What is going on at Aveson!

by Jennifer and Madison

Part one- A lot of the students feel that they are learning at their own pace.

They also feel that they are learning a lot useful things and new things, but there are some flaws that they feel they can change. Such as, maybe a longer recess, bigger lunches, shorter hours for school, and maybe even a reasonable but new dress code. Meaning maybe they should have, every other Friday, as a free dress day. This way they have one day out of every other week to express our inner creativity.

Part two- Most of the school is getting along perfectly, such as friends, learning, and having fun. Most of the students and even the teachers did not know each other at first, but now are best friends. So by this example you can tell that at this school everyone and anyone can be friends, just TRY !

Part three- So if you want to see a lot more in this section then just summit an article, and you will see it in here!

Iraqi Children Are Paying The Price-

How Iraq's children are suffering from the violence and the trauma and violence brings.

According to the U.N.'s children's agency, Unicef, over two million children in Iraq are now suffering from poor nutrition, lack of education, disease and extreme violence. Hundreds of Iraqi children were killed in 2007 violence, and almost 1,350 were detained, said a new report.

Unicef thinks the fall in recent violence was a perfect opening for more international aid. U.S. General in Iraq says violence has been at it's lowest in two and a half years. Still, children pay too high a price for Iraqi turmoil, and should not be made to suffer in this way. And this year things have gotten worse for these little children.

A report said that over 25,000 children were displaced and by then end of the year, an average 75,000 had resorted to living in refugee camps.

“Iraqi children were frequently caught in the crossfire of the violence of 2007.” said Unicef. This has led to poor sanitation, lack of proper nutrition, and little or no education. 17% were already absent from primary school, and only 28% 17 year olds took the hard to reach final exams. Children in remote areas have little access to healthcare. Clean water was also and issue. A recent study showed that only 20% of children out of the capital, Baghdad, had access to safe water.

Unicef says they have made some progress. 4 million children were vaccinated against polio, 3 million against measles, and 500,000 internal refugees were given healthcare, safe water etc.

“This is far to hard a price for children to pay.” said a Unicef official. He stressed that these children should be the foundation for the relief of Iraq.

For more information about Iraq's children, contact me at Hannahseymour@aveson.org.

This article was taken from the BBC headlines. The photos were taken from one or more of the previously mentioned source.

Left: Iraqi girl. Life is extremely

difficult for Iraqi children.

Proper education is hard to come by for these children.

Community Update

By Eleanor Garrett

So far, according to teachers, Aveson is off to a great start! A recent sampling of teacher blogs and one interview, has shown that most, if not all of the teachers love Aveson and think it holds great potential.

Mr. Melkonian, an ASL project specialist, stated that he LOVES Aveson. He stated that "it seems like the staff and students are working well together." He also said, answering the question "In general, do you like the Guiding Principles of Aveson?" "I do like them because they help define what we're trying to do here. I also think they keep everything in perspective." Mr. Melkonian also thinks the students are wonderful. He says, "They have a lot of energy. A lot of them are excited to learn new things."

An ASL teacher, Ms. Dankner, states "I am so excited that this first year is off to such a wonderful start!" She goes on to say, "What joy it is," watching her students enjoy The Tale of Despereaux, a fairy tale her class is reading, "with such passion."

Bridget Hanks, an ASL project specialist, writes "It has really been wonderful to watch the students take over and pull their presentations together." Ms. Hanks sure seems very enthusiastic! For example, she says "I get so excited when I see students getting excited about school and learning." She goes on to say that "things are going swimmingly in projects class."

Ms. Hanks sums up what a lot of the other teachers are feeling by concluding her blog by saying, "Mi clase es su clase."

Acorn Pancakes

by Kirsten Sheehy

In room 2C a project was brewing. Mrs. Hanks and her fourth grade class were searching the planter behind their classroom for acorns. They told me they had to look for the acorns with the darker outside shell. Then they continued to open the acorns and sort the good from the bad. The concept for sorting the meat of the acorns was to keep the yellow meat with no dark spots and toss the ones that were darker or filled with worms (yuk).

Then they poured the good acorns into their authentic mortar and pestle. They proceeded to mash and grind the acorns. Then they ran hot water over the acorn mush

till the water ran clear. Then they mixed together the cornmeal, whole wheat flour, and acorn flour. Then they mixed the salad oil, honey, eggs, milk, and acorn mush separately to make sure it was blended evenly. After that they mixed the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and took them down to the kitchen. There they poured them out onto a pan and let them cook. Then came my favorite part, smothering the warm acorn bread in honey. After that, it took only a matter of minutes to ensure that the tray was emptied of its sticky burden. And thats how Mrs. Hank's class made acorn pancakes.

Did You Know?

• That in Baldwin Park, riding a bicycle through a swimming pool is not allowed.

• In Los Angeles, licking toads is not allowed.

• An intense fear of Halloween is called "Samhainophobia"

• In Alaska, pushing a moose out of an airplane is prohibited.