Students at Spencerport's Taylor Elementary School will call Christie Fullager, a Peace Corps volunteer from Penn Yan. Fullager visited the class in 2003 prior to her departure and since then, she has corresponded with the students about her experiences in South Africa working with rural and remote schools and with AIDS awareness projects



Students at Spencerport's Taylor Elementary School will call Christie Fullager, a Peace Corps volunteer from Penn Yan. Fullager visited the class in 2003 prior to her departure and since then, she has corresponded with the students about her experiences in South Africa working with rural and remote schools and with AIDS awareness projects

Class wins Peace Corps contest to call South Africa

Westside News
Spencerport, N.Y.
March 1, 2005

Mary Montenaro's class at Spencerport's Taylor Elementary School will be making a very long-distance call on March 3 - to South Africa. Students won the call in a national competition sponsored by the Peace Corps. This year, the class has participated in the Peace Corps' World Wise Classroom project, which matches up Peace Corps volunteers abroad with American classrooms. In December, the Peace Corps invited these classes to submit entries for the free call contest.

The students will call Christie Fullager, a Peace Corps volunteer from Penn Yan. Fullager visited the class in 2003 prior to her departure and since then, she has corresponded with the students about her experiences in South Africa working with rural and remote schools and with AIDS awareness projects.

"Christie's experiences have been truly eye-openers for us," Montenaro wrote in her contest entry. "We were so impressed when she described her students' first bus ride ever and how she lived for three weeks without electricity."

Fullager has lived with local families, experiencing the everyday life of local citizens, from the poverty and the devastation caused by AIDS to the warmth of the people and the breath-taking beauty. She has written to the students about having classes with as many as 80 students in one room and her awe at seeing wild animals. Each letter also has included Zulu language words for the students to study.

In turn, Montenaro's students have donated stickers and pencils for Fullager to use as class prizes and inflatable globes so the students can understand where the United States is located, a daunting task since most of her students have never traveled more than a couple of miles from home. Her mother, Margie Long, visited the class in November, bringing with her a scrapbook of photos from South Africa.

The class is planning to write a song for Fullager and has been writing a book with details about her South African experiences. They can't wait to tell her about it.

When this story was posted in March 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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RPCVs in Congress ask colleagues to support PC RPCVs Sam Farr, Chris Shays, Thomas Petri, James Walsh, and Mike Honda have asked their colleagues in Congress to add their names to a letter they have written to the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, asking for full funding of $345 M for the Peace Corps in 2006. As a follow-on to Peace Corps week, please read the letter and call your Representative in Congress and ask him or her to add their name to the letter.

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Add your info now to the RPCV Directory Call Harris Publishing at 800-414-4608 right away to add your name or make changes to your listing in the newest edition of the NPCA's Directory of Peace Corps Volunteers and Former Staff. Then read our story on how you can get access to the book after it is published. The deadline for inclusion is May 16 so call now.

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March 12, 2005: This Week's Top Stories The Coyne Column: Read Winning Essay by PCV 12 Mar Laura Germino helps Migrant Workers Advocacy Group 12 Mar Sam Farr impresses medical-pot advocacy group 11 Mar Fred O'Regan writes Op-Ed on Canada seal hunt 11 Mar Fern Holland remembered In Oklahoma 10 Mar Mountaineer Charles Houston receives honorary degree 10 Mar Elaine Chao led delegation for President's inauguration 10 Mar Chris Dodd wins Hispanic Capital Award 9 Mar Pat Waak is new Colorado Democratic Party Chair 9 Mar Chris Matthews withdraws from Florida Event 9 Mar Timothy J. O'Brien returns to Korea 8 Mar Tomas Belsky's paintings inspired by service in Brazil 7 Mar Christopher Hill to be Assistant Secretary of State 7 Mar Allen Moore is Sen Frist's Deputy Chief of Staff 7 Mar Jim Doyle heads trade delegation to Mexico 5 Mar Al Kamen says Narcissus Is Now Greek AND Roman 4 Mar Diana Gomez says to do something about Peace 4 Mar

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March 12, 2005: RPCV Groups in the News San Diego RPCVs host reception with Gaddi Vasquez on March 6 4 Mar Alaska RPCVs speak for dividend 4 Mar Western North Carolina's RPCVs sponsor Africa Night on March 6 3 Mar Maryland RPCVs lobby their Senators for Peace Corps 3 Mar Connecticut RPCVs hold fundraiser on March 5 3 Mar Charles Baquet speaks at Louisiana PC Breakfast on March 4 28 Feb RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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March 1: National Day of Action Tuesday, March 1, is the NPCA's National Day of Action. Please call your Senators and ask them to support the President's proposed $27 Million budget increase for the Peace Corps for FY2006 and ask them to oppose the elimination of Perkins loans that benefit Peace Corps volunteers from low-income backgrounds. Follow this link for step-by-step information on how to make your calls. Then take our poll and leave feedback on how the calls went.

Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar: Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

Read the stories and leave your comments.