January 23, 2006: Headlines: COS - Bulgaria: The Third Goal: Pen Pals: The Farmington Daily Times: Peace Corps Volunteer Kathy Benda, helps students communicate with pen pals in Vidin, Bulgaria
Peace Corps Online:
Directory:
Bulgaria:
Peace Corps Bulgaria:
The Peace Corps in Bulgaria:
January 23, 2006: Headlines: COS - Bulgaria: The Third Goal: Pen Pals: The Farmington Daily Times: Peace Corps Volunteer Kathy Benda, helps students communicate with pen pals in Vidin, Bulgaria
Peace Corps Volunteer Kathy Benda, helps students communicate with pen pals in Vidin, Bulgaria
In November, Benda's Bulgarian students sent a batch of traditional letters via the postal service to Jones' students. Jones took the letters and assigned each of her students a pen pal. Jones' students sent a letter to their new overseas friends in December.
Peace Corps Volunteer Kathy Benda, helps students communicate with pen pals in Vidin, Bulgaria
Student bloggers learn about other cultures
By Larry Di Giovanni
Special to The Daily Times
Jan 23, 2006, 06:00 am
Email this article
Printer friendly page
KIRTLAND -- To their counterparts half-way around the world in Bulgaria, they are known as "pink ducks," cityoffun," and "The New York Yankees." Still, Kirtland Central High School students are learning a new way of communicating.
"Somehow, that one made it through," said KCHS reading teacher Ginny Jones, regarding blogger names like "The New York Yankees."
ADVERTISEMENT
According to the student who chose that name, Cheyenne Jim, Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez and Derek Jeter are "interesting to watch."
On the other side of the world, their pen pals have gothic-sounding names, like Valen, Petio, Cyril, Rosen and Radi.
Communicating back and forth are nearly 30 KCHS students who "blog" online journal entries each week through the one language all teenagers understand, the Internet.
The students -- in grades 9-11 -- can also download digital photographs and even computer-animated images, which adds to blogging.
The students participating on this side of the world belong to five of Jones' reading classes. They use the blogs to communicate with pen pals in Vidin, Bulgaria. Jones' niece, Kathy Benda, is serving in the Peace Corps as an English teacher in that city.
"She (Kathy) keeps an online journal and an online photo album," Jones said.
In November, Benda's Bulgarian students sent a batch of traditional letters via the postal service to Jones' students. Jones took the letters and assigned each of her students a pen pal. Jones' students sent a letter to their new overseas friends in December.
KHCS students are awaiting reply. In the meantime, Jones is hopes the Bulgarians will be able to access the blogger page.
"My family is a gift to me. We are always there for each other," 14-year-old Cheyenne Jim writes in her Jan. 17 weekly blog journal entry. One of her standing blog introductions is called "My sisters are my life."
She said she hopes her Bulgarian pen pal, Stephan, will soon be able to correspond with her via blogging.
Though Jones said the Bulgarians' handwriting "looks different," she complimented their English teacher for their English language ability. The students also noticed common interests like video games and shopping.
Jones said her students are sending their pen pals interesting information on New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and Kirtland, along with "lots of photos."
Jones, however, cautioned that in order to protect the privacy of her students and school, they are completely nondescript about personal details in their blogs.
Larry Di Giovanni is a spokesman for the Central Consolidated School District.
When this story was posted in February 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now. |
| 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 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today. |
| Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: The Farmington Daily Times
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Bulgaria; The Third Goal; Pen Pals
PCOL25184
11