taught us many things about friendships and standing up for what you believe. We continued in our social issues book clubs, some groups even moving onto their second novel; engaging in rich and thought provoking discussions and learning valuable lessons along the way, our second personal narrative was read, reviewed, revived and re-written on its way to being published next Monday and we divided our time nicely as we moved through our 4th unit in math. If you have not checked out the division movies in the previous post, please do so now, (although remember they won’t work at home without a VPN). I am sure these movies will be of help to you as we prepare for our test next Thursday. So will this list of what will be on the Unit 4 Test:

· Find multiples and use them to rename numbers
· Know and use multiplication facts
· Divide using a friendly numbers strategy with the partial-quotients algorithm
· Divide using “at least…not more than” strategy  with the partial quotients strategy
· Make magnitude estimates with decimals
· Measure and draw line segments to the nearest half inch
· Estimate using a map scale
· Write an open number sentence for number stories
· Determine what to do with a remainder

· Find multiples and use them to rename numbers
· Know and use multiplication facts
· Divide using a friendly numbers strategy with the partial-quotients algorithm
· Divide using “at least…not more than” strategy  with the partial quotients strategy
· Make magnitude estimates with decimals
· Measure and draw line segments to the nearest half inch
· Estimate using a map scale
· Write an open number sentence for number stories
· Determine what to do with a remainder

There were more exciting things going on this week too; did I mention our Brownie ‘Throwdown’ Bobby Flay Style? Happy Birthday to Pepo and Erika, we LOVED both of your brownies…

Positive Initiatives Bring Success

Dear Parents and Students
We have wonderful opportunities coming up to reach out and support people less fortunate than ourselves in the coming months. The season of Giving is upon us and as we celebrate together as families, whether it be with Thanksgiving, Kwaanza, Hanukkah, Christmas or just reflecting on our good fortune, it is always important to remember that there are people who aren’t feeling so positive as Winter sets in around the northern half of the World.

All of you should have received information about our Giving Tree Program by now, I hope you are able to participate; this year has certainly been made easier for all of us with the option of being able to send in money and have someone else fill up a bag for us. I am excited to report on another activity you may not be familiar with unless you were a family at our school last year.

Screen shot 2011-11-05 at 5.55.45 PM

The Kliptown Youth Program are coming to dance for our school on November 14th. I was so fortunate to be able to take my class to see this group last time they were here, and thrilled I get to do it again this month. The only downside to their last visit, was that when they were done, and they had danced, and shared their journey, all of us were left wanting to give, to reach out and help this community who were giving so much, and living on so little. However with little time to get something organized, we were unable to offer them much more than our best wishes and heartfelt admiration. I am dearly hoping that this visit will be different. I strongly encourage you to ‘dig deep’ if you are able, as the inspirational journey these people have been on is wonderful to be a part of, even if it is just a very small part.

Here is some more information including an easy way you can financially contribute to the Kliptown Youth Program. Alternatively, if you would like to send in money to me, rather than completing the form below, I am more than happy to make a donation on your behalf. Feel free to join us between 8.30 and 8.50 in the auditorium if you can. You won’t regret it. Have a great weekend!

KYP Program Poster

KYP Donation Form

KYP Poster 2011

Screen shot 2011-11-05 at 5.56.53 PM