PROJECT IDEA EXCHANGE “PIE” MONTHLY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: NO. 2 DECEMBER 2002 www.mcvts.net/pie PROGRAM OF THE MONTH The PROGRAM OF THE MONTH section is designed to share educational programs with other PIE members. All members are always encouraged to post their programs on the PIE website and to email those programs to me (reade@mail.mcvts.net) in order to be published in the PIE NEWSLETTER.  One such PIE member is Ammishaddai Boateng of Ghana. Ammishaddai is an active PIE member who has been involved in not only text, but also photo exchanges with some of my students. The following is Ammmishaddai’s description and invitation to join the pen pal project of his school. We are happy to have you on our pen pal project. Our school, Faith Community Baptist School, was established in 1989 by Rev. Dr. John Mensah Oduro, who had his education in the United States of America. The school was started with 2 pupils and had grown to a student population of 1200. It now has a nursery, primary, Junior and Senior Secondary Departments. We hope to start a University College by next year. This school is a Christian institution and the Word of God is taught to the pupils. There is a strong emphasis on Christian principles and character in the school. The school is situated at Madina, a suburb of Accra. It is about 7 kilometres from the airport. The school has a football park, a basketball court. Unfortunately the football field has no grass, but we hope to grow grass on it next year. We do have games on Friday afternoons. The usually games are football (Soccer), volleyball, and basketball. The primary school has 12 classrooms. Each class has about 40 pupils. The primary is from classes 1 to 6. The average age in class 1 is 5 years and that of primary 6 is 11 years. The pupils in the primary classes study subjects like English, French, Math, Science, History, Computer Studies and Religious Studies. Each class has its own teacher and the teacher teaches all the subject except a few like computer studies, French, music, art, which are taught by different teachers. The Junior Secondary School is housed in one story building. It is made up of six classrooms. The average number of pupils in a class is 48. The Senior Secondary School was started in 1997. It has 450 students. In both the Junior and Senior Secondary School, each subject is taught by a different teacher. We came back from holidays a few weeks ago and we have started getting ready to exchange mails with you. We can send mails both by post and by email. We would like to tell you about the culture of this country, our educational system and learn more about information technology. We would love to exchange post cards, photo and any other materials. We hope that one day you can visit us in this country to learn at first hand what you see and read from us and if possible do some voluntary work here. I hope to hear from you soon. Yours truly, Ammishaddai Boateng ammi006@epals.com fcbs@ghana.com FAITH COMMUNITY BAPTIST SCHOOL P O BOX 9288 AIRPORT-ACCRA GHANA To arrange a pen pal partnership with the FAITH COMMUNITY BAPTIST SCHOOL, please contact Ammishaddi Boateng. Also, if you have program or idea that you wish to share, contact Ernie Read (PIE Director) at reade@mail.mcvts.net or erreadiii@aol.com. MEMBER NEWS PROJECT IDEA EXCHANGE is proud to welcome the following new members to its steady growing worldwide membership: Ahmed Chouari; Lycee de Reference, Teacher of English Meknes, Morocco Danica Krapez; OS Dobravlje, Teacher Dobravlje, Slovenia PIE members can now be found in twenty-five countries on six continents. Please share PIE with others and encourage them to join. Hopefully, an updated version of the PIE Membership will soon be posted. I apologize for the delay. There are current technical problems with the MEMBERSHIP LISTING and APPLICATION pages of the PIE website. For detailed information describing every new PIE members, including their email addressees, and for the full membership listing, please access the PIE website at www.mcvts.net/pie or http://pie.mcvts.net and click on MEMBERSHIP LISTING once the problems have been  successfully addressed. PIE “TIP OF THE MONTH” Are you interested in creating a program that truly engages students? If you answer yes, you truly need to make contact with Senovia Robles Cruz of the Edward J. Patten School; Perth Amboy, New Jersey, USA (senovia_cruz@yahoo.com). Senovia has created and implemented an educational program, much of it conducted on Saturdays, that encourages students and community members to get involved in various areas of interest. Students have the opportunity to videoconference with students in the Caribbean region of North America. With the support of outside funding, Senovia arranges student exchange programs for her students to help them achieve a deeper understanding and appreciation of the cultures and experiences of their student counterparts. I have the pleasure and honor to work with Senovia on educational issues in our state. She is an extremely talented and dedicated professional who would genuinely enjoy sharing her experiences and program with you. To learn more about her imaginative efforts, email Senovia at senovia_cruz@yahoo.com. DIRECTOR’S NOTES As 2002 draws to a close, may I take this occasion to extend my heartfelt best wishes to everyone associated with PROJECT IDEA EXCHANGE. In some regions of our world, 2002 has been the best of times; in other areas, the worst of times. No matter how you mark this time of year, please continue and rededicate your efforts to help others better understand the value and vital necessity of world peace by means of international cooperation. May the New Year bring you and everyone dear to you the peace and happiness that we all desire. Be Safe, Happy and Well! Ernie Read/PIE Director