IJWC joins World Food Day 2017

International Junior Writers Club (IJWC) joined the United Nations' celebration of World Food Day on October 16, 2017 with the theme, "Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development.” To engage them as a way to raise awareness of global hunger and the need for global food security, students at Alternative Education Center, Odessa, TX were asked a hypothetical question, "If you had a superpower to cook two favorite native foods to share with the world, what should these be and why?" Students responded to the question and then wrote a one-act comedy drama in their English class about their two favorite foods who are competing to be the only food to be cooked to feed the world because each one of them claims to be more special.

On the other hand, students at Instituto de Educación Secundaria IES Prado Mayor, Totana, Murcia, Spain, through the mentorship of Ms. Maria Aranzazu Mouriño Loretto, wrote about their favorite native foods in Spanish language. The students' writing outputs from Spain were sent to the US to be translated into the English language. US students who are learning Spanish as a foreign language tried to translate the Spanish writing outputs into English, making the students' learning process and experience more authentic to them.

Philippine teachers receive IJWC recognition

US Embassy’s English Access Microscholarship Program (Access) teachers at Dapitan City National High School, Dapitan City, Philippines received a recognition from the International Junior Writers Club (IJWC) on October 5, 2017 during the commemoration of the 2017 World Teachers’ Day. Through the principal of Dapitan City National High School, Mr. Jofrey Malana, IJWC recognized Mrs. Marilou Monding, Mrs. Ursulita Rafanan, and Ms. Lydia Kilapkilap for being its partner teachers from Asia during the school year 2016-2017. These teachers were instrumental in connecting students from the Philippines with students from Texas. Aside from being luckily selected as US Embassy’s Access teachers, they had the privilege of receiving free US-based trainings. Mrs. Monding participated in Teaching English to Teens by the University of Maryland, Baltimore County on July 28 - August 31, 2016. Mrs. Rafanan was trained about US Culture and Values by Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL on October 28 - Nov 12, 2016. Additionally, Ms. Kilapkilap got accepted to the Intensive Sessions/Camps Exchange Program in Ohio and Kansas on July 18-28, 2017. Joining this school year is Araibo Elumba who was a participant of International Leaders in Education Program (ILEP) 2017 at James Madison Host University, Harrisonburg, VA on January 3-May 15, 2017. IJWC hopes to benefit more from the expertise of these amazing teachers.

Philippine students deliver USA's diversity speech

International Junior Writers Club (IJWC) members from Dapitan City National High School, Dapitan City, Philippines improved and delivered the speeches composed by IJWC members from Alternative Education Center in Odessa, TX. Mrs. Ursulita Rafanan and Ms. Lydia Kilapkilap, US Embassy's Access Program teachers, suggested the theme, How can we be one amidst cultural diversity?, for their English class lesson on speech. The activity provided the students with an opportunity to continue understanding cultural and racial diversity, particularly the cultural difference between the Philippines and USA.