National Seals

In Miss Kirsten's class, we learned about the seals of America and Tunisia. First, the American one is composed of an eagle looking at an olive branch, which mean peace. On the top, there are 13 yellow stars, which mean 13 states with a blue background which means justice. For the other colors, red means boldness and white means purity.

Second, the Tunisian seal is composed of a ship win the blue sea which means liberty. On the right side, we find a scale. That means justice and on the other side, we find a lion with a sword in his hand, which means the defense of our country.

And next, we listened to the Tunisian anthem and the American anthem.

Finally, we now know many things about the American seal and the words of the American anthem.

By Ghazi & Houssem K.

Volunteer Visits Access Classes

Last week (in late February), Moetez came to Access in Miss Kirsten's class and he talked about going to visit the nursing home (dar il mousaneen). He explained the function of this home. We decided to visit and take some gifts to them.

We organized with the nursing home and with Mr. Harbin, and we decided to visit the home on Friday, March 13th. We hope that we can make them happy and create smiles on their faces. :)

By Nour & Yassin

A Human Rights Leader

Martin Luther King Jr. was the first man we learned about who wanted many rights for black people (education, the vote...) Martin Luther King Jr. was born in the United States of America. His dream job was to be a lawyer or a doctor. He defended cases about racism and helped get many rights for black people. His famous speech was “I Have a Dream”. He was assassinated. That was very sad because he was an important person and a human rights leader.

By Chaima A., Omaya, & Rahil

True Love Papers

Valentine's Day is the 14th of February. In Access class, we wrote about the topic of “True Love”. Love is important in life. Love is patient and kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. Love is not rude, it is not easily angered. It is not selfish. Love remembers no wrongs, never gives up, never stops trusting, and never loses hope and never fails. True love is passionate because it is trusting, kind, and patient. True love is trusting...for example, my friend trusts me with her money and trusts me with herself. True love is kind...for example, my mother cooks me cookies. True love is patient...for example, when I make a mistake, others forgive me. True love is passionate, trusting, and patient. Love is a good feeling. When you are in love, you know. Love is the best thing in this life. I love this day, Valentine's Day.

By Aya M, Azza, Dhia

Valentine's Day Cards

Valentine's Day is on February 14. In Access class, we made Valentine's cards. First, we colored pictures and glued them to colored paper. Second, we cut the paper. Third, we wrote “I will love you forever!” and we planned to give our cards to our mothers and friends and girlfriends.

By Baha, Firas, Iheb, Wadia

Valentine's Day in Access

Last month, in Mrs. Harbin's lesson, we prepared for Valentine's Day. It was amazing and interesting. We made cards and we colored them. Then, we gave them to our loved ones. Also, we learned a poem about love, and we recited it. It was awesome and made us feel love. For us, Valentine's Day is a symbol of feelings. Really, we enjoyed that day.

By Chaima H., Chaima M., & Rihem

Holidays: Valentine's Day

On the 14th of February, the world celebrates Valentine's Day. We did it, too, in our Access program. That day was special in the program because we prepared some cards, we learned a poem about love, and we wrote some articles about “What is True Love”. In general, Valentine's Day is a day when couples exchange presents and flowers and also come chocolate.

By Chouaib and Yessin

Waterfall Visit

All the pupils in the Access program went to Djebba. In Djebba, there is a big waterfall in the mountains. There are trees. It makes a very amazing, beautiful view. We took many photos and played on rocks and talked together. We listened to music and were very cheerful. We will not forget this trip.

By Aya J., Jihen, & Sirine

A Fun Day

On our last trip, we went to Dougga. It was a good day. We spent the best time on the bus with friends, then we went to the ruins. We saw many ruins. Later, we ate sandwiches and we drank water. Then we went to take the bus to Djebba. The waterfall was beautiful.

By Omar & Wael

Trip to Dougga

On the 23rd of December, 2014, we had a great trip to Dougga. We enjoyed singing songs and dancing on the bus. It was an incredible and unforgettable day. We met the guide at Dougga. She was really pleasant, informative, and kind. She answered all of our questions about the ruins. Also, she explained to us the different roads of Dougga and the way of living in the Roman era. We enjoyed eating very delicious food. It was the best trip we ever went on.

By Nidhal & Wassim

Access Christmas Fun

The Christmas party was an amazing party. We sang beautiful songs like “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” and ate cookies and cake and drank juice, coffee and soda. I can't forget the games like Pass the Parcel and Musical Chairs, and we watched American Christmas music videos. We had fun in this party, and I like the American traditions.

By Emna & Nidhal

Games at the Access Christmas Party

The Access program is very unique. We take every chance to enjoy ourselves and have a great time. The Christmas holiday was a good opportunity to party. So, our teachers organized a party for us. It was amazing, and the best part of it was playing games. At first, we played Pass the Parcel. The rules of this game are to pass the parcel around when the music is on. When it stops, we stop passing the parcel, and you unwrap one layer of gift wrap until the layers are finished.
The second game was the White Elephant Gift Exchange. Everyone brought a gift. We put them on the table. We each took a number, then we exchanged gifts.
The last game was Musical Chairs. It's very famous in Tunisia. Everyone ran around the circle of chairs and when the music stopped, everyone sat down and whoever didn't have a chair simply went out of the game. The winner was Marwa. She won a bottle of Coke. That day was amazing. We had a really great time.

Amina, Farah, & Marwa

Access Christmas Party

Our Christmas party was on the 22nd of December, 2014, in Espace Nakhil. We sang a song “Jingle Bells.” After, we ate cake and drank juice, and we were happy and excited then. We played games and we listened to music. Mr. Christopher and the Access teachers gave us gifts. It was a beautiful party!

By Hassib & Kais

Christmas Cookies

On Sunday, the 7th of December, the students of our Access program went to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Harbin to prepare Christmas cookies for our party. It was a special day, because it was just for girls and their mothers. In general, every girl came with her mother, helping the Harbin family to make the cookies.

There were two groups: one came in the morning at 10:00 am, and the other came in the afternoon at 1:00 pm. The goal was to make wonderful and delicious cookies. On that day, the first group met Miss Abby and then she helped us to find the house.

The most beautiful memories that stick in my head are that we are different than them: the language, the religion, and also traditions, but that wasn't a problem at all. We cooked together, we sang, and we even took pictures. It was so special and unique: Arab mothers with Mrs. Harbin, Miss Abby, Mrs. Judy, Miss Kirsten...all were united and made such beautiful cookies. Then we took them from the oven, decorated them, and finally put them into the freezer until the day of the party. Mrs. Harbin gave us some of them; we enjoyed them with our families when we came home.

By Aya and Dorsaf