"Gizo Kids" Present to School Board May 12

Eleven 2nd graders gave a powerpoint presentation to the School Board about their findings on the village of Nusabaruka on the island of Gizo in the Solomon Islands. These students had given up their lunch hour once a week all year in order to research more about the village and to try to gather school materials and supplies for the school children of the Three Swallows School. This school had been destroyed by a tsunami on April 2, 2007. The school had been rebuilt but had no supplies to work with. These students, along with other students who have been students in Mrs. Epp's classes, have been sending supplies for three years. These eleven "Gizo Kids" also gave their talk and slide show to all the first, second, and third graders in two other presentations. These students have worked hard all year and deserve congratulations! A thank you also goes to Ken Neis for working with the students on their powerpoint presentation.

Mrs. Epp is now trying to raise funds to travel to the Solomon Islands this summer to mentor and train the teacher in the village school, as well as set up World Class connections to connect four other classrooms at Hayden Valley Elementary to schools on 2 islands, as well as the Fiji Islands. Next year the partner classrooms from very diverse environments would engage in regular communication via the internet, Skype,emails, and shared curriculum. This will lead to lasting friendships and positive global views by the students involved. Any donations to this cause would be appreciated.