ANNOUNCEMENTS
Mark your calendars for the next
Brown Bag Lunch talk:
Jon Bormet, an expert on international city management, will
speak on the topic:
Working on Kabul, in Kabul
When: March 6 at 10:55 - ll:35 (school lunch period)
Where: BCC classroom B-302
The BBL series WELCOMES parents and interested community members.
Please bring a lunch and join us if you can!
The Brown Bag Lunch Series offers
--a conversation starter with your student/child on current affairs
and global citizenship --a great opportunity to meet other parents
--a chance to learn something new
The BBL series is sponsored by the BCC International Connections
Committee. For more information about this series contact Deborah
Galyan (dgalyan@gmail.com) See you there!
Please join us for the next relaxing
evenings with friends:
February 21th, 5-7 pm
Rira Irish Pub
4931 Elm St
Bethesda, MD 20814
(301) 657-1122
March 13th, 5-7 pm
Clyde's of Chevy Chase
5441 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Phone: 301.951.9600
Friday February 29th - The fantastic International Night
With best wishes for a Happy New Year,
Laura Elsey & Amanda Boland, Co-Chairs International Connections
Committee
and
Sarah Beck & Anne-Marie Atkinson, Co-Chairs Welcome Committee
Brown Bag Lunches - Invitation
to Community for Speakers
Do you work in a job that has the scope to impact people's lives
in a
positive way (working for an International health or environmental
organization, for example)? Are you skilled in a craft that benefits
or interests others? If so, we would love to consider you as a
candidate to come to school and be a speaker at one of our informal
Brown Bag Lunches.
Sponsored by the International Connections Committee and now
in it's
2nd year, the Brown Bag Lunches are a series of monthly lunchtime
talks that have an emphasis on our individual roles as Global
Citizens; the talks aim to both stimulate discussion and open
new
avenues and ideas for parents and students alike. Subject matter
can
be as diverse as a person's Peace Corps experience, to presenting
photographs of an inspired journey, to working on a coral reef
to
save turtles.
Although we sometimes feature speakers from outside organizations,
or
those with international or cultural exchange experience, we
recognize that we have a wonderful and extremely talented parent
body - we invite you, therefore, to come and share your story
with the
community!
If you enjoy speaking infront of a small and friendly group,
would be
free on a Monday between 10.45am and 11.45am (there is some
flexibility on the day), we would love to hear from you.
Please send an email to: Laura Elsey (laura@elseyworld.com) or
Dee
Harris (andrea.dee.harris@gmail.com) for more information.
Thank you for your kind consideration,
Laura Elsey (Polly, '10 & Jake, '11) and Dee Harris (Clara,
'11)
International Connections Committee
Community Invitation - Film Presentation
"Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa" - Wednesday
December 5th, 6pm
Due to the snow, tonight's scheduled film screening
of Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the New South Africa at B-CC will
be postponed until the first week in January (date to be confirmed).
We shall look forward to seeing you then and many thanks for your
support.
We are delighted to invite you to attend the film presentation
of
"Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa" by
film maker Molly
Blank, who will be our guest.
Molly Blank, a B-CC alum ('94), received a Masters in Journalism
from
the University of California, Berkeley in 2004, where she produced,
directed and edited the documentary "Lights in the Delta"
about he
impact of casinos on the black and white communities of Tunica
County, Mississippi. From 2000 - 2002, she worked at the D.C-based
production company York Zimmerman Inc. where she served as a
researcher and production coordinator on the Peabody award-winning
film "Bringing Down A Dictator", about the student movement
that led
to the defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in Serbia. Molly graduated
Tufts
University in 1998 with a B.A. in History and then spent two years
teaching public school in D.C., as part of the Teach for America
program. Molly was the recipient of a 2005 Fulbright Scholarship
to
Cape Town, South Africa, where she taught grade 12 English at
Oscar
Mpetha High School and a Creative Arts Workshop in the township
of
Khayelitsha.
Molly says of Testing Hope - "Since the end of Apartheid
in April
1994, the new South African government has been struggling to
remedy
years of inequity, particularly regarding substandard education.
Testing Hope: Grade 12 in the new South Africa, chronicles the
lives
of young people facing their future in the evolving democracy
of
South Africa. The film follows four students - Babalwa, Noluyanda,
Mongamo and Sipho - at Oscar Mpetha High School in Nyanga township,
just outside of Cape Town, as they work towards their crucial
Matric
exams which one student calls "the decider". Please
look at the
website for further information about Molly and her film:
www.matricthefilm.com
When: Wednesday December 5th, 6pm (duration
of film, approx. 40 mins with a Q & A session afterwards)
Where: B-CC Chorus Room
We welcome parents, students and anyone you know in the wider
community who may be interested in this critically acclaimed and
thought provoking film.
Thank you and best wishes,
Laura Elsey (Polly, '10 & Jake, '11) and Dee Harris (Clara,
'11)
International Connections Committee
new2bcc - NEW LISTSERVE FOR NEW
& INTERNATIONAL FAMILIES
There is a new email group, called "new2bcc," specifically
for new and
international families who would like to trade support and information.
The group, set up through yahoogroups just as bccnet is, is easy
to join. Just send a blank email to:
_new2bcc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com_
(mailto:new2bcc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com) .
Then you will get an email back with instructions on how to join.
The group is sponsored by the Welcome Committee and the international
Connections Committee. If you've had a rough transition (and who
hasn't?) or if you experienced arriving last year or the year
before and would like to help those who are now dealing with the
transition to a new school, new county, new state or even new
country, please join us!
Sincerely,
Francesca Kelly
new2bcc moderator
Click
here to read article in Gazette about the Invisible Children film
presentation at the school in early February.
*The BCC International Connections Committee was established
in 2006 by the PTSA to help connect the BCC community, including
our sizable international student body, to events and speakers
in the Washington metro area that expand the exposure of our students
to important international issues.
The PTSA International Connections Committee is here to help
new international students in their transition to B-CC and to
raise awareness in the wider B-CC community of just how international
we really are! Even if your family is American - perhaps you were
born abroad, have lived abroad or are new to the American public
school system.
The ICC is a network of families with similar backgrounds and
its aim is to help make your transition to B-CC High School a
smooth one. We are here to offer information and support to help
guide you as you settle in.
Pick up an ICC@B-CC Orientation leaflet from your counselor.
Attend one of ICC's informative 'Brown Bag' lunches - a popular
lunchtime speaker series for students and parents.
Join the International Connections Committee so that we can
connect you with other new families at B-CC high school!
