Day 3 of MFS Spanish Culture was a success! As a continuation of yesterday’s activities, we accompanied the bilingual kindergarten and first grade classes of Southwark School to Philadelphia’s Please Touch Museum. The 10 of us divided into groups to guide the kids through the museum. The many exhibits provided them with opportunities...
Continue readingSewing Day Three!
Everyone embarked on different projects today. After we made some jumpers, dresses, and other baby outfits, our projects were hung on display in front of the window to display our hard work. After picking up food from Main Street, we headed back and settled into an afternoon of hard work....
Continue readingFrom Castle to Kitchen
3/29/16: After a good night’s sleep we had another early start today and ate breakfast at 6:30 AM. At about 7:00 AM we left the hotel and headed over to Give Kids the World. We all had new jobs like helping children to get their stars placed on the walls of the Castle and...
Continue readingMFSpanish: Visiting a Bilingual School
Today we helped in a bilingual class of kindergarteners and first graders. They were so cute. It was a lot of fun to talk to them in Spanish. We headed off to Philadelphia to visit Southwark, an elementary school introducing a bilingual program. We helped out with kindergarten and first graders who were doing...
Continue readingXi’an: Ancient History and Dumpling Feasts
Today we woke up early in the morning. We got out of bed all packed and ready to go at 7 am. We left our hotel in Beijing and took a bus to the Beijing airport. While we were there several students bought Starbucks near our gate. A taste from home! We departed from...
Continue readingExploring Art: Human Mandala
This morning, despite the chill in the air, we worked together as a group to design mandalas using our figures as inspiration. We created two designs on the oval blacktop by tracing the outlines of ourselves in various positions. It was a great opportunity to work together, communicate, and in the end create!...
Continue readingGlobal Youth Leadership: Bread and Soup, Together
Today in GYLI, our primary focus was religious plurality. We started off the day by practicing some yoga and stretches to warm up our bodies. We then discussed the multicultural identities of the students at MFS and demonstrated our thoughts and ideas onto puzzle pieces. We decorated the puzzle as well as observed and...
Continue readingSacred Spaces: Arch Street Meeting House and Congregation Mikveh Israel
We started the morning with donuts and headed to Philadelphia. The first stop we made was at the Arch Street meeting house. There we learned about the history of the meeting house and people who potentially could have attended. Our tour guide informed of the many historical aspects of the house and small details...
Continue readingEnglish Setters and Shelter Dogs
Today started off when we met Alex Van Meter (19) and Abigail Van Meter (14), who showed up to talk to us about handling and showing dogs with their champion English Setter dogs, Juniper and Haley. They are both prize winning Junior Handlers. Alex showed us how to pose the dogs and what was...
Continue readingFrom Ashes to Ashes and Dust to Dust
Day 2: Today we visited Habitat For Humanity’s Restore Center, and it was an extremely different experience than Palmyra Cove. We started off the day with a tour of the center by Mike. Mike showed us where we would be working and then we split up into groups. Some went to clean up carpeting,...
Continue readingQuilting: One Down, Two More to Go
Today Shelby and Jessica completed the first quilt. All of the groups are working incredibly hard to finish their projects. So far the day has been filled with laughter and smiles. I can’t wait to see what’s yet to come for the new quilters....
Continue readingQuilting Day One: Learning the Missouri Star
On our first day of quilting we started off the day with a little bit of show and tell with the quilts that Mrs. Casne and Mrs. Reilly had made. After that we watched a video on how to make the pattern for the quilts. The pattern is called the Missouri Star. The first...
Continue readingAsian Culture: Kung Fu and Drumming in Chinatown
~ Yesterday we learned about Kung Fu, drumming, and traditional dragon dancing ~ We finally enjoyed a nice meal at Sakuza, a Chinese restaurant! ~ Quote of the Day- “I’m learning so much.”-Julia ~ “Raw chicken, raw experience.”- Anonymous Source Today we’re going to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to learn about Korean culture. We...
Continue readingRough Start, Strong Finish
3/28/16 We started our day early by arriving at Moorestown Friends at 5:45 AM to depart for the airport. From there we ate and socialized as the arrival time to Orlando, Florida had been pushed back by an hour due to delays caused by mechanical errors, thunderstorms, and even a 30-minute baggage claim delay. Following...
Continue readingCreating the elements of a totem pole
Today, we spent most of our time working with clay — getting to know how the medium works and then creating elements of our first community artwork. As an opening exercise to awaken our creative spirits, we each formed and imprinted nine clay “pebbles” with our palm prints. We then gathered in Stokes Hall to assemble...
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