September is an important time of year for Long Island families. The kids go back to school and routines change. Au Pair in America Suffolk County Au Pairs gathered at Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba’s house to get some important tips.
The meeting began with making ornaments for the International Holiday tree au pairs and host families will decorate for the Stony Brook Village Promenade of Trees in December. Everyone painted a heart ornament to represent their country or their experience in the USA. The au pairs are so creative. They spend a lot of time doing arts and crafts with their host kids!
The agenda included Minimizing Morning Madness, School Bus Stop Safety, Safe Driving including no cell phones and distractions from kids in the car. We discussed the use of the child’s backpack as the communication tool between school and home, keeping on top of homework and school notices. We also talked about baby safety because September is Baby Safety month!
Cluster meetings are an important part of the au pair experience. Not only do they learn important tips for a successful year as an au pair, but they also have an opportunity to make friends with other au pairs!
We celebrated Carmen from Bolivia who has spent almost 2 years in the USA with her host family in St. James. She earned her education certificate and will get a certificate for completing the Au Pair in America year when she returns home to Bolivia in October.
Flora Solorzano Zamora from Costa Rica has spent the past year with a host family in Setauket. Au Pair in America has been a great experience for her. She is looking forward to her travel month and exploring more of the USA before she returns home in October to continue her studies in Costa Rica to become a pharmacist.
Flora volunteered during some of her free time in a study of turtles in the ponds near her host family’s town. Flora said, ” I really enjoyed doing the turtles this year! I am happy I had this experience.
This project was about looking for turtles around the beach, weight and measure them to find out if they lay or not. We followed them until they lay their eggs and then we protected the nests from predators. After days we get to see the baby turtles hatching and we also release the ones we rescued.
It is awesome to have the opportunity of follow all the process!”
For more information on this project, please check out the Friends of Flax Pond.
Flora earned a Volunteer Certificate from Au Pair in America for her work with the turtles. She also earned a completion of her education certificate and will get a certificate for the Au Pair in America program when she returns home to Costa Rica.
Go down and visit her and the other scarecrows. They will be set up through Halloween. You can vote for our scarecrow, too!
