PROJECT IDEA EXCHANGE "PIE" MONTHLY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 2: NO. 7 May 2003 http://pie.mcvts.net PROGRAM OF THE MONTH    Elina Khmyrova of Secondary School #3 of Rasskasovo, Tambov Region, Russia wishes to share the School Pen Pal Club called  “Yellow Submarine.” In fact, the club is much more than a school program; it is a truly “family” effort. The co-leaders of the club are Elina’s mother, Antonina, and her sister Helena. The original concept for the club dates back to the early 1990’s with an idea of Antonina Khmyrova. As a foreign language teacher, she searched for an effect approach to better serve her students. Antonina’s daughters, Elina and Helena, also teachers, joined in the club effort that now serves fifty students, ages 10 to 17, in three schools in Rasskasovo.    The concept of the School Pen Pal Club is to have students actively apply their foreign language studies in order to further improve and develop their communications skills. But improving language skills is not the only goal of “Yellow Submarine.” To best understand one of the real values of the Pen Pal Club, allow me to quote directly from the club’s website. “Nowadays it is practically impossible to view the pen pal project without teaching tolerance, especially these days it is important to raise the new generation of teenagers on the principles of critical thinking and tolerance toward other nations and cultures. Children are easily influenced by political rhetoric and it is important to help them form independent, well-thought opinions on their own.”     “Yellow Submarine” is now in it’s tenth year. Communications, using snail mail or email, are conducted in English, German or Russian. Letter exchanges have taken place with partner schools in Scotland, Canada and South Africa and several other countries have expressed interest in joining this exciting educational program The “Yellow Submarine” School Pen Pal Club has it’s own website (www.tambov.fio.ru/vjpusk/vjp048/rabot/40/index.html). Take the opportunity and visit this exciting website. You will quickly discover that the club is more than simply a written communications site. A history of the Pen Pal Club and some wonderful pictures highlight the website. If you wish to contact Elina Khmyrova, she can be emailed at heli@tmb.ru. I hope, that like my students and I, you will get involved with “Yellow Submarine.” I am positive that you will be extremely satisfied. MEMBER NEWS    Project Idea Exchange is proud to welcome the following new members to its steady growing worldwide membership. Araki Tamao: Teacher of Advanced Reading Miyazaki Prefectural Nursing University Miyazaki, Japan Momoyo Araki: Teacher of English and Oral Communications Narutaki High School Nagasaki, Japan PIE members can now be found in 26 countries on six continents. Please feel free to share PIE will fellow educators and supporters of education. Thank you for your continued involvement. You are what makes PIE an effect international educational program. PIE "TIP OF THE MONTH"    Unfortunately the world continues to face numerous health related issues. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, more commonly known as SARS, is one of those issues. To learn more about SARS, visit www.sarswatch.org to access the latest information. The “SARS Watch” website is very useful friendly and is both text and graph oriented. The information will provide the user with the most recent updates as well often by providing links to various governmental health organizations. One such link will take the user directly to the United States Center of Disease Control (CDC) page on SARS that provides links a tremendous wealth of valuable information. Whether you are someone who wishes to stay current on the SARS situation or are seeking a data source for their students or their own educational investigations, www.sarswatch.org is a site that is too valuable to ignore. DIRECTOR'S NOTES   Time; a word that all dedicated educators usually wish they had more of. If you are short of time, short of resources and short on ideas, you might be able to save yourself some valuable time by taking a few minutes and visit the MESSAGE FORUM on the PIE website (http://pie.mcvts.net). For example, take a look at the GENERAL DISCUSSION page and read about “Peace and Respect in Shaogun, China,” posted by John Wu. Visit any of the other pages and explore the included websites suggestions. The MESSAGE FORUM is a great spot for you to not only learn about other projects, it is a wonderful place to post your projects, your concerns, and other information that will benefit PIE members and their students on a global basis. Please feel free to post your own website suggestions. Also, if you have a program of activity that you would like to share, please email me (reade@mail.mcvts.net or erreadiii@aol.com) so that I can feature your efforts in a future PIE NEWSLETTER. To Everyone, Be Happy, Well and Safe! Ernie Read/PIE Director