We had a full house for our Cluster Holiday Party on Sunday, December 12. Below is a photo of the au pairs modeling their “I Love DC” t-shirts I gave them.
Yearly Archives: 2010
2011 Sojourner Douglass Weekend Courses
I have had lots of au pairs take the Sojourner Douglass weekend courses and they have been very pleased. They have told me that the instructors and staff are helpful and professional, the courses are interesting and the facilities are nice. Below you will find information on their upcoming course offerings.
Sojourner Douglass College, Division of Professional and Continuing Studies
The full 2011 schedule is available and posted on their website. The winter courses are filling up quickly.
The following are offered as Two Weekend Programs:
- Interior Design
- English as a Second Language (ESL)
- Foreign Languages
- Travel Spanish
- Travel French
New for 2011, Non-lodging courses:
- Microsoft Software Certification:
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Art History Course that occurs in Washington, DC
- Volunteerism Course
Registration is ongoing and can be completed online by visiting www.weekendprogram.org Early registration is encouraged. For more information about our courses please visit the website
2011 Schedule of Weekend Classes (subject to change based on enrollment)
January 8-9, 2011 – TOEFL Review Course
January 8-9, 2011 – American Language and Culture,
January 22-23, 2011 – American Government and Personal Development
January 22-23, 2011 – Computer Software/Certification: Word (Non-lodging Course)
January 22-23 and March 12-13, 2011 – Interior Design Two Weekend Program
March 5-6, 2011 – American Culture and Tourism
March 5-6 and May 7-8, 2011 – Hospitality and Tourism Two Weekend Program
March 12-13, 2011 – American Language and Culture
March 12-13 and April 9-10, 2011 – Travel Spanish Two Weekend Course
March 12-13 and April 30-May 1, 2011 – English as a Second Language Two Weekend Course
March 12-13, 2011 – Computer Software/Certification: PowerPoint (Non-lodging Course)
March 12, 19, 26 – Art History (Non-lodging Course), Washington, D.C.
April 2-3, 2011 – Caring for Special Needs Children and American Culture
April 2-3 and June 11-12, 2011 – Child Care Two Weekend Program
April 9-10, 2011 – Understanding American Language Culture and Government
April 30 and May 1 – Volunteerism in America (Non-lodging Course)
May 7-8, 2011 – American Culture and Personal Development
May 7-8 and June 11-12, 2011 – Travel French Two Weekend Program
May 14, 21, 28 – Art History (Non-lodging Course), Washington, D.C.
To register visit our new website: www.weekendprogram.org
Please note the location of Weekend Courses:
The Conference Center at the Maritime Institute
692 Maritime Boulevard Linthicum, MD 21090-1952
(410)-859-5700 Front Desk ext 0
For questions call Angela Garnett, Program Coordinator at 301-213-2404 or email: info@weekendprogram.org
New Education Links Added
It’s time to start thinking about what you will do for the winter semester (starts in January.) Don’t wait until the last minute or the class you want could be fully enrolled.
Check out the new links under education options. There are great options for everyone in our cluster.
If you scroll your mouse across the name of the school, you will see information on who this would be a good option for based on where in our cluster you live.
Reminder:
Au Pairs and Au Pair Extraordinaires need to complete 6 credit hours or 8 CEUs (continuing education units) or 72-80 classroom hours during their year.
Educare Companions need to complete 12 credit hours or 16 CEUs (continuing education units) or 144-160 classroom hours during their year.
Women's Business Leadership Course – Winter Semester
Sis-U International is a seminar series developed exclusively for Au Pairs and cultural exchange students by Kathy Korman Frey, faculty at the George Washington University School of Business, Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
Who takes the class? Au Pairs and cultural exchange students of all different backgrounds. All students want to:
-
Enhance leadership skill
-
Think entrepreneurially
- Develop skills for career success
- Meet other Au Pairs as part of their cultural exchange experience
- Meet DC business women as part of their cultural exchange experience
- Have fun, be creative, and contribute to the class experience
******
Where: GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus near 22nd and G streets NW in Washington, DC.
When: 1/27- 3/31, 8 to 10 pm (please fill out SIGN UP form for updates. A second Saturday (12-5 pm) series of sessions is being considered for students who live in Ashburn, Baltimore, and other places farther away from DC.)
Hours: 36 hours per semester. A letter will be provided to all participants confirming their participation. University credit is not provided. Cultural exchange students: This class fulfills 36 of your 72 hours of required education.
* In addition to homework, there is approximately one hour required each week for group meetings outside of class.
Price: $350 via check and $362 via credit card (click link in box at top of page “Register and pay for…)
Course material cost: $40 for course workbook which will serve as a life-long leadership skills book beyond the au pair experience.
*Access to a computer and phone each week will be required.
Instructor; Kathy Korman Frey, GW School of Business faculty member and founder of the Hot Mommas Project research initiative. Click for bio.
Happy Hanukkah
Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is one of the most joyous times of the Jewish year. The reason for the celebration is twofold (both dating back to c. 165 BC and the miraculous military victory of the small, ill-equipped Jewish army over the ruling Greek Syrians, who had banned the Jewish religion and desecrated the Temple and the miracle of the small cruse of consecrated oil, which burned for eight days in the Temple’s menorah instead of just one.
Hanukkah is often celebrated by:
- Lighting a menorah for eight nights with olive oil or wax candles; one on the first night and an additional one each succeeding night, so that the last night has eight lights
- Eating food fried in oil, especially potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts
- Playing with a dreidle, a four-sided top; the player wins or loses money depending on which side it lands on (each is marked with a different Hebrew letter)
- Celebrating with family and friends
Here are some websites with activities for the kids:
Naval Academy Football Game
On Saturday, November 13 we joined an au pair cluster from Virginia for a Naval Academy Football game against Central Michigan. For most of the au pairs, it was their first America football game. I think many of them felt like I did… It was great in the beginning with the midshipmen marching on the field, the band performing and the jet flyover. It was exciting at the end, because the game went down to the final seconds and almost went into overtime. The middle however, went on a bit long for my liking. But, that’s football for you.
Here are a few pictures. You can find even more in our cluster photobucket album.
It was a close game and went down to the last few seconds, but Navy won by 1 point!
Charity Event a Huge Success!!!
On Sunday, November 7, we had a lot of fun for a good cause. Thirteen au pairs from our cluster worked together to make 393 servings of snack mix for the DC Central Kitchen. The only reason they stopped there was we ran out of cereal and pretzels. So, I bought some more cereal on my way home and my kids and I used up the rest of the ingredients to make another 77 servings.
That gave us a grand total of…
470 servings of snack mix!
The snack mix is being donated to the DC Central Kitchen for a program called Healthy Returns. Healthy Returns brings healthy meals and snacks to agencies serving low-income children and at-risk youth throughout the Washington DC area. To find out more about the program visit the DC Central Kitchen website.
Special thanks to Holy Trinity Episcopal Church for allowing us to use their parish hall for the event.
Here are some more photos:
I had au pairs from France, Guatemala, Sweden, Costa Rica, Thailand, Brazil & Germany all show up and work together for this worthy cause. One au pair just arrived from orientation three days ago and another au pair will finish her extension year in two weeks and au pairs at all different stages of their au pair experience in between. I was very proud of these ladies!
Update: Sandra and I made a trip to the DC Central Kitchen to drop off the boxes of snack mixes. Here are a couple photos from that.
Beautiful Day at the Pumpkin Patch!
I want to thank all the au pairs and host families who joined me for our Annual Pumpkin Patch Cluster Meeting at Queen Anne Farm. We had beautiful weather and lots of pumpkins to choose from.
Update: The group photo was published in the Bowie Blade Newspaper on 10/21/2010. Pick up your copy at the Bowie Library, Community Center or a newspaper box.
Here are some photos…
National Geographic World Animal Day
Click here to visit the website
This sounds like a great event taking place on Saturday, October 16, 10 am-3pm at the National Geographic Museum. The cost is FREE.
Join the Museum and National Geographic Kids for a fun-filled day of family activities to celebrate, observe, and learn about our favorite animal friends!
Fantastic Day at International Festival
We participated in the City of Bowie International Festival at Allen Pond Park on Saturday, October 2, 2010. We had beautiful weather, fabulously talented au pairs and lots of eager children ready to try our activities. Some of our activities were: painting flags on the children’s hands, creating beaded bracelets, doing geography games and showing people how to write their names in Thai.
Below are some photos. Unfortunately, I didn’t get pictures of everyone who helped at the event. We had a very busy time with lots of kids coming through and I wasn’t able to get photos of some of the volunteers in the middle of the day.
