The Dine-Around date of May 2nd has been approved. Dine-Around committee, please be working on getting committments from restaurants.
The Darfur Doors campaign is shaping up nicely. We have agreements from 10 of the 13social studies teachers to use their doors. We'll follow up with the other 3 next week. The 'doors' should be unveiled either Friday, April 4th (our next meeting date), or earlier that week if that committee plans to do so. Totally their call and either way is fine. If they go up April 4th that still gives us a full week before the Holocaust Rememberance and Genocide Awareness Day and a full week that they will be up after the event.
The scavenger hunt date is also confirmed for May 20th. I followed up with the alternative school issue we discussed and amde sure that we would not have a conflict with library use. We are all good! Someone from that committee should speak wth Ms. Geldmacher when they get a chance to find out how she does registration for dodgeball through the computer.
Again, the bake sale was fantastic. Congratulations to all involved....good planning and follow-through!
Next official meeting will be Friday, April 4th.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Bake Sale
How did the bake sale go???? I stopped by there inbetween 5th and 6th and there was still a bunch of stuff left. Thanks to anyone who baked anything and/or sold today! :)
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Meeting Recap
I don't know if anyone was assigned to the blog for this past week, but I remember most of what we did, so I'll summarize for those who weren't there.
First, Mr. Cone discussed the need for student action in planning activities. After having to do pretty much all of the work for last week's pizza sale, he and Mrs. Donohue decided that they would not enter forms for any events unless the students had already planned and worked out details.
Next, we had updates on the current situation in Darfur. The Janjaweed has returned to it's scorched-earth bombing practices, displacing over 75,000 people since the start of the new year. I will post the New York Times article later tonight.
Everyone should go on http://purpleforpeaceintl.bravehost.com/
On this site, you can sign a petition to the White House in order to pressure the Sudanese government into allowing UN Peacekeepers to take action in Darfur.
Mrs. Donohue also told us that there is a student group at Stony Brook that has just formed which plans on raising awareness and funds for the crisis, much like we do. We discussed the possibility of collaborating some events together.
Finally, we broke into committees. The bake sale is planned for March 17th (St. Patrick's Day) as long as the date is approved by administration. See Mrs. Donohue or Mr. Cone if you would like to sign up to sit at the tables or bake something to sell. That is our closest planned event, but a Dine-Around in May (I think- correct me if I'm wrong!) and a Scavenger Hunt are both in the works, along with the PIG-Hours movie showing, the Doors For Darfur activity, and more pizza/bake sales.
If anyone has any more ideas for activities we can sponsor (and is willing to plan/organize the event- ideas without people willing to work on them are pointless), he or she can speak to Mrs. Donohue or Mr. Cone, or come to our meeting this coming Friday.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Meeting Summary - February 15th
Good meeting. Below is an overview:
- I recapped the previous meeting and the progress that was made by each committee. I also spoke about the plans for this year's Holocaust Remembrance and Genocide Awareness Day. There will be a big focus on Darfur this year so 800 10th grade students (West and East Campus) will be educated about the issue.
- Scott informed the group that Congressman Tom Lantos of California has died. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress and was active in speaking out about Darfur.
- Danielle updated us about some current events. One of the stories she spoke about was Steven Spielberg stepping down as artistic director for the Beijing Olympics due to China's connection with the government in Khartoum. Harrini will provide the update at the next meeting.
- Committees met and we have some dates announced:
* Feb. 28th (the Thursday we get back) - pizza sale after school
* March 17th - Bake Sale (on St. Patrick's Day - think GREEN!!!)
* March 31st (or so) - Unveiling of the Darfur Doors
* April 10th - Holocaust and Genocide Awareness Day for 10th graders
* May 2nd - Dine Around
* May 20th - Scavenger Hunt
* Date Pending - PIG credit after school movie
* Date Pending - Battle of the Bands
Mark your calendars!
- I recapped the previous meeting and the progress that was made by each committee. I also spoke about the plans for this year's Holocaust Remembrance and Genocide Awareness Day. There will be a big focus on Darfur this year so 800 10th grade students (West and East Campus) will be educated about the issue.
- Scott informed the group that Congressman Tom Lantos of California has died. Lantos was the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in Congress and was active in speaking out about Darfur.
- Danielle updated us about some current events. One of the stories she spoke about was Steven Spielberg stepping down as artistic director for the Beijing Olympics due to China's connection with the government in Khartoum. Harrini will provide the update at the next meeting.
- Committees met and we have some dates announced:
* Feb. 28th (the Thursday we get back) - pizza sale after school
* March 17th - Bake Sale (on St. Patrick's Day - think GREEN!!!)
* March 31st (or so) - Unveiling of the Darfur Doors
* April 10th - Holocaust and Genocide Awareness Day for 10th graders
* May 2nd - Dine Around
* May 20th - Scavenger Hunt
* Date Pending - PIG credit after school movie
* Date Pending - Battle of the Bands
Mark your calendars!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
China
I think you guys should check out this link http://news.bbc.co.uk:80/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7242016.stm its about Steven Spielburg stepping down as "Artistic Director" of the Beijing Games.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Meeting Summary- February 8th
Today's meeting started out with a few words from Ben on the current situation in Darfur. We all agree that Africa seems to be spiraling out of control into a cycle of tribal conflicts and civil wars, based on the fighting that is now breaking out in Kenya, which is historically one of Africa's most stable countries, and in Chad, Darfur's neighbor that is getting "too involved" in the current Darfur crisis, according to the Sudanese government. The fact that there is fighting in both Kenya and Chad is making it very difficult to get relief supplies to the people in Darfur, as these countries were both commonly used to channel supplies through. Additionally, the fighting could turn into a full-scale crisis, such as the one in Darfur, creating the need for even more supplies and further pressuring the UN to more assertively deploy peacekeeping forces.
Before breaking into committees, we also discussed recent developments by the various groups in the past week.
First, Mrs. Donohue read us excerpts of a letter from Senator Hillary Clinton in response to a letter written by one of the students in the Holocaust/Genocide Class. Senator Clinton described the steps she's taken in getting our government to pressure the Sudanese government into allowing UN Peacekeeping forces in.
The Battle of the Bands Committee has found a possible venue that would only want a small percentage of the ticket money, but Mrs. Donohue was concerned about the liability of holding an off-campus event. She is looking into other options this week.
Marissa has been searching for postcards to use at the "Sand and Sorrow" showing for PIG hours. Mrs. Donohue has reviewed the websites that Marissa provided, and most of the postcards seem a little too expensive. If anyone can find any postcards that have pre-written messages about Darfur and can be sent to senators and government officials, but are free or extremely cheap, please contact Mrs. Donohue or someone in the Darfur Action Committee with information on where and how to get these cards.
All in all, even though many people were not able to make it to this past meeting, it was very productive. I am excited to see the results of all of these ideas once put into action. Keep up the good work everyone!
-Ginny
The articles Ben referenced can be found at these links: "Darfur Force May Take All Year", "'Janjaweed Leader' is Sudan Aide", and "Fighting Resumes in Chad's Capital".
Before breaking into committees, we also discussed recent developments by the various groups in the past week.
First, Mrs. Donohue read us excerpts of a letter from Senator Hillary Clinton in response to a letter written by one of the students in the Holocaust/Genocide Class. Senator Clinton described the steps she's taken in getting our government to pressure the Sudanese government into allowing UN Peacekeeping forces in.
The Battle of the Bands Committee has found a possible venue that would only want a small percentage of the ticket money, but Mrs. Donohue was concerned about the liability of holding an off-campus event. She is looking into other options this week.
Marissa has been searching for postcards to use at the "Sand and Sorrow" showing for PIG hours. Mrs. Donohue has reviewed the websites that Marissa provided, and most of the postcards seem a little too expensive. If anyone can find any postcards that have pre-written messages about Darfur and can be sent to senators and government officials, but are free or extremely cheap, please contact Mrs. Donohue or someone in the Darfur Action Committee with information on where and how to get these cards.
After this, we broke into committees and everyone worked out details for planning our various events this year. So far, we are planning on a "Doors for Darfur" fundraiser, a Dine-Around to raise money for solar cookers, our "Sand and Sorrow" PIG activity, a Scavenger hunt, and a Battle of the Bands if we can work the details out. Our Public Relations Committee is considering having a bake sale or another pizza sale to raise awareness and funds. If anyone has any other suggestions that they are willing to help plan for, ideas can be posted on this blog or brought up at our next meeting on Friday, February 15th.
All in all, even though many people were not able to make it to this past meeting, it was very productive. I am excited to see the results of all of these ideas once put into action. Keep up the good work everyone!
-Ginny
Friday, February 1, 2008
Meeting Recap - February 1st
We are back in action and plan to meet regularly - every Friday foreseeing other issues! Here's what we discussed today:
- We recapped the last meeting (did the bulletin board, did the paperwork for the donation to HelpDarfurNow, etc.)
- We discussed moving forward with the Sand And Sorrow movie showing after school for P.I.G. credit. We would have a pizza sale that day as well. People are looking into getting postcards to representatives that students could fill out after watching the movie.
- We brainstormed a list of fundraising/educational ideas that we could focus on. We generated a nice list and then decided to form committees. The committees are as follows: Public Relations (they will also organize a bake sale), Dine Around (with money going toward the purchase of solar cookers), Scavenger Hunt (similar to how students pay to participate in the Dodgeball Tournament), Battle of the Bands (held at 3MB rather than the auditorium, Darfur Doors (decorating classroom doors to raise awareness), Penny campaign (400,000 pennies/water jugs).
- We also discussed starting each meeting with an update on the situation in Darfur to better educate ourselves. Ben has volunteered to do the first one next Friday. Thanks, Ben!
- Lastly, we are getting rid of the leftover candy from the Comedy Hypnosis event. Many members took bags of candy (10 pieces each) and will sell each piece for $1.00 and come with the profits next Friday.
Great meeting and I am looking forward to next week for when the committees meet and start making things happen!!!!
- We recapped the last meeting (did the bulletin board, did the paperwork for the donation to HelpDarfurNow, etc.)
- We discussed moving forward with the Sand And Sorrow movie showing after school for P.I.G. credit. We would have a pizza sale that day as well. People are looking into getting postcards to representatives that students could fill out after watching the movie.
- We brainstormed a list of fundraising/educational ideas that we could focus on. We generated a nice list and then decided to form committees. The committees are as follows: Public Relations (they will also organize a bake sale), Dine Around (with money going toward the purchase of solar cookers), Scavenger Hunt (similar to how students pay to participate in the Dodgeball Tournament), Battle of the Bands (held at 3MB rather than the auditorium, Darfur Doors (decorating classroom doors to raise awareness), Penny campaign (400,000 pennies/water jugs).
- We also discussed starting each meeting with an update on the situation in Darfur to better educate ourselves. Ben has volunteered to do the first one next Friday. Thanks, Ben!
- Lastly, we are getting rid of the leftover candy from the Comedy Hypnosis event. Many members took bags of candy (10 pieces each) and will sell each piece for $1.00 and come with the profits next Friday.
Great meeting and I am looking forward to next week for when the committees meet and start making things happen!!!!
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