December is a time of giving and receiving for EAS

December is a time to give...
The Bancroft students had two projects in the spirit of giving this holiday season. In their own simple but creative ways, our students sacrificially showed their gratitude to our troops and joyfully shared their talents to the elderly.

"Tribute to our Troops" For almost a month the AALEAD students and staff hand sewed personalized pillows with Asian art and greetings to our injured troops at The Walter Reed Military Hospital. Students’ messages on their personalized pillows thanked the troops for their sacrifices for our country. Students also videotaped a performance of them singing Christmas carols for the troops

"Carols to the Elderly"– On December 19, 2008 before the winter break, students visited and sang Christmas carols at the Stoddard Baptist Nursing Home. It was such a great joy to see the smiles from the elderly people as they heard Christmas songs from our students. The project was also a good opportunity to teach students the value of respect for the elderly which is an important part of the Asian culture.

December is also a time to receive...
All our Elementary students received their Christmas wish during our AALEAD Holiday party last December 20, 2008. Santa with his elves (all AALEAD student volunteers) distributed the gifts to our Elementary students. We are grateful to our sponsors who served as the secret Santas for these kids.
The Thomson students also had an opportunity to participate in the OAPIA Toy distribution last December 16, 2008. 18 students gratefully received toys from the Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs.

Congratulations to Chut Vu, SSP Student

Our very own Chut Vu, has received the honor of becoming a Posse Scholar, receiving full tuition scholarship to University of Wisconsin- Madison, where he hopes to study business administration or engineering. Congratulations!

Recognition of High School Student Hong Qian Zhu

On Saturday, December 12, 2008, our very own SSP student Hong Qian Zhu testified for DC Council Chairman Gray to address the effects of school suspension. From her extraordinary testimony, Chairman Gray extended to her the mission to work with her principal at Wilson High School to develop a more inclusive policy for Asian American youth. Go Hong Qian!

AA LEAD in Washingtonian Magazine

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

Asian American LEAD was featured in the December issue of Washingtonian magazine as one of the DC area's 64 best charities!

*click the cover to read more*

Copyright © 2008 by The Washingtonian; used by permission.

Please visit Washingtonian online at: http://www.washingtonian.com/

Maryland After School Programs Holiday Party.

Maryland's High School and Middle School After School Programs will hold their annual Holiday Party this Friday, December 12^th. Our celebration will be held at the Gilchrist Center in Wheaton, Maryland.

The purpose of the Holiday Celebration and Youth Event is to celebrate the holidays and display some of the work done by students in AA LEAD. There will be food, music and games, as well as displays by students who will be showing off their welcome wall at the Gilchrist Center. Everyone in attendance will have an opportunity to learn about AA LEAD and what our programs do to help serve the Asian American community. Parents, students and community members are all welcome to attend.

Maryland After School Programs Holiday Party

December 12th

4 to 7pm

Gilchrist Center For Cultural Diversity

11319 Elkin Street

Wheaton, MD 20902

RSVP INFORMATION:

Jonathan Henry

jhenry@aalead.org

(301) 942-9333

Please RSVP or return your student's permission slip by December 11^th, 2008.

November is "Caring" month for EAS Program

NOVEMBER IS "CARING" MONTH FOR EAS PROGRAM.
Students from Bancroft site started a series of creative learning about positive character. They prepared a short skit where they assigned director, actors and actresses among themselves. They are also the ones who plan and write the script for their short film. Friday is when they will show it to the whole group and will have short discussions what they learned from the activities. They also do crafts which will help them remember the positive character that they are studying…and of course they discuss how they can apply the character that they learned.

EAS students CARES about the Children’s health. Our students participated in the national art contest to promote children's health care organized by National Korean American Service Education Consortium Association. The theme of the contest is "America's Future starts with Healthy Children."


EAS students CARES about their community. On November 26, our Bancroft students went to the DC Fire Department station in 14th Street for a educational tour with our DC Fire Fighters. The students learned basic fire safety skills and had a short briefing of what is the typical daily life of a firefighter.

SSP-Staff Thanksgiving Gathering

On November 26, a day before Thanksgiving, the SSP youth were able to directly engage with the AA LEAD staff and volunteers. We had wonderful food with all the trimmings (including a turkey shaped cake) and were able to gather together and share in the wonderful holiday spirits. AA LEAD staff were kind enough to prepare food for the pot luck, including spiced basmati rice, stuffing, corn, Korean japche, buffalo wings, homemade empanadas, and more! We had old alummi return for the festivities and had volunteers at the event as well! It was a great experience! We hope to continue in this tradition next year! Gobble Gobble~ Happy Thanksgiving!