Hello Club Acorn friends and family! I can't believe it, but my first month as Director of Club Acorn has already flown by. A lot has changed over the last several weeks, all helping Club Acorn to grow and become an important member of the Boca-Barracas community.
One of the most exciting developments is the addition of several new classes. For our kids, we have introduced Nutrition and Cooking, which involves a lesson on good-for-you food, as well as a cooking project, in which the students actually create a healthy merienda for the day. We have had a computer donated to the center, and are introducing a Computacion class to utilize the machine. We also have added Reading and Writing in Español for adults who have not previously learned how to read and write in Spanish.
Additionally, our Theater and English classes are still going strong. Sadly, our Dance teacher has left Buenos Aires. If anyone is or knows another person who is interested in taking over the Dance class, please do let me know!
Another development at the center includes the introduction of the color-coded identification card system. Each student has a card with his or her name on it. To encourage good behavior, they have the opportunity to earn points for the days they have behaved well. Once they reach 15 points, they may trade in the card for a prize. Once the first card has been completed, they graduate to the next color. We are working hard at Level One Blue, and soon enough, we'll have some students at Level Two Red!
As we head into Winter, everyone at Club Acorn is bundled up and ready to go! We have a few new twists in the works, including a field trip to the Zoo and an in-center concert. The volunteers and I are constantly brainstorming ideas to introduce new projects and lessons to the center, but as we all know, the more brains, the better! If anyone has any input, please do contact us. We appreciate all of the contributions!
In the meantime, stay tuned for more words from Club Acorn! Mucha suerte!!!!
Besos,
Lenore Matthew
Director Club Acorn Argentina
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Friday, May 2, 2008
Passing the Torch
First of all, apologies for not having updated the blog sooner- to be completely honest, we have had so much going on with Club ACORN we have not had time! We have a lot of wonderful and exciting new developments:
• We have hired a director, as Ali and I are unfortunately ending our time here in Argentina. However, we and Club ACORN feel extremely lucky to have found Lenore, an energetic young woman from San Francisco who is not only amazing with the kids but understands the importance of community and wants to not only keep the program going but help it to grow.
• We have found new friends in BA Pub Crawl! On Friday, April 25, 2008, they held a benefit fundraiser for Club ACORN and gave us 50% of all their profits. Thanks again to the hard work of our volunteers and supporters, the event was a huge success and we have funds to keep going for a couple more months.
• We also held a parents meeting last week to formally say our goodbyes and officially welcome Lenore into Club ACORN. It was truly an amazing way to say goodbye- we had one mother tell Ali and I “no hay palabras”, (there are no words) for what this center has meant for her and her son. That was all we needed to push us to bring this home to the states and stay involved from there- something we will be doing by starting to work to gain legal NGO status for Club ACORN and by having Ali and I remain on the board of directors- checking in monthly with our director here in Argentina.
• Lastly, as always, where would we be without our volunteers? They truly amaze us every day. We were going to have to shut down the center next week due to overlapping travels- Ali, myself and Lenore are all back in the States at the same time- but one of our volunteers stepped up as an substitute director for the next week to keep the center going. Another volunteer collected cell phones from his abroad program to donate to the center. Another volunteer organized a resume workshop for adults. We feel lucky to have had the chance to meet and work with all these caring and hardworking people- we can never thank them enough.
Sadly, this may be the last blog entry from Ali and myself for a while- but let us just say that we are so grateful for all that Club ACORN has done for us- as we told the parents at the parent meeting, Club ACORN has made us feel like we had a home here in Argentina, and we cannot imagine not coming back to see it. We are sad to go, but at the same time extremely excited for the future of this project- thank you to all who have helped our dream become a reality.
Con carino, Sara Gips y Ali Morris
• We have hired a director, as Ali and I are unfortunately ending our time here in Argentina. However, we and Club ACORN feel extremely lucky to have found Lenore, an energetic young woman from San Francisco who is not only amazing with the kids but understands the importance of community and wants to not only keep the program going but help it to grow.
• We have found new friends in BA Pub Crawl! On Friday, April 25, 2008, they held a benefit fundraiser for Club ACORN and gave us 50% of all their profits. Thanks again to the hard work of our volunteers and supporters, the event was a huge success and we have funds to keep going for a couple more months.
• We also held a parents meeting last week to formally say our goodbyes and officially welcome Lenore into Club ACORN. It was truly an amazing way to say goodbye- we had one mother tell Ali and I “no hay palabras”, (there are no words) for what this center has meant for her and her son. That was all we needed to push us to bring this home to the states and stay involved from there- something we will be doing by starting to work to gain legal NGO status for Club ACORN and by having Ali and I remain on the board of directors- checking in monthly with our director here in Argentina.
• Lastly, as always, where would we be without our volunteers? They truly amaze us every day. We were going to have to shut down the center next week due to overlapping travels- Ali, myself and Lenore are all back in the States at the same time- but one of our volunteers stepped up as an substitute director for the next week to keep the center going. Another volunteer collected cell phones from his abroad program to donate to the center. Another volunteer organized a resume workshop for adults. We feel lucky to have had the chance to meet and work with all these caring and hardworking people- we can never thank them enough.
Sadly, this may be the last blog entry from Ali and myself for a while- but let us just say that we are so grateful for all that Club ACORN has done for us- as we told the parents at the parent meeting, Club ACORN has made us feel like we had a home here in Argentina, and we cannot imagine not coming back to see it. We are sad to go, but at the same time extremely excited for the future of this project- thank you to all who have helped our dream become a reality.
Con carino, Sara Gips y Ali Morris
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