Kids Standard Magazine, Dec- 2016

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Parent’s PA GE 23

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Motivate. Activate. Celebrate.

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Index: Feature .................................................2 Nature...................................................4 Poems....................................................5 Food......................................................6 Interview .............................................7 Art..........................................................8 Travel..................................................13 Living..................................................14 Mindfulness.......................................16 College Voices...................................18 Parent’s Corner................................19 Educators............................................20 People we admire .............................21 Educators............................................22 Parent’s Corner..................................23

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When the World Becomes Our Backyard

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few weeks ago, our magazine received an email from Janny Hurkmans, a Dutch American and former teacher who resides in Lake Orion. In her desire to share refugee children’s voices, Janny contacted a teacher at an elementary school in Vierlingsbeek, the Netherlands, who works with such students, and forwarded us his heart felt story. Jan van de Ven wrote about refugee children who are among 700 people sharing space in a building next to their school. Coming from war zones, such as Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia and Eritrea, these children have already been touched by something so incomprehensible that most of us will, thankfully, never experience in our lifetimes.

Fortunately, these experiences are far removed from The Land of the Free. Many of our kids have never heard of any of these countries. In light of recent events and refugee controversy, should we disturb their peace by telling them untold stories?

From a privileged standpoint of many born in America, this disturbance should not be necessary. For numerous local communities across our nation, which for a long time have been self-contained and self-reliant, it seems clear that children need to be protected from a world of death, violence, and suffering. Young people need to grow up feeling secure and undisturbed.

By the same token, in the era of digital communications, the world is no longer a place where what happens in one part of the globe doesn’t affect another part. Our immediate social environment has expanded radically, shifting from families and local societies to the entire world.

I would think that a fragmented mindset, blind to a bigger picture, cannot serve kids well in the world in which they are most likely to live. Young people today require preparation to deal with such prevalent issues as poverty, energy crises, disease, and yes, above all, human conflict. No one nation can tackle it alone.

To strive, humankind needs citizens capable of taking actions on matters of global importance. Veronica Boix Mansilla, a principal investigator in the Global Studies Project, Harvard Graduate School of Education,

Arina Bokas

Kids’ Standard Editor & The Future of Learning Host

links living in the 21st century with the need to develop a global self - “identity and sense of belonging to see ourselves as participating actors in a rich global matrix.”

To be sure, in the world of tomorrow, our growing generation of digital natives will collaborate, adapt, and interact cross-culturally with people from all over the globe. In doing so, they might cross their paths with those of the refugee children’s, whose stories seem so removed from us today. The ways in which their lives might intertwine and touch each other could prove to be beyond our wildest dreams.

Sensitivity to perspectives and feelings of others is a prerequisite to form successful relationships of any kind. By giving American youth the gift of a different vantage point, we are giving them the lens through which they can take a deeper look at themselves.

It’s all part of our world, part of humankind, and indeed, part of us all.

STUDENTS’ STORIES (translated by Janny Hurkmans) Tasnim, 11, Syria There is a war in Homs (Syria). The police killed my dad. We fled because there were tanks and guns. I saw a girl crying all by herself. Now, I learn Dutch very fast! We play outside and, like in Syria, we play soccer together. I would like to become a doctor for babies.

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F E AT U R E Durim, 9, Kosovo I used to played soccer in Kosovo. We left our house and went to Hungary; a lot of people went there. This is my house in Kosovo, I really miss it. We walked all the way through Germany to the Netherlands. In school I love to play soccer.

Aggelos, 11, Albania: My dad and my mom come for Albania.

My dad died. We went by bus from Albania to the Netherlands. I live in the asylum center in Overloon, and I have a lot of friends.

I want to have a big family with 2 kids.

Hazim, 10, Syria People were throwing grenades; I heard them explode. We went by boat from Syria to Turkey. Then we went to Oranje in the Netherlands and stayed there for 8 months.

Now we have a beautiful new home in St.Anthonis. I really want to become a soccer player.

Bashir A, 10, Libia I went with my family on the boat from Libya to Italy. My dad, mom, sisters, brother, and I had to leave Libya because the houses were on fire and there were lots of guns and pistols. In my classroom is a foosball table. I love it! I hope to buy a big fancy car when I’m older.

Ahmadmalak, 11, Syria My dad is a photographer. He made pictures of the war. Lots of kids died when a bomb fell on our house. My mom is sick; she has cancer. She had a surgery in the Netherlands. I hope we will get our own house soon for my dad, mom, sister and me.

While most students at my school began their lives with a blank page and the whole world at their feet, the children at the asylum center had to leave their lives behind. Yet, regardless of their experiences, they are still children: children who lose their erasers; children who sharpen their pencils 6 times a day; children who love to joke with their teachers, disagree with each other, and to laugh and talk together. They are children who are eager to work hard and, in no time, learn a new language; children who have new hopes and beautiful dreams. These children are only looking for one thing - being a kid again!

JAN VAN DE VEN Berg en Beek Basisschool, St.-Anthonis, the Netherlands

Marian, 12, Afghanistan In Afghanistan there was a war going on.

That’s why we fled and also because my dad was injured during an attack. He was a BBC journalist. My dad, my sister and I share a room in a building of the asylum center. I dream of our own house where we can sit outside and eat together at the table.

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N AT U R E

Helping the Earth A

BY: LAUREN CHOJNACKI 5th grade Bailey Lake Elementary, Clarkston Schools

Polar Bears BY: CARALYN HASS 4th grade, Bailey Lake Elementary, Clarkston Schools

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ne problem that the world is facing today is global warming. There are many reasons why people should take it seriously. One of them is that the climate change is affecting the polar bears. We are losing polar bears quickly.

Polar bears’ drained-out-color fur is very thick and keeps their giant body warm so they can survive in the cold winter land.

They hunt for food - they eat seals - and it takes a lot of patients and time. Polar bears are normally independent. Mothers stay with

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lot of tragic things happen on Earth as a result of what we, human beings, do. The number of living animals and forests is dropping. We are making and throwing away a lot of trash. This may not sound very important, but it’s a huge thing because nature is part of the world. If you hurt it, it may never bloom again.

What can you do to help our world? Have a green thumb and help plants and animals. Don’t destroy plants for fun or any other reason. Animals are just like you and me, but shaped differently, furry, and eat food on the ground. Treat animals nicely and softly because they’re living things, too.

There are trash cans and recycling bins everywhere. They are two different things. Don’t throw away what can be recycled. You can save many natural resources by doing this. If you miss the bin with your trash, please go back and pick it up because it can fly in the wind and an animal might eat it and get sick. Help people when you get a chance. It’s just the nice thing to do. Be nice to others, animals, and nature.

their cubs until mothers think that cubs are ready to go out into the world by themselves. Polar bears spend more time in the sea than on land.

The global warming is making less time for polar bears to hunt seals because the ice needs to be frozen so they can walk and hunt seals and to not starve. So if it stays warm longer, there is less time and food polar bears get. This makes the polar bears lose 15 pounds.

The population on Hudson Bay, the second-largest bay in the world that is usually frozen over from mid-December to mid-June, has gone down more than 20 percent, because of temperature changes.

Scientists have worked really hard to find the solution to global warming. There is no one thing that can solve it. Every person in the world has to help.

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POEMS

An Image Of Peace BY: EMILY VALENCIA 4th grade, Bailey Lake Elementary Clarkston Schools

A shiny little lake, sand between your toes.

Fish having fun, and the cool wind blows.

Up with my finger, I spot something with my eye.

Some colorful seashells, at the shore is where they lie.

I pick them up, I examine them now. But one seashell is moving, my cat started to meow.

I picked it up and examined it some more.

Then everything turned silent,I wanted to explore.

I looked up, it looked so beautiful.

A shiny lake and geese flying in the distance, the sun shining bright and no clouds in the sky.

It felt so peaceful, I can say.

I have been so peaceful since that day.

BY: TIMOTHY O’DANIEL 8th grade, Clarkston Junior High School

The Eiffel Tower looming above The line extending, a snake at the tower’s base The tower, forever reaching for the sky.

My excitement draining, time in line drags slowly on The seconds as minutes, minutes as hours, an hour is eternity Finally it ends! The ascent is here!

My excitement grows the tower’s pattern spirals past We reach the top and I dash out the doors Onto the outer platform, leaving the elevator behind “Come on, come on,” I shot to my family I reach the railing and the world stops its spinning.

Paris is a sea, spreading away from me The Eiffel Tower, my island, and I am the ruler Not whipping winds, but a gentle breeze plays around me The sun smiles warmly down, it doesn’t burn My heart beats with the exhilaration of being so high Paris, a beauty a wonderful sight, creates feelings of happiness and joy and light.

The rooftops glisten in the shining morning dew The design of the city creates a colorful quilt of buildings Leonardo da Vinci couldn’t paint such beauty Pigeons are droplets of gray paint roosting The buildings united, they rise and fall in waves The rising sun backdrop paints everything glowing If only this moment would last forever.

But alas, as I turn around The sight is leaving, the end is found.

Back, back into the doors of dullness Down I go, back to the real world But forever I will remember that beautiful sight And know that we can be more than a darkening blight.

December 2015

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Register

FOOD

Foods from Japan BY: ANNABEL MALYS Independence Elementary, Clarkston Schools

J

apan has a lot of great foods. One food they enjoy to eat is sushi.

Sushi is raw fish served on rice seasoned lightly with vinegar. It’s in the variety of flavors and textures despite sushi’s lofty image, it has a humble origin.

In Japan, miso soup is as important food for breakfast as coffee. It’s a heavy soup of dashi, miso and tofu. It often includes a variety of vegetables, seafood and meat. A good miso soup balances ingredients that float with ingredients that sink.

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I N T E RV I E W

It’s Not About Me; It’s About Us Interview with Chris Turner Independence Elementary Principal, Clarkston Schools Mr. Chris Turner has been the principal at Independence Elementary in Clarkston since it opened seventeen years ago.

This is a school that I attended for the first six years of my K-12 journey. I am very grateful for the opportunity to go back to my elementary school and interview my former principal. - Emily Cabadas

BY: EMILY CABADAS 11th Grade Clarkston High School

What is your favorite memory of being a principal?

Every year brings great memories, but something I’ll remember forever was the process of getting Independence Elementary started, literally from the ground up. I was present at the groundbreaking ceremony in 1998, and was a part of the process of constructing the new building from the very beginning. I also had the opportunity to hire almost all of the staff members and help the school grow into what it is today. This has been a labor of love for me; just about everything at the school has had my hands on it.

It’s a good feeling when people say positive things about Independence; however, we’re always working to improve, and when there are problems, they’re mine as well.

Why is it important to nurture Global Awareness early in life?

With the development in technology that puts information at our fingertips, we are no longer an isolated community or state; we are part of a much larger picture. We want our students to learn this early on, and to develop a sense of empathy for how people live in other cultures. I believe this is an important characteristic for our young people to

December 2015

have. Even though we are only an elementary school, developing understanding and compassion in our students is very important.

“We

want our students to learn this early on, and to develop a sense of empathy for how people live in other cultures.”

that it’s not about me individually, it’s about me as a member of our community, our state, and our world. What’s most important is us. The importance of relationships, caring for others, empathy, and understanding, are what we want to teach our children. These dispositions often lead to a desire to make a difference in our world. This is where global competence happens - understanding global issues, such as running out of natural resources, and doing something about it. We try to develop a sense of interdependency and community beyond just ourselves.

What specifically do you do at Independence Elementary to nurture Global Awareness and Competence in children?

What are your views on Global Competence?

Lately I’ve become more concerned about an “all about me” attitude. “Selfies” are an example. Until recently it was rare to take a picture of yourself. The focus was on others.

When we become globally aware, we learn

We can think globally and act locally.

At Independence Elementary we’re very active with Academic Service Learning. Every teacher has been trained in strategies to incorporate Academic Service Learning projects into their curriculum. Our S.O.C.K.S (Serving our Community Kids’ Style) day provides every student an opportunity to be involved in a project that is focused on serving others and developing a sense of community beyond ourselves and our school.

Every activity or project is tied directly to curriculum standards. We place a high value on giving our students opportunities to serve others and get a sense of the impact they can have, even at a young age.

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A RT

Brigit Plancon, 4th Grade, Independence Elementary, Clarkston

Cameron Smith, 5th grade, Pine Tree Elementry, Lake Orion

Andrew Parker 4th grade, Orion Bank Elementry Lake Orion

Jilliana Lehman 4th Grade Independence Elementary, Clarkston

Laura Walch 5th grade, Pine Tree Elementry Lake Orion 8

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Brigit Plancon 4th Grade Independence Elementary, Clarkston www.KidsStandard.org

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Haley Campbell, 4th Grade, Independence Elementary, Clarkston

Megan McLain 5th Grade, BLE, Clarkston

Lauren Chojnacki 5th Grade BLE, Clarkston

Elizabeth Beem 6th Grade Waldon Middle School, Lake Orion

You don’t need any experience, just send us some work you are proud of.

This is your Magazine!

Submit your work via email to kids@kidsstandard.org Haley Campbell 4th Grade, Independence Elementary, Clarkston December 2015

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T R AV E L

Love Knows No Borders BY: HANNAH ROBERTSON 11th grade, Clarkston High School

A

t the age of fifteen, you would never really expect someone to ask you a simple but stumbling question, “Do you want to build a house...in another country?”

This past summer, building a house for a less fortunate family through the organization Project Mexico became what I decided to really do. On July 7th, at around 4:30am, I hopped on a plane with my mother and a few other close members of St. Mark Orthodox Church, in hopes to contribute to the world.

We stopped in San Diego, California, first.

There, the roads were paved and the houses hit higher than a mountain. People were happily biking, riding their mopeds, and walking. There were outdoor cafes and shops with windows fully open. This pleasant scenery had changed abruptly, however, as we began to cross over into Tijuana, Mexico. From the car, bouncing on roads made of dirt, all I could see out my window were miles upon miles of houses, stacked on one another and built on top of landfills. In disbelief, I watched numerous people sitting on the corners of streets pleading for pesos. It truly was a shocking sight to see, which kept bringing one word into my mind - poverty.

As we approached St. Innocent Orphanage, where we were staying for the week, I began to comprehend the setting. Not being able to contact anyone outside of Mexico was really nothing compared to a lack of other “conveniences” we took for granted. Noelle, the instructor for my group, explained how things around there worked: warm water was limited; toilets could not be flushed with toilet paper in them; there were no electric outlets and almost no indoor seating, except for the La Tienda, which means “The store” in Spanish.

Sleeping only in a sleeping bag, in a tent, every night and waking up to eat rice, beans, and tortillas in the morning, was the routine. Makeup or flat ironing my hair no longer applied while

in Mexico. What did apply, however, was teamwork and love.

It was more than a privilege to do this work with team members from other Orthodox churches around the United States. They traveled from many states to contribute to the same cause as I did, and I bonded with them like with no others. They became my best friends, if not my family, throughout this journey. I woke up with them, sat with them, ate with them, and worked with them.

Throughout the week, we continuously worked on the house. Day by day, it was a new step as harder work was required than a day before. Around day three, I met the family.

The mother's name was Karen, and her little girl, about 6 years old, was named Brisa. They helped us build their new house. During lunch breaks, I spent time getting to know Brisa and later would help her spread stucco around the house.

Stucco was made of concrete, dirt, and water. It was incredibly difficult to mix and usually required four people to rotate mixes. We had to smack the concrete to make the floor and contract the amount of air bubbles left behind to prevent cracking. Everything was done by hand; there was no electricity to guide us. So each day felt a lot rougher because we grew very tired. But we didn’t stop until the house was finished.

Standing in the house, holding the keys to the future of this family, and knowing how secure they would feel in the home which all thirty of us had built with every ounce of love we could give, was the most defining moment of my entire life. I had never felt more internal wonder than when I realized how my actions and my presence in the world had affected this family for the rest of their lives. It was while I was building a life for others that I was re-built into a more tolerant, loving, open-minded person.

Love knows no borders.

I had never felt more internal wonder than when I realized how my actions and my presence in the world had affected this family for the rest of their lives.

December 2015

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LIVING

My Lesson from Mexico BY: SARAH MAILLOUX 4th grade, Paint Creek Elementary, Lake Orion Schools

T

he year of 2009 was a very eventful year in my life. My dad came home one night with very big news: because of his job, there was a very important thing he had to do in a different part of the world, in Mexico.

And we had to come with him. We packed our bags, flew 2,074 miles, and landed in Saltillo, Mexico - a place which we would call our new home.

We knew that adjustment would take some time. My sister, brother, and I had to learn at least a little Spanish in order to go to school in Mexico. We kept our house in Michigan because we knew we would be

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coming back eventually. My dad told us it would be three years.

After two years, we had adjusted, made many friends, learned new things, and felt at home in Mexico. Then one day, when my mom was picking me up from school, I noticed that her eyes were puffy and red. The first thing she did when she saw me was to hug me. Her grip was tight, and I could remember her whisper to me, “We’re moving back…”

This was very sudden to us. It had only been two years; we expected three. We had two days to pack up and leave Mexico.

The reason we moved was because the

area where we lived had gotten very dangerous. My dad and his company decided that it wasn’t safe for us anymore there.

We arrived back to Michigan, to our old house. Everything was different and strange. We had to adjust again. So much had changed, we had changed, but after a while, it felt like home.

Living in a different country was an important experience (sometimes I wish we stayed for the last year) because it has taught me how to adjust. Unexpected things happen in life; I know now that no matter where I am, I can make the best of every situation.

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We Can Change the

World

T

BY: MALAYA MOJICA 5th grade, Bailey Lake Elementary, Clarkston Schools

here have been too many frightful events around the world lately. These events cause people to feel scared. I strongly believe that many people who do bad things, act this way because they want to make others feel afraid. And this is what bullying does. Maybe they grew up as bullies, or they have been bullied and want to let others feel how they felt, but it’s all about creating fear. This is why I think bullying in all its forms is a big problem in our world and we all need to step in to stop it.

Bullying might not seem that serious, but it impacts someone’s life. There are many ways that bullying can hurt a person. It can bring a person’s confidence level down, hurt their feelings, or even cause physical pain. Being bullied can prevent people from accomplishing certain goals they might have achieved, had it not started. It makes people live in fear. Bullying can be on the internet, at school, home and basically anywhere. That is why it is especially dangerous.

Bystanders are those who are watching people being mistreated but aren’t doing anything about it. Usually, in most bullying cases, there are bystanders involved. If you happen to be a bystander yourself, you should stop being a bystander by befriending and standing up for the victim and telling a trusted adult.

If you’re being bullied, you should always tell a trusted adult and, if you can, ignore the bully. Bullies aren’t doing anything that can make them successful in life. Instead, they are negatively impacting your life and theirs.

If you are a bully, you don’t have to stay a bully. Everyone deserves a second chance. You can stop bullying and apologize to the person or people that you have bullied. Just because someone did something wrong, it doesn’t mean that he or she is a bad person.

If a bully wants to change, forgive him or her.

Peace starts where we are. We can choose to stand up for those who need help and forgive those who hurt us. If you see someone being bullied, have been bullied yourself, and especially if you have ever been a bully, help stop the pain. We can change the world if we have the will.

December 2015

Peace starts where we are. We can choose to stand up for those who need help and forgive those who hurt us.

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MINDFULNESS

KINDNESS

Leads to Peace BY: ELLA CADY 5th grade, Pine Knob Elementary Clarkston Schools

W

hat is kindness? Kindness, like peace, can be really hard to find these days.

People think kindness is not important, but one act of kindness can make someone's entire day and lead to friendships and understanding.

Kindness can means different things to different people. Some people believe that kindness is about being nice to

people and not judging. Others think kindness means helping people in different ways. I believe it is about both caring and acceptance.

Kindness creates confidence because if someone says something nice about you, you will feel appreciated and confident.

That compliment makes you feel good about yourself and the world around you. Kindness not only helps you, but it helps others feel good about themselves, too. When people feel good with each other, there is peace.

Kind words cost nothing; yet they accomplish many things. Be kind!

STRONG AND KIND BY: MIKAYLA ROGER 5th grade, Blanche Sims Elementary, Lake Orion Schools

W

hen people treat other people poorly because they look differently or believe in different things, our world doesn’t know peace. Years ago, people with light skin treated people with dark skin like a lopsided, cracked lollipop. They treated them like they were different from everyone else, like they were worse than them. That wasn’t true.

Rosa Parks had dark skin, and she was tired of being treated poorly. One day she sat on a bus, when the driver and a man with light skin came to her. “This man needs your seat,” the driver said. They thought light skinned people should get better seating on the bus. “No!” Rosa said, arguing that she was not in a seat reserved for whites. When Mrs. Parks defied this order, the police came and took her away.

On that day she stood up for herself and people like her. She took a stand. Ruby Bridges was a young girl who became the first dark skinned student to attend a school for kids with light skin as part of a special program. Judge ordered that she should go to this school. Two men walked in with her into the school because light skinned people were angry and screamed at her. They did not want her coming to their school. A crowd of people stood yelling, but Ruby walked

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on and did not say a word. Every day there would be someone saying bad things to her. One day while walking into the school, Ruby stopped. Her teacher saw her out the window. “What is she doing?”

Ruby’s teacher thought. When Ruby finally came into the school, her teacher asked, “Why did you stop?” “I was praying for those people in the crowd,” Ruby replied. Ruby did the right thing. She prayed for those people who were unkind to her and did not say anything to them.

Does it matter if one’s skin is dark or light? Does it matter how one looks? We all are people. Rosa Parks and Ruby Bridges stayed strong and showed kindness even though people were mean to them. World needs people who can stay strong even when it is hard and stay kind even when people are cruel. Be a Rosa. Be a Ruby.

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C O L L E G E VO I C E S

Going Global BY: SPENCER BUNTING Underwood International College University at Yonsei, Seoul Clarkston High School Graduate, Class of 2012

I

am a senior in Underwood International College, University at Yonsei, in South Korea. I major in International Studies and Political Science, planning to graduate in June of 2016. While studying in South Korea and Japan, I have met numerous students that attended long running International Baccalaureate (I.B.) international schools. I was impressed to find that many of these individuals were multilingual, possessing adaptive personalities, far reaching networks, and ambitious plans.

More often than not, these students referenced their experiences living abroad as the fundamental factor that enabled them to hone their language skills and grow their professional networks.

Although University-level education in the United States is superb, there is a plethora of excellent universities, which students interested in a global career should research and consider when submitting their college

applications: Underwood International College at Yonsei University, Scienes Po in France, Hong Kong University, and Australian National University, to name a few.

It might be somewhat intimidating to take this step, and I can relate to that. I have to say, however, that the once remarkably alien environment of Seoul has become remarkably familiar now that I better understand the Korean outlook on life, societal expectations, and the problems that arise therein.

What helped me most of all was the I.B. program at Clarkston High School. This intensive two-year program provided me with a balance of rigorous assessments and innovative challenges. During those two years, I was encouraged to rapidly update my problem solving methodology. More importantly, I found that I needed to seek insight into innumerable perspectives from which problems may be viewed. This set of skills is applicable to daily life.

When considering what learning opportunities could help prepare today’s students for a global marketplace, I would say that learning another language is a must. Schools need to increase the total number of languages offered and make proficiency in a foreign language a requirement to graduate. Though specific target languages are preferable, vast experience in most major

When considering what learning opportunities could help prepare today’s students for a global marketplace, I would say that learning another language is a must.

Schools need to increase the total number of languages offered and make proficiency in a foreign language a requirement to graduate. languages is quite useful. For instance, I struggled with learning Korean at first, but my five years of learning Spanish provided a solid foundation of language development, which has helped gradually improve my Korean proficiency.

I believe that each student has to have international exposure. Often, students put forth tremendous effort learning a second language during secondary school, only to squander this hard work by staying well within predominately English-speaking communities. Spending a semester or even a year abroad could yield serious benefits. Exchange programs could pave a path toward proficiency in students’ relevant second language, as well as provide the opportunity to explore the possibility of a professional future abroad.

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PA R E N T ’ S C O R N E R

The world is waiting! Kids learn to love what their parents love. If they are part of their parents’ love of travel, they will learn to appreciate it as well. Transatlantic flights? My kids behave better than many adults I’ve seen. A new means of transportation (bus, metro, tram) in new foreign countries they meet with excitement. They make fast friends with children who don’t speak their language. They start to regard the world as a whole, not as divisions of land, people, cultures, and languages.

The world becomes an ever-increasingly friendlier place the more one travels. I don’t ever want my children to feel that there’s a place where they can’t go or something they can’t do because it’s “different.” So why do we travel? Because I don’t want my children to fear the world. They belong to this world, and this world belongs to them!

THE WORLD IS

WAITING I

BY: KELLY TEAGUE Parent Bailey Lake Elementary Clarkston Schools

was recently asked by another parent why international travel is important to our family of four. Aren’t our children, ages 7 and 10, too young to appreciate different cultures, languages, art, and food?

I think these are things that one can enjoy regardless of age. But to be really honest about why we travel with our young children, I have to say that it’s to teach them to not be afraid. Not be afraid of differences: people who look, talk and dress differently than we do; cities that are overcrowded and

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run on confusing transit systems; food that may sound familiar on a menu, but look and taste altogether different; words and sounds that are completely incoherent to our English-accustomed ears.

To truly travel— to become a traveler, not just a tourist—one must verge outside of his or her comfort zone. Yes, we’ve been approached by haggard, toothless beggars in Italy; yes, we’ve had half of our group miss a metro stop in Paris, thereby splitting our party in two at rush hour across the city.

And yes, these experiences have proven to our children that they can handle it. They can manage when things go wrong or seem frightening. These experiences helped them acquire the skills they will need to go off on their own one day and explore this great, beautiful world.

The world becomes an ever-increasingly friendlier place the more one travels. One starts to regard the world as a whole, not as divisions of land, people, cultures, and languages.

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E D U C AT O R S

Creatures of Habit or Creatures of our Habitat?

BY: JESSICA CLELAND Language Arts Teacher Clarkston Junior High School

M

ost of us are creatures of habit. We are engrossed in our daily lives, and the consistency of going through familiar motions can be somewhat comforting. I will be the first to admit that for a long time my daily life has been predictable - little interruption, little disruption. Ralph Fletcher, educator, author, and writing guru challenged me to see my life and the world with a wider lens, all through a simple suggestion, “Live a writer’s wide awake life.”

This got me thinking about my role as an educator as well. How many of my students are creatures of habit? Most likely, they, like me, are comfortable with going through the motions of life. How can I help students wake up? How can I help them widen their lens, not only of their own world, but their lens of the global world to which they belong?

I reached out to a friend, the Head of Olympia Schools in Vietnam. Together, we made a goal to connect our classrooms, and

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as a result, each of my classrooms is now globally connected.

Global Connections Through Google Classroom. My 9th grade Language Arts class is currently connected to 9th grade students at Olympia Schools. By using Google Classroom as a common place to offer shared learning experiences, both teachers have the ability to guide and invite interactive student conversations by posting assignments and questions. Students ask questions, respond to each other’s writing, and read and review resources related to both of our grade level curriculums.

Students are sharing their thinking with one another about their lives, cultures, and global issues.

Global Connections Through Google Docs & Digital Storytelling. Students in one of my 8th grade classes are working to capture and tell another person’s story. They dig deep for reasons this person’s story matters, connect it to what the bigger human story might be, and finally recognize how stories of others can help them learn about themselves and their place in the world. To achieve this, they are interviewing 4th grade students from Clarkston, Vietnam, and China via Google Docs, and then using this information to create a digital storytelling project that will showcase the stories. These projects will be shared with all classes involved.

Pen Pal Global Connections Through Google Docs and Blogger. My two 8th grade classes are exchanging communications with 8th grade students in Vietnam. They are sharing information about themselves and their culture through Google Docs and Blogger. This brief excerpt from a Google Doc sums up the excitement of their exchanges: HI! I was so excited when I saw your response! I was

in math and I saw this, I was like, I HAVE to read it now! I love to shoot hoops….Also, don’t worry, I do not like parsley either. Mac and cheese is the best! I had it for dinner last night;) And I have so much from bath and body works too!!! I love the Beautiful Day scent. So, what is school like for you?

Bye! -Maddie Hi Maddie!

I was in Math when I saw your response, too.

Sorry that I didn’t reply to you sooner.

Beautiful Day is my favorite scent, too. It smells so good! School is quite interesting in my opinion. I have a tons of friends and they help me a lot! I think we should talk more but it is not convenient to chat on Google Drive. I hope that we will be BFF =)) Bye! =Thuy Trang= My hope is that through these class-toclass global connections, students will expand their cultural awareness, widen their global lens, engage others in conversation about global issues, and become agents of change in the world. I hope that they will no longer be creatures of habit in their lives and classrooms, but wide-awake creatures of our mutual habitat. As their teacher, I will soon interrupt my daily teaching routine to travel to Vietnam and to present my students’ learning story at an International Conference on Blended Learning and Innovative Teaching.

Imagine what knowledge and “disruptive” ideas I might bring back!

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PEOPLE WE ADMIRE

Role Models

BY: KEIRA TOLMIE 5th grade, Pine Knob Elementary, Clarkston Schools

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ur world needs positive role models. Role models are people whose actions and behaviors set good examples for others to follow. They give kids and adults someone or something to dream and live up to. Not only do these people let us see the good in the world but they also help us become good human beings by teaching us how to act and how to be the best we can be.

I am fortunate to have a large family with 40 cousins who are older than me. Over the years, they have been my inspiration to become kind, hard working, and accepting as they are. One of my cousins, Dr. Greg Tolmie, is the role model that every child

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should have. Greg grew up in Ontario, Canada, and attended the University of Western Ontario for his undergraduate education. Then he continued on to receive a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree. “He graduated at the top of his dental class as the gold medalist in dentistry” (www.tolmieortho.

Role models are people whose behavior helps you paint the picture of who you want to be yourself. com). He opened his own practice,Tolmie Orthodontics, right out of school.

Greg helped guide me toward my dream job: an anesthesiologist. I chose this profession because anesthesiology relieves pain.

He showed me how wonderful working

within the healthcare field can be. When I came to his office, I was amazed that he had the opportunity to help people every day.

From then on, I knew right away what I wanted to do.

Greg is one of the major inspirations in my life. He has given me the drive to persevere and grow into the best person I can be. Since I have been given this opportunity to have someone to look up to, I truly believe that all kids deserve to have a role model like my cousin Greg.

Role models are people whose behavior helps you paint the picture of who you want to be yourself. To this extent, having a role model is the best way to find what inspires you and helps you set your future goals. A role model doesn’t have to be someone in your family; it can be anyone who inspires you to grow. If all people are pushed to succeed, we could live in a happier world.

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E D U C AT O R S

After Paris,

A Different Kind of Global Education

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Thom Markham CEO, PBL Global

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ith the event in Paris, something’s changed in our world. It’s not as if we and our children don’t know about terrorism, or refugees, or the general level of chaos permeating the landscape of politics, economics, technology, and social and family relationships. But something has changed.

There’s a sudden, strong whiff of hate and fear in the wind.

The first lesson for any teacher is that hate and fear are the enemies of learning. Beliefs limit and narrow perspectives. When fear wells up in the body, passes through the heart, and travels to the hindbrain, the brain responds by swiftly focusing on survival, not creative response. The resulting isolation is not brain-friendly—it leads to a hardening of the pathways of antagonism, difference, and eventual violence, and to abandonment of another fundamental of learning, joy.

Education doesn’t mix well with politics, but beyond politics and the domain of honest argument

lies the sacred territory of human connection. That connection is now being tested.

What to do, as a teacher?

In these days, it is necessary to step outside the bounds of education and look for guidance. Each of us must look in the direction that suits us, but kind and forgiving words abound, in every religion and philosophy. For example, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, teacher, and author Thich Nhat Hanh has written of the “morality of belonging,” in which the highest moral good in a global world is to embrace one another.

In fact, there is no other choice possible now. The route of difference and division in a globe shrinking by the minute will be a disaster—and that is not the world we wish to leave to our students.

Establishing a global circle of care should be the fundamental, passionate, non-negotiable response of every teacher to the news.

Another, more operational, choice can back up this commitment in the classroom. Continue to invest in building the skills and knowledge necessary to craft the world anew by teaching science, social studies, writing and reading, and other fundamentals necessary to live and act well. But focus as well—or perhaps commit to a higher and more pronounced focus—on those qualities that make us uniquely human and are equally necessary to overcome the natural animosities of our tribal past.

Treat emotional skills as real skills, not ‘soft’ skills.

Highlight and impress on students the traits that can lead us out of a wilderness: empathy, inspiration, creativity and sensitivity.

Be aware, also, that the economic measurements and data driven ideas that underlie the present work in classrooms, while useful in many ways, will not save us. Belonging and caring do not arise because one is better educated or holds a higher degree. Like all morality, those qualities come from the generation that leads the learning for the younger generation. There has always been a particular responsibility for teachers to help maintain and further the social good, but the responsibility weighs heavier now. It’s time to practice, preach, and teach the “morality of belonging.”

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PA R E N T ’ S C O R N E R

From the President

A

Maggie Razdar Publisher/Founder

December 2015

s we are coming to end of 2015, It gives me a great pleasure to be founder of an organization that is providing a platform for students, parents, and teachers as well as professionals, to showcase and share their writing through critical thinking and creativity.

I just wanted to say how truly grateful I am for your participation with submissions and readership.

And let me say one last time, thank you! Thank you! Thank you for all of your help making our magazine such a huge success!

I thank all of our directors, volunteers, parents, mentor students and teachers that inspire and motivate their kids in creativity and critical thinking and making their lives more meaningful!

From Kids Standard: Wish you Warm of joy, glow of prosperity, Sparkle of happiness……… May you be blessed with all these and more!!

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