Category Archives: Uncategorized

APIA a Winner!

Stony Brook Village has a great safe Halloween celebration for children every year.  All October there are scarecrows decorating the village for the annual Scarecrow contest.  Visitors to the shops throughout the month can vote for their favorite scarecrow.

The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America has been entering the contest for several years.  This year, Community Counselor Cindy Garruba, accepted the 2nd prize for the cluster’s entry “Au Pair Annie and her Host Kids.”  The prize will be spent on a party for the au pairs in her cluster!

The contest is run by the Ward Melville Heritage Organization and they provide wonderful events throughout the year for the community.  Soon APIA will be decorating a Holiday Tree in the Promenade of Trees.  The trees will be on view throughout December!

September Back to School & Routine Cluster Meeting

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.

Au Pair Volunteers with Turtles on Long Island

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.

Au Pairs learn Water & Summer Safety

The Suffolk County Au Pair in America cluster of Au Pairs gathered at Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba’s home to learn about Water & Summer Safety.

Every quarter the au pairs learn safety or childcare.  This time it was about being safe with their host children around water.  The main conversation was about preventing drowning.  Living on Long Island, every au pair will be at the beach or a pool this summer.  Learning to swim is the first step in water safety.  Most of the au pairs in the group are experienced swimmers.

Au pairs also learned about identifying poison ivy, how to avoid it and what to do if their host child or they come in contact with it or develop the rash.  We discussed ticks and the diseases they carry.  Using sunscreen, when to apply, how to avoid sunburn and ways to treat it were also covered. 

We celebrated the au pairs who are nearing the end of their year.  They earned education certificates for completing the education requirement of the program.

2 German Au Pairs also earned Global Awareness certificates for teaching lessons on their country in their host children’s classrooms.  They both volunteered regularly during their year and were awarded with volunteer certificates.  Vanessa volunteered in her host child’s classroom teaching German board games at lunch time.  Kristina volunteered in a local animal shelter.

After lessons and awards, each au pair shared something about themselves, including their plans for when they return home.  Cindy served local strawberries since it is strawberry season here on the North Fork of Long Island.  The au pairs loved the strawberries and cream shortcake.

They had fun on the beach and visiting with each other on the beautiful sunny Sunday.

APIA Creates Chalk Drawing for Riverhead Festival

Memorial Day weekend festivities included an art chalk drawing festival in Riverhead.  The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America had a lot of fun participating!

Juliana from Columbia designed the square. Sonia from Mexico and Community Counselor Cindy Garruba colored helped create and color the design. 

Sonia and Juliana working on the chalk drawing,

Juliana included the words she feels Au Pair in America means to her:

DREAM – BELIEVE – EXPLORE – LEARN

We had a great location right in front of to Suffolk Theater!

Sunset & Pizza Cluster Meeting

The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America gathered on May 10th to enjoy each other’s company while watching the sunset on the Long Island Sound.  West Meadow Beach in Setauket is a beautiful spot with picnic tables and playgrounds.  Many of the au pairs take their host kids there to play on the playgrounds. 

Community Counselor, Cindy Garruba, treated the group to pizza and everyone had fun on the beautiful evening.  We even saw the spectacular full moon rising. 

 

 

 

 

Everyone shared a little about themselves, their country, their time here in the USA.  Every month the au pairs have a cluster activity organized by their Community Counselor.  Sometimes the activity is an event, like a Broadway Show or a baseball game.  Other times, it is a chance to get together and talk.  Often there is information learned about childcare and safety.  The meetings always provide an opportunity for the au pairs to make more friends.

Big Snow Coming Tomorrow!

60 degrees and feels like Spring is coming, but a major snow storm is expected to start during the night.  Here is the predicted snow map:

SLOT1_LIPlease be prepared to stay home and do activities with the kids inside.  Click here for some great ideas to keep everyone happy and busy!

When it stops snowing, get outside and build a snowman!

 

Basketball at SCCC

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The Au Pairs from APIA Suffolk County enjoyed an afternoon of college basketball.  The men’s team at Suffolk County Community College won their game today while the au pairs cheered along.

20170129_145234_resizedIt was Tabea’s last cluster meeting.  She earned her education certificate and we all wished her well on her next journey.  She is headed home to Germany and hoping to have a visit soon from the friends she met here.

 

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Holiday Party with My Au Pairs

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Suffolk County au pairs from Au Pair in America had an International Potluck Holiday Party at their counselors home this Sunday, Dec. 11.  Au Pairs prepared favorite dishes from their home countries to share with their friends.

20161211_144848_resized20161211_152825_resizedWe played a game drawing Christmas trees while plates were on our heads, 3 winners got to pick prizes! 

imagejpeg_0-4Community Counselor, Cindy  Garruba, handed out some gifts she prepared for each au pair.

 

 

 

 

Each au pair brought a wrapped gift for the gift exchange.  A game was played to the story of “A Night Before Christmas” to scramble up who got which gift. 20161211_155002_resized

15338704_1304817629581333_6980585745348250251_nDessert was served, lively conversation and holiday plans were shared.

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