The Global Village School

NOTICE: The Global Village Project Inc., d/b/a The Global Village School (Decatur, Georgia), is not affiliated with or sponsored by Global Village School (Ojai, California).  For information regarding Global Village School, please visit their website at http://www.globalvillageschool.org/

Smiling Faces As the Year Draws to a Close

Here is a group photo taken at the start of the 4-5PM tutoring period. Can you tell it has been another great year at GVS?

 

 

 

photo by DPC member Les Cook: thank you Les!

Latest Wish List...

 We need dictionnarries! We need need dikshonaries! We need dictionnaries!

Merriam-Websters Essential Learner's English Dictionary is the preferred version, and we would like every student to have one, so 35 copies will be needed by August. When a student's family relocates, GVP sends books along with her, so additional copies will be needed throughout the year.

Thanks to you, many things on our Wish List have appeared as if by magic! Please check back often to see new additions. copier paper (always!) Laminating sheets  ink for Epson Workforce 600 (#69) ink for Lexmark Pro905 (100XL)

 

 

 

Delta Airlines Visits GVS for Authors' Tea

Here are Karmen Niklaus and Irma Contreras in their smart Delta uniforms delivering those famous Delta ginger cookies for the Authors' Tea in March. Karmen and Irma presented these on behalf of their colleagues who are the staff support force for the 6,000 Delta flight attendants based in Atlanta. 

GVS is looking forward to a warm relationship between our two organizations to mutual benefit.  And in the meantime, thanks for the cookies.

 

 

The GVS One Voice Choir

You can see slides of the One Voice Choir performing at Georgia Perimeter College by clicking on this link. Enjoy!

Smile!

Dental care is so important for health as well as a beautiful smile. Girls at GVS have rarely had any attention paid to their teeth or dental hygiene, and if they have had it wasn't a happy experience. So look at the smiles in this photo from Dr. Nancy Stewart's office! When the girls in this picture saw it, they said "Oh! Kelly (left) and Nyasha (right) were so nice!"

Thank you for putting a smile on all these faces, Dr. Stewart, and for your generosity in offering to treat these deserving young women. They'll be spreading the training they are getting on how to care for their teeth to their families and beyond. And investigating careers in dentistry too.

 

Dancing and Service

In 2010 Michael Rosof was part of a dance performance that included a certain GVS girl named Bertha. As his bar mitzvah approached, Michael decided that he wanted to do something to raise funds for this school he had been hearing about from Bertha: a school for teenage refugee girls in Decatur.

 

All summer long Michael held lemonade fundraisers, and then in January he was ready. His parents brought him to GVS and he presented a very generous check to the school so that it can go on helping other teenage girls. Thank you Michael, and mazel tov!

Druid Hills High Front Page Features GVS Alum Paw Boe

The student on the far left of the Druid Hills Home page is GVS's own Paw Boe.  Paw started learning violin at GVS and now plays in the Druid Hills orchestra. A determined student, Paw still has time to help other GVS girls who have now started at Druid Hills. We are so proud of Paw Boe for her music making and her scholarship.

Grandmothers For Peace and John Lewis Present Prizes

GVS writers Bertha and Rita were honored at a celebration arranged by Grandmothers for Peace as two of the five essay winners.  In addition to their essays being chosen from among 83 submissions, Bertha and Rita were the only non-native English speakers. And the awards were presented by Congressman John Lewis.

Bertha first met Congressman Lewis on the GVS trip to Washington D.C. in 2010, when GVS was invited to his office and later met him on the steps of the Capitol. The whole school is so proud of our two essay winners, and thanks Grandmothers for Peace and Congressman Lewis for this honor. You may watch a video by videographer Judy Conder of the presentation which includes Elise Witt singing, Bertha, Rita, John Lewis and Grandmothers for Peace at the presentation,

The two peace essays can be downloaded here:  Download Bertha's Essay "War Is a Disease".

Download Rita's Essay "Building Peace".

Spreading Out the Joy All Year Long

A Monthly Gift to GVS makes an even bigger difference!

Like most of us, you probably plan your budget for the year, knowing that there is a bottom line each month you must meet - housing, food, utilities, insurance payments. And you also know that you can expect some kind of regular monthly salary, annuity or other income that you can rely on month after month. You know the drill!

 GVS is no different and one of my responsibilities is to see that we have the cash on hand to keep those monthly expenses paid - to pay our excellent teachers, keep our post office box open, buy MARTA tickets for the girls to come to and from school and to provide nutritious lunches.  

Some families like to do all their giving at the end of each year.  But others appreciate the ability to spread their annual donation across the months.  Please consider what's right for your family.  We appreciate all your gifts.  But if monthly giving is right for you, it serves GVS very well.

If you want to consider making your annual gift to GVS throughout the year, with convenient monthly automatic payments through our online processor, click the Donate Now button on this page and select "recurring" as your gift type..   You'll get an immediate receipt for your gift online, and we can provide an annual statement if you like.   It's easy and convenient, saves time, paper, and postage.

Think about it and if it's right for you, it's right for GVS!

Congratulations Kelsey! GVS Helps a Student Earn a Posse Scholarship.

Kelsey Sullivan, the Druid Hills High School student who set up a tutoring program for GVS students there, has won a four-year full scholarship through the Posse Program to Boston University.  The Posse foundation uses non-traditional ways of identifying public school student leaders to award full scholarships to private universities.  Students are nominated by their schools for their leadership qualities and community service, and then they go through lots of group and individual interviews, they get recommendations (GVS's Julia Levy wrote one about her work for GVS) and then they're named one of ten members of a "Posse" that go together to a university from a regional area.  President Obama donated a portion of his Nobel winnings to the program. 

Kelsey says a large part of her success in achieving this came from what she's done with GVS students (Paw Boe is shown here) and the tutoring program for them that she's developed over at Druid Hills High School--one that's now formally aligned with the IRC's tutoring program.  She has put in the hours and shown enormous beyond-her-years initiative in working with our girls, and there is no doubt that at least one of them is now college-bound largely due to her efforts and consistent, whatever-it-takes support. 

GVS is so proud of this unique ability as a school to provide important educational opportunities not just for 30 refugee students but for the high school and college kids that work with them--extending our mission.  Kelsey wants to study international relations now and go out there and dedicate her life to working with underserved populations.  She credits her work with Paw Boe for inspiring her to do this.