To help get through the long winter the Turtles have been tasting Indian, Irish, and Spanish foods. Along with "tasting" other cultures they are learning about customs, weather, transportation and more. It is a very exciting and fun curriculum. Excellent work by Imagine teachers!! 2/10/15
Jesse in the news again!!
Jesse in the news again. This time he found $4.00 on the street and he immediately said he wanted to donate it to Kids for Kids. We are so proud of Jesse and how he easily thinks of helping others!!
Kids for Kids in the Dominican Republic
Tracy, Catherine, Janine, Meg and I are back from the Dominican Republic traveling with Bridges to Communities. We had an amazing experience. We visited Santo Domingo and then San Juan during Carnival. We then went west to the community of Durrumbadero across a river (which we drove or waded through) and into the mountains. There we worked digging the foundation for two additional rooms for a school for 700 children from 5 communities. Now many of the classes are meeting outside. When it rains (which is often during rainy season) there are no classes. We also worked in another smaller community where, under the supervision of a Peace Corp volunter and along side community members we dug a trench for an aquaduct to bring water to a central spigot. This community has had many cases of cholera due to polluted water. The aquaduct will certainly make a change for the better. The work was hard but so rewarding. At the aquaduct we had lunch in a community home. We washed with water collected from the previous days rain. When I mentioned to our host that soon they would have running, clean water near their home he said. "Si, aqua es la vida." (Water is life).
In Durrambadero we had a special opportunity to meet with a group of 5 year olds and visit their classroom. It was school vacation but 35 children, the teacher and the principal welcomed us. The children sang many songs and answered questions that the kids from Imagine Brooklyn Heights had asked. It was a wonderful picture taking opportunity. Every child was adorable. Tracy and her families at Brooklyn Heights collected many wonderful school supplies that were shared with the school.
We ended the week in the Hotel Playa Azul on the southern coast of the island. The water was that wonderful Caribbean blue and the showers were warm. It was a memorable trip and Imagine was well represented. Janine was the spokesperson for the group and at the closing ceremony for our time in the community was so eloquent talking about the new connection that was made between our group and the community. Tracy and Catherine were loved by all, hard workers and great travel companions. Meg, the youngest member of the group, fit in wonderfully. She never took a break and worked non stop digging and picking in the trenches. We all feel lucky to have had the opportunity to have traveled with Bridges and our new friends in the DR. The group shared a warm, happy feeling of reaching out and helping others. We all welcomed the chance to learn about another culture. The trip was truly in the spirit of Kids for Kids.
We hope to continue our work with Bridges as it solidifies its position in the DR. Bridges plan is to find another smaller community where the needs are great. Building houses and schools will be part of a future 5 year plan. I hope to partner with Bridges and keep Imagine Kids for Kids involved with the building of new schools. We then can work to build a relationship between the kids in the DR communities and our children at Imagine. We can also hope in the future to send more teachers to the DR to become Imagine Kids for Kids ambassadors.
Kids for Kids in Action
During afternoon circle we discussed Kids for Kids FAFU and the importance of helping others. Jesse mentioned he had a piggy bank with lots of money he was saving to go bowling with his family. The next morning he arrived to school with a jar full of money. His mom said right before they left their apartment he yells out" Jeannette said we have to help people in Africa for Kids for Kids".His mom went to pull money from her purse when Jesse said "No I want to give them my own money". He was excited to count his savings with his classmates. Jesse donated $17.76
June 2014
All the competitors were in top shape for the 5B (held over from Friday because of bad weather) today. Under sunny, blue skies the parents joined their very happy, top rated athletes for a very fun, Fun Raiser to buy school supplies for our sister schools in Nairobi, Kenya. The teachers and children did a great job putting the event together for a very worthy Kids for Kids project. So far they have raised $822.00. Congratulations and a big thank you to all the participants.
A visit from Simeon
Simeon Ajigo, Director of Facing the Future (FAFU) an Early Childhood Program in the Kibera Slum, Nairobi, Kenya visited with some of the children and teachers at Imagine at Lehman College Childcare.
Island Park Event
Imagine Kids for Kids does it again!
Port Washington Director AnneMarie Robley delivered a check for $4300 to her alma mater, the Francis X. Hegarty School in Island Park, Long Island, which just reopened in September after being closed for ten months after Hurricane Sandy. The donation will be used for classroom supplies and new playground equipment. Imagine children raised the funds themselves through bake sales, art auctions and other activities during our annual Kids for Kids 'FUNraiser' in April. The Hegarty children and staff are thrilled to be back home in their beloved school with new supplies and equipment. Imagine is thrilled to have been able to help
"Growing Global Citizens"
"Growing Global Citizens", an article by Jaci Maurer, director of the Lehman College Child Care Center.
What is a Global Citizen? Global Citizenship is an idea that goes beyond simply knowing that we are citizens of the world to an acknowledgement of our responsibilities both to each other and to the Earth itself. Global Citizenship requires understanding the need to tackle injustice and inequality and having the desire and ability to work actively to do so. It is about valuing the Earth as precious and unique, as well as safeguarding the future for those in the next generations. Global Citizenship is a way of thinking and behaving. It is an outlook on life—a belief that we can make a difference.
Just Add Water
Imagine Kids for Kids’ seventh annual “FUNraiser” will follow a theme of “Just Add Water” and support our “Food For All” focus. We will develop a curriculum about the importance of water and FUNraise to help provide the children at our sister school DFC in Kibera, Kenya with three meals a day. The children at Imagine will be learning about the importance of water in our lives; all living things need water, water comes in three forms (liquid, vapor and ice) and where does water come from? When the Lehman College Child Care preschoolers were asked, "Where does water come from?" they answered, the sink, the bathtub, the ocean and the clouds. When asked, "What do we have to take out of the ocean water before we drink it?", one child answered dolphins. It is going to be a fun topic to explore. Imagine Early Learning Centers will join forces during the Week of the Young Child (April 22-28) and sell recipe kits that you “Just Add Water” to for a delicious treat or meal. These recipe kits will be handmade by the children at Imagine and support our food program at DFC.
Travel Awards Given
Janine McMorrow (Vetkids), Tracy Schaffran (Brooklyn Heights) and Lauren Holleran (Courtyard Kids) were nominated by their directors to win a trip going to the Dominican Republic in March. They were given this honor because of the work they have done for Kids for Kids at their centers. Janine, Lauren and Tracy will travel with a group from Bridges to Community (along with Imagine's President Holly Saltzman) to the DR to build a house for a family. They will also see the foundation for a new school to be built and meet the teachers and children who will attend. Imagine Kids for Kids is thankful for their efforts to teach Imagine's children about empathy and reaching out to others!! All were nominated by their directors.