A Fun Day at YMCA
By Teni-Ola Ogunjobi & Damakant Jayshi
It was yet another day of immense fun for students of Global Village Project at the Decatur Family YMCA. On September 16, the Decatur Family YMCA’s staff, board members, and volunteers hosted GVP students at its Welcome Week kick-off event.
The event celebrated the 160th year of YMCA of Metropolitan Atlanta and brought together YMCA community members, immigrants, refugees, and native-born residents to raise awareness of the importance of welcoming everyone. GVP girls received YMCA goodies and the school received a generous donation of school supplies and hygiene products for distribution through the year.
GVP was connected with the Decatur Family YMCA in 2016 through our Mentor Coordinator, Michelle Kuperman, who was a Board member at the YMCA at the time. After the very first meeting, Jan Lauten, the Executive Director at Decatur YMCA, expressed that she was eager to support students and the school, and the partnership grew from there.
The YMCA has provided the school with fitness classes and our students with summer camp scholarships and experiences. Most recently the Decatur YMCA chose GVP as the beneficiary of their anniversary volunteer service day.
This summer, a group of GVP students went to YMCA High Harbour overnight camp. The girls that went there had not ever done anything like this before and would not have been able to experience anything like this without the generous scholarships provided by the Decatur Family YMCA. It was an invaluable and memorable experience for the girls and was something GVP would not have been able to offer without our YMCA partners, according to our Head of School, Dr. Amy Pelissero. “Our collaboration allows us to join together to create a bigger impact in our community and dream a better world, one girl at a time.”
Jan Lauten, Executive Director at the Decatur Family YMCA, remembers how it all started three years ago. In the beginning, only a few girls went to YMCA events. After seeing the girls having so much fun at the facility, Ms. Lauten helped organize swimming lessons, day camp and overnight camp.
“It was probably the most fun thing I have done in the 20 years I have been at the YMCA,” said Ms. Lauten, referring to the Welcome Week celebration. "I hope our partnership with GVP will go on forever."
|
|
October 16
Atlanta Girls School Mixer
9AM
October 18
Trip to High Museum
12:30PM to 3:30PM
All Forms
October 18
Volunteer Training (Session 2): Cultural Orientation
MANDATORY FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS/SERVICE MEMBERS
1:00-2:30PM
RSVP HERE
October 20
Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences
9:30AM-12:30PM
October 23
Volunteer Training (Session 3): Trauma Training by Center for Victims of Torture
MANDATORY FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS/SERVICE MEMBERS
2:00-3:30PM
RSVP HERE
October 25
Trip to High Museum
12:30PM to 3:30PM
All Forms
November 1
Trip to High Museum
12:30PM to 3:30PM
All Forms
November 3
GVP Welcome Walk
10AM-12PM
(Check-In starts at (9:15AM)
REGISTER HERE
DeKalb County School District 2018-2019 schedule
|
|
|
Please join us for our 6th Annual Global Village Welcome Walk on November 3rd, 2018!
Each year our annual walk brings together our students and families, partners, sponsors, and new and old friends to celebrate our community. This year is particularly special, as we celebrate Global Village Project's 10-Year Anniversary! We will be raising our voices in celebration of the diversity of our community and the refugee young women of GVP who are emerging as local leaders.
When we unite in educating young women who, with their families, have survived political persecution, conflict and often war-torn journeys to the U.S., we know we are showcasing the best that our community has to offer. This year we hope to have a big crowd to come out for the Global Village Welcome Walk - we hope that you will be there too!
|
|
|
There are other ways you can get involved in our Walk! Are you willing to set up a personal fundraising page so that your friends and family around the country can support you at the walk?
Sponsors, partner organizations, and personal fundraising instructions can all be found on the Welcome Walk website: http://bit.ly/welcomewalk2018
|
|
|
GVP@10: RAISING OUR VOICES
|
|
|
|
Ehsoe Moo: A Story of Hope and Inspiration
By Elise Witt, GVP Artist-in-Residence
Ehsoe Moo’s story is one of hope and inspiration.
When Ehsoe arrived at Global Village Project, she said. “I had no idea what to learn, what to study. And my English was so bad! I could just say ‘My name is…,’ and that’s about it!” She was brought to GVP by another student, Lin Lin, who lived in the apartment next door. When they met, Lin Lin told Ehsoe, “Oh you will want to go to the school where I went,” and they called Ms. Suzie Jacobs, one of GVP’s founders, to make it a reality. Little did Ehsoe know that just a few years later she would be at Furman University in South Carolina, studying music.
Before coming to the US, Ehsoe’s family lived in a refugee camp in Thailand. There, Ehsoe had piano lessons for almost a year. She had to pay for the daily lessons and walk very far. A few months after she started school at GVP, Ehsoe’s talent on the piano was recognized and she began taking lessons with Robbin Marcus, a GVP volunteer and professional piano teacher. Robbin became Ehsoe’s mentor as well, giving Ehsoe piano lessons and helping her with every single thing. “She is part of my family!” says Ehsoe.
After GVP, Ehsoe, along with fellow GVP student Glory Shay (of the same Karen ethnic group in their homeland of Burma), was accepted at the Academe of the Oaks, the Waldorff High School in Decatur, with a full-tuition scholarship. The first year was very hard, not knowing anyone, but she began singing with the Academe Choir and Academe Singers who presented concerts in hospitals and schools around the community. Joining the music groups helped her find her place among the students and family of the Academe. Meanwhile, she continued her piano lessons with Robbin. “By the time I graduated, I really felt like part of that community.” Robbin says she saw Ehsoe "work harder to succeed at the Academe than I even thought was possible."
Now she has begun her first year at Furman University in Greenville, SC. Like her first year at GVP, and again at the Academe, she is having to start over, meet new people, and for a shy person, it can be very challenging. She says it’s starting to get better now, and she is excited about meeting a fellow student Falang Chin, also from Ehsoe’s homeland. Her new friend’s father has been a pastor in Greenville since 2007, and the family is helping Ehsoe feel more at home in their church and in her new home in South Carolina.
When asked about her favorite memory of GVP, she replies, “There are so many things I like about GVP, it is hard to choose just one.” A standout memory is a trip to Ms. Alex Pearson’s farm. She remembers picking leaves of wild plants along with fellow Karen girls and telling the Americans who didn’t know what they were, “We eat these.”
Ehsoe adds that GVP provided a really good, supportive, understanding and safe community. Of course, Ehsoe’s best memory of GVP is the people - the teachers, students, staff, and volunteers. "My GVP music teacher Ms. Elise is the best music teacher ever! I love singing with her because she always puts a smile on her face whenever we sing together and it makes me more comfortable and not be scared when we have to sing on the stage."
Like most GVP alumnae, Ehsoe is still in contact with the friends she made at GVP, even though they are now spread far and wide, pursuing their dreams that were nurtured at GVP.
[More about Ehsoe Moo here: From Refugee Camp to the United States] |
|
|
GVP ENGAGEMENT: FUNDRAISING MENTORS
|
|
|
|
"GVP is now part of my life"
By Damakant Jayshi
Global Village Project Board member Natalie Huyghe wanted to do something more to support the school. An international business executive and humanitarian logistics specialist, Natalie joined GVP’s Board in 2013. She set up the Monday Literacy Workshop Volunteers and Hiking Friends to raise money for GVP's annual Welcome Walk. For the last two years, Natalie has used this strategy to increase support for GVP.
“I wanted to put something together for the Welcome Walk,” Natalie said in an interview, “that would engage the Monday Literacy Workshop volunteers and give my friends and family an opportunity to contribute to a cause close to my heart in an easy way.” She tries to engage everyone she knows – her family, friends, volunteers she works with at GVP, neighbors, and even her accountant and doctor. There are about 40 dedicated donors in the team.
Natalie has been happily surprised with the response her initiative has generated. Last year, one of the participants at the Walk approached her, committing to match the funds Natalie and her team would raise. An anonymous donor matched the $3,000 that was raised, totaling $6,000! This year, too, the donor has committed to match at least $2,000. Moments like these make the effort so special.
For Natalie, it all began in 2010, when she completed her second Master’s degree, in humanitarian logistics. After working for the American Red Cross for a few years, she left for Hong Kong, where she lived for three years. There she got involved in raising funds for local charities. That spirit of supporting nonprofits has only grown stronger.
When Natalie returned to Atlanta in 2013, she looked to continue to be involved in a grassroots organization where she could make a direct impact. Ellen Dotts, the GVP Board chairperson, asked her to join the GVP Board. She did, and has been serving on the Board and volunteering at GVP ever since. She is also a mentor to Mu Ku, now one of the GVP alumnae. “It’s very rewarding,” says Natalie, about her engagement with the school. “Because it is a small organization, you can see the impact of your efforts.”
Natalie’s second and last term as GVP Board member ends in 2019. When asked whether she’d still continue to engage with GVP, her reply deeply touched us: “GVP is part of my life now. There’s no reason not to.”
|
|
|
Nurturing Sustainable Support
By Damakant Jayshi
Michelle Kuperman has taken the role of Global Village Project’s Mentoring Coordinator ever since the program was launched.
The idea came up after GVP's first students were about to graduate in 2011 as everyone began thinking of the challenges the girls would face when navigating the school system. Michelle recalls that it was Julia Levy, then a Board member, who asked this question of the 10 or so volunteers at the time. “We cannot just let them go and fend for themselves,” Julia said. More needed to be done, she suggested.
And that’s how the GVP Mentoring Program, an invaluable support system for the students and alumnae of GVP, began.
“Initially, I just wanted to help out,” Michelle says, when asked what motivated her in volunteering with GVP. “Today I see the immense value in continuing the Mentoring program. This is a key part of the academic program that makes the girls so successful.” The mentoring program has expanded and now there are about 70 mentors who support almost 100 alumnae and students.
In addition to volunteering and carrying out the responsibilities of mentoring and the program’s coordination, Michelle also raises funds once a year for a very specific event, the GVP’s Welcome Walk.
“I don’t ask for money unless there is a reason to do so,” says Michelle who adds that she generally doesn't feel comfortable fundraising. “But I do it for our annual Walk.” Every year, she reaches out to her family, friends and acquaintances to support the event.
“It’s very rewarding,” Michelle says of her engagement with Global Village Project.
|
|
|
Authors' Tea: An Occasion of Fun and Stories
By Damakant Jayshi
Celebrating Global Village Project’s 10th anniversary at our first Authors' Tea of the year, our students entered, singing founder Ricky Jacobs’ Global Village Song. Then each Form was featured singing a song highlighting different aspects of our school, including our Core Values: Appreciation, Kindness, Respect, Responsibility, and Life-long Learning.
The Global Village Chorus (GVP’s special vocal ensemble) performed Joanne Hammil’s beautiful “Dreams of Harmony,” in 9 languages! Form 2 sang the verses to Carole King’s “You’ve Got a Friend” with all the students and the audience joining in on the chorus, singing “Summer, fall, winter, or spring, All you’ve got to do is sing!”
Similarly, Form 3 wrote new verses for “Open the Window,” an Elise Witt adaptation of a Georgia Sea Islands Spiritual. The students' verses highlighted a personal, communal, or global situation which needs opening for “the dove to fly in.” Featuring Ms. Elise’s “Thank You” song, Form 1 sang beautiful harmonies on a new 3-part round, using the words for “thank you” in their 12 languages.
The program ended with all students and the audience singing a rousing version of Terry Garthwaite’s song “Shine On.”
During tea and refreshments, students shared their stories with guests, GVP teachers and staff. They had prepared charts with details about themselves, their families, and their dreams. As always, the guests thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to interact one-on-one with the students. Some of the students managed to share their stories with seven or more guests!
GVP offers special thanks to our Authors’ Tea host, philanthropist and former GVP Board member Connie Bryans. We hope to see you all during our next Authors’ Tea, on Friday, December 7, 2018.
|
|
|
Volunteer Luncheon: GVP says "Thank you"
By Damakant Jayshi
It was great to meet and greet our wonderful team of volunteers and mentors! On September 5, GVP hosted a Volunteer Luncheon. About 50 of the over 200 volunteers attended the program. Thanks to all who were there!
Dr. Amy E. Pelissero, Head of School, formally welcomed the guests and expressed sincere gratitude to the volunteers on behalf of the students and the school. "We could not do it without you," said Dr. Amy. The school recognized the volunteers who have been working selflessly for five years and more.
Soon after, Teni-Ola Ogunjobi, our Community Engagement Manager, pointed out the many hours the volunteers have put in over the years. In 2016-17 alone, general volunteers contributed almost 7,000 hours and volunteer mentors put in 10,800 hours!
In dollar terms, explained our Development Director Susan Pavlin, the hours translated to over a quarter of a million dollars.
The guests were given the new GVP Volunteer, Intern, & Mentor Handbook as well as the updates on 2018-2019 happenings.
|
|
|
Hiking: Into the Arms of Nature
By Kate Mull
Fourteen Form 3 students had such a wonderful time when they set out on a hike on September 27 and returned the following day. For some of them it was their first hike and what fun they had!
Starting at Amicalola Falls State Park, we hiked into the Len Foote Hike Inn – a 5-mile hike that took us about 3 hours, during which we walked a proportional Appalachian Trail (AT) and learned about the 14 states that trail hikers walk through.
With the help of our Artist-In-Residence, Elise Witt, we even broke out in spontaneous song, writing a ukelele composition on the spot to sing “Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine!”
At the Inn we learned about sustainability: the architecture and processes in place to keep the Inn as close to zero waste as possible! This included a look at composting worm bins and solar panels. After dinner, we reviewed our knowledge on owls native to Georgia, complete with an owl pellet session.
In the morning, we enjoyed a beautiful sunrise from the top of the mountain. The hike took about 2 hours, and though most of the GVP students on the trip said they enjoy being outdoors and spend time in nature at least a few times a year, very few had been on a hike this long before. It was a great bonding time for the Form 3 students and five chaperones including GVP staff, volunteers, and mentors.
|
|
|
5 Things You Should Tell Your Friend About The Georgia Tax Credit Program: Apogee
- Through the Georgia Tax Credit Program, Apogee lets you redirect some of the state taxes you owe to a school like GVP. You do YOU DO NOT pay more or lose out on your tax refund… you simply send the money you’d already spend on taxes to a private or nonprofit school whose students need scholarships.
- With Apogee, you get DOUBLE THE TAX BENEFIT. You receive a dollar-for dollar state tax credit AND a charitable deduction on your federal taxes. But remember that, in the meantime, you will need to fulfill your donation out-of-pocket.
- When you donate to GVP through the Apogee program, you’re providing scholarships for our students so that we can keep covering the costs of their tuition, lunch, and transportation every day.
- You can pledge any amount you want - but remember that the State of Georgia will only approve a portion of your pledge for the tax credit, usually around 50% ...That portion is all you are expected to donate.
- It takes less than 2 minutes to apply at Apogee123.org and participate in the GA Tax Credit Program.
|
|
GVP LAUNCHED A BRAND NEW WEBSITE!
VISIT http://globalvillageproject.org/
|
|
|
GVP Newsletter
Do you want to be a contributing writer or suggest ideas for future articles or spotlights of people in the GVP community? Contact one of our editors: Teni-Ola Ogunjobi at taogunjobi@globalvillageproject.org,
or Daphne Hall at sapelodm@aol.com.
|
|
|
|
|
We love GVP
|
|
|
|
|
Fun Times
|
|
|
|
|
Playing the Tunes
|
|
|
|
|
