Bulletin #16 | December 11th, 2018

Last week I shared with you some thoughts on the importance of theater as part of the programs offered at JFK. Today I wish to add our Orchestra and music program to this. Learning to sing and to play musical instruments is an area of development that many schools sadly ignore. Exposure to these activities helps students acquire skills that they will not necessarily be exposed to outside of school. Many students do learn instruments outside school, but most of those who develop these interests begin their passion at school. Many others begin at school but sadly stop playing or singing when they leave school and this is something that we are working on: to help children take on a life-long passion for music and singing.

At JFK, we offer these opportunities for students and do so without selecting only those with great talent: all students can participate, learn, and have fun doing so.

Our orchestra works for all developmental stages, supporting both the youngest and older students in providing classes to learn to play an instrument. It then offers a series of concerts and opportunities for students to display their skills in public. Participation helps students learn new skills, build self-esteem, work as part of a team, and also an appreciation of the aesthetic value of music within our culture. It is also a great deal of fun!

Our traditional 3rd grade Christmas concert is also an incredible example of this: the wonderful Christmas concert and carol singing is a great experience for all participants and their families. It is even more remarkable when you hear the quality of the singing and understand that this is all the students, and not a selected choir of the ‘best’.

I do wish to congratulate all our students for their incredible skills, and all those teachers involved in putting on these Christmas concerts and performances for us. I also hope that all of our readers take the opportunity to come and support our students at some of these performances and feel a little of peace and happiness that this season brings.
 

Gaby Platas

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This year, our clothing and toy campaigns went hand in hand with the PYP program and thanks to that, we had greater participation from the community.

With these campaigns, we will support the community of Obraje, Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, where our donations are distributed in exchange for environmental work.

We are very proud to report that as a result of our campaign this year in our toy campaign, we had 45 volunteer moms, 50 volunteer students and a total of 1,510 toys in excellent conditions.

We are also very proud of the results of our clothing campaign, where 67 volunteer moms and 24 volunteer students participated, we had a total of 7,125 garments.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our campaigns!