Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: 28 February 2007

SUBJECT: Good Hope Third Graders Pen Pal with Students in the Gabon

CONTACT: Emily Walton Director of Development The Good Hope School 170 Estate Whim Frederiksted, VI 00840 1-340-772-0022 x108 ewalton.GHS@gmail.com

Ms. Asad's Third Grade Class at The Good Hope School welcomed special speakers: Diane Hampton and Nycole Thompson as part of their month long Black History Celebration. Ms. Hampton, coordinator of the VI Assistant Technology Foundation at U.V.I., and youth advocate previously visited the class in January to talk about her pending visit to The Gabon. At that time, she received pen pal letters from Good Hope's third graders to take with her to the children at The Martin Luther King, Jr. Bilingual School in the capital city, Libreville. During her visit to The Gabon, she delivered the letters and received reciprocal letters for the Good Hope third graders, initiating pen pal buddies.

Ms. Hampton recently returned to the VI and made arrangements to present the letters with a learning presentation to the students.

Hampton spoke to the students about her recent visit to the country. Her visit was prompted by an invitation from a friend who was newly elected official in the Gabonese government. Hampton handed out the letters to the students from their pen pals and read some aloud. Letters read this afternoon reflected the student's habits and lifestyles such as a love for soccer or football, visiting the beach, eating foods such as cassava, and even the celebration of Black History Month. The students responded with excited appreciation from these shared commonalities. Many of the letters were in French. The students will work with the Upper School 's foreign language department to translate the letters.

She enlisted Thompson, who spent her Peace Corp assignment in The Gabon, to join her for the visit to Good Hope. During her Peace Corp assignment she focused on health issues such as providing education on infant care, personal hygiene, and reproductive issues to hospitals, schools, and universities. This week is National Peace Corps Week, which is an opportunity for returned Peace Corp volunteers to partake in promoting cross-cultural understanding, world peace, and friendship by shining a spotlight on their important work around the world and the continuing service they bring back to the United States.

Ms. Thompson contributed by reading Dr. Seuss's Oh the Places You'll Go to the class. She discussed the languages spoken in the country and shared some examples of religious masks, clothing, and sculptures, as well as pictures from her stay.

The pen pal program exemplifies the school's mission, where there is an enduring respect for the differences reflected in their multicultural environment and they strive to guide a student's ability to think critically, creatively, independently, and globally. The Good Hope Lower School students will culminate their Black History month studies at an assembly on Wednesday, February 27, 2007 at 8:30 am in the James C. Savage Theater. The public is welcome to attend.

Diane Hampton shares letter from Gabonese students with Good Hope third grader