PROJECT SPOTLIGHT
 Mali Students Coming to the US: This year, the Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES) will welcome its first class of participants from Mali, Senegal, and Ethiopia. The YES program is sponsored by the United States State Department and aims to bring high school students from countries with significant Muslim populations to the US for one year to attend high school and live with host families. Through this type of exchange, stereotypes are dispelled and cultures are shared in a way that brings hope to a more peaceful future. Left is a photograph of the incoming class of Malian students taken following a pre-departure Orientation in Bamako. If you are interested in hosting a YES student for the year, please contact: Tina Habib, Director of Government Grant Program.
 Talking Kites Project: On March 21, 2007 two schools, one from Brooklyn and other from New York City, flew kites as part of iEARN's Talking Kites Project. Schools, teachers and students who participate in this project fly kites every year on the same day in honor of peace and to commemorate the Polish World War II doctor, Janusz Korczah who spoke the words, "every child has a right to fly a kite, " as a means to express themselves.
Primary students from P.S. 135, in Brooklyn,
traveled all the way to iEARN's offices on New York's Upper West Side
to fly kites with their teachers, including Lynn Rosen - iEARN Project
Facilitator for LEWIN, A Picture Tells a Thousand Words, and Feeding
Minds Fighting Hunger. Two
hours earlier, 6th Graders from The Cathedral School, in Manhattan,
partnered with Kindergartens to fly self made kites decorated with
poems about peace.
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(1) Project Spotlight
- Mali Students: YES Exchange Program
- Talking Kites Project
- TN Students Discover Egypt's Nile River
- PEARL Youth Reporters Visit NYC
- Measure Carbon Use
(2) Newsflash
- NYC School Wins Video Award for Adobe Youth Voices
- Wyoming Students Use iEARN to Connect to Argentina
- Community News Reports on Delaware Students Flying Kites
- iEARN Project Announcements and Country Information
Want to submit your iEARN success stories or project news? |
Ellen Baru, lead iEARN Teacher at Cathedral, integrated the project in several subject subject areas including technology, art and library. Ellen, a former English teacher, worked with students in discussions about war and peace. Tying in the theme of the Kites Project, Ellen asked students to write poems reflecting their feelings and visions of war, peace, spring and kites. Art teachers assisted all students in creating kites while the library teacher shared books with students about kites and peace. A true cross-curriculum use of iEARN project-based learning.
 The Cathedral School hosted the flying kites event that included special guest Ruty Hotzen, Talking Kites Project Facilitator from Israel. After kite flying, Ruty addressed 6th Graders explaining the history of the project and announced other iEARN schools around the globe also flying kites for peace. 6th Graders also met and flew kites with PEARL World Youth News Reporters - iEARN's high school journalism project - from Ireland, Vietnam, UK, Uzbekistan and Pakistan visiting NYC for the Channel 13 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference.
In the spirit of collaboration, Cathedral students posted their poems on the Talking Kites Online Forum.
Students In Tennessee Discover the Nile: iEARN Teacher, Chris Hockert - of McConnell Elementary School - recently shared her students project work that will be presented at this year's iEARN International Conference in Cairo, Egypt. In her own words:
 "My second grade inclusion class worked with the gifted students in grades 3-5 as part of [iEARN's] Two Rivers One World Project, researching the Nile River and Tennessee Rivers. After [students conducted] research using the Internet, encyclopedias and nonfiction books, they created an original piece of artwork. [During] a PTA meeting [student] work was placed on display and parents voted on their five favorite pieces. The winning artwork will be taken by me to the [iEARN] Egypt Conference for display along with a 4x6 canvas students created in collaboration with Elizabeth & Katelyn Clark (2006 recipients of iEARN's Kurshan Scholarship that enabled Elizabeth and Katelyn to travel to the iEARN Conference in the Netherlands) and 8th grade students from Dade Middle School in Trenton, GA."
 "We followed the theme of the [Egypt] Conference, "Connecting Cultures and Respecting Differences". The 4x6 canvas will be presented to Dalia Khalil, [iEARN Egypt's Country Coordinator], at the conference for her to share with the teachers and students of Egypt as a gift from Tennessee. The artwork shows flags of TN and Egypt, animals of both waterways, the Pyramids, Sphinx, and the TN Aquarium and Lookout Mountain. There is also a historical timeline showing six major events for TN and Egypt. The border represents Egyptian hieroglyphs top and bottom and the sides are bordered by Cherokee syllabry developed by the Sequoyah Indians. Sequoyah and a Cherokee women are in the center of the reed boat along with an Egyptian man and woman."
"[Our] students also worked on the iEARN's Natural Disasters Project and their work has been submitted to the forum. Their brochures and photos were also displayed Tuesday night at our PTA meeting. Our projects have been funded in part by a grant from Junior League of Chattanooga." Click here to download Chris' students' PowerPoint for Two Rivers One World.
 iEARN Youth Reporters in New York City: PEARL World Youth News Reporters from Ireland, Vietnam, UK, Uzbekistan and Pakistan arrived in New York City to participate in Channel 13's Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference held on March 23rd-24th. Their travel was made possible by the generous support of Channel 13 and EF Education. Students toured Manhattan, but most importantly, were able to visit Columbia University's Journalism School and meet with graduate students who are serving as evaluators for the PEARL online journalism course. During the conference, students participated in a panel discussion with BBC journalist Daljit Dahliwal and conducted a workshop on the project. For all students, this was their first time in the USA and what better way to visit, than to take part as special guests at a conference reaching over 9,000 educators in the Tri-State Area, having the opportunity to speak about their experiences in iEARN and as PEARL Reporters, visiting tourist sites, speaking to other journalists in the field, and meeting their fellow reporters from the College of Staten Island High School for International Studies. (Photo: Courtesy of Thirteen/WNET New York)
Click HERE to listen to WNYC (New York Public Radio) interview with PEARL Youth Reporters.
 Measure Your Carbon Footprint: At the 2007 Channel 13 Celebration of Teaching and Learning Conference, teachers gathered to participate in workshops focused on best practices related to "Science and Global Awareness". During, closing ceremonies with special guest - the Honorable Al Gore - iEARN-USA’s Executive Director, Ed Gragert and PBS’s Snook, introduced a new global initiative to combat global warming, Our Footprints Our Future – a carbon foot-printing project. This may be a wonderful opportunity to engage students in collaboration. If you are interested, please contact iEARN USA at (212) 870-2693. iEARN teachers and youth conducted workshops on several iEARN projects including PEARL World Youth News, YouthCaN and Solar Cooking. (Photo: iEARN USA board member - Kristi Rennebohm-Franz, iEARN USA Executive Director - Ed Gragert, and PBS' Snook.)
NEWSFLASH
 NYC School Wins Second Prize in Youth Video Competition: 7th and 8th Graders from West Side Collaborative Middle School, in New York City, attended the Urban Visionaries' Video Slam as part of the Adobe Youth Voices and submitted their 3 minute clip for their piece, "Weight of the World." The video competition was for youth- produced videos that are 5 minutes or less in length. Led by teacher, Steve Schiff, students earned a great surprise when their 3 minute piece won second prize. West Side Collaborative is also an iEARN school as part of Adobe Youth Voices and is currently working on other documentary films about teen relationships.
Adobe Youth Voices is Adobe's a global philanthropic initiative that empowers youth worldwide to comment on their world using multimedia and digital tools to communicate and share their ideas, demonstrate their potential, and take action in their communities. Founding partners include iEARN-USA, Educational Video Center, Listen Up!, and What Kids Can Do.
Wyoming Students Connect to Argentina: Jackson Hole Star-Tribune - Casper,WY,USA reports: "They'll log onto the iEARN Web site and send the e-mails that way, Celaya said. "This will raise awareness among the students," she said... click here to read the Tribune's full story of this iEARN USA connection.
 Students in Delware Fly Kites for Peace: Delaware's Brandywine Community News reported on students flying kites for Peace as part of iEARN's Talking Kites Project. Students from the Elementary Workshop Montessori School flew kites at a riverfront park. Click here to download the full story of students participating in this global iEARN project. Also, go Back to Top to read more Talking Kites Project stories under Project Spotlight.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Opportunity for New Jersey teachers to join iEARN: The New Jersey Department of Education and iEARN USA partnered in 2006 to offer teachers the opportunity to participate in program to learn the steps of integrating project based learning and global collaborative projects into their teaching. The program begins with an online course and ends with a showcase event where teachers present the work they have done with their students. We will soon begin recruiting teachers for the 2007-2008 school year. New Jersey Department of Education Professional Development hours are available for activities throughout the program. If you are interested in learning more about this special offer, please contact Losira Okelo, Director of Online Professional Development.
 28th Annual National Educational Computing Conference:
Join iEARN on June 24-27 for this year's NECC conference. Register by
March 30, 2007 for the best conference rates. This year, NECC will be
held in Atlanta and include many iEARN teachers who will conduct
various workshops on technology and online projects for the classroom. For more
conference information click HERE, or contact Diane Midness at iEARN.
 iEARN Egypt will host the 14th Annual iEARN International Conference and 11th Youth Summit (July 21 - 26, 2007) in Cairo! Please join us for professional development workshops and events. Conference details and registration information (including lodging and fees) can be found on the official conference website.
Two youth scholarships are being offered to eligible iEARN youth to participate in the Conference and Youth Summit. Download this PDF (397.2 kb) for complete youth scholarship information.
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