Sunday, February 12, 2012

SILC: Weekly Digest (02/12/12)


Dear SILC Students, Parents, Teachers and Volunteers:


Hope you are enjoying the Grammys and making the plans for Valentines Day. We have another deadline coming up on Valentines Day. Read on ...


[1] Nickelodeon Series, "Nick News With Linda Ellerbee (http://www.nick.com/nicknews/)

Is your child between 11 and 14? 

Jessie - one of the coordinating producers of this show - has contacted SILC in the context of the Nickelodeon "Nick News" series.

In preparation for their May special celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage month, they are reaching out to various youth organizations across the country that may like to participate in on-camera interviews. The show will include segments such as: 

--> Who are Asian Pacific Americans (APAs)? (Why was the month created? What countries do APAs come from? Do they feel like they fit in with Caucasian/African/Latino Americans as well as their own ethnic group?)
--> Stereotypes Examined. (What are the stereotypes kids hear? Do they feel misunderstood or insulted? How often do kids face prejudice because of how they look or where they're from?)
--> Individual Stories. (Examples may include a Japanese-American kid whose grandparent was in an internment camp, a kid struggling to live up to his/her parents' expectations, APA celebrities talking about overcoming stereotypes in their stories of success.)

You can view past "Nick News" episodes on our iTunes page: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nick-news-with-linda-ellerbee/id400203724
If you are between 11 and 14 and want to be considered by Nickelodeon for on-camera interview, please let me or Shiv Bhatia (Principal) know by 10 PM Tuesday 14th February (by the valentines day).  Once we receive the names,  we will pass on the names to Nickelodeon producers for their consideration.

[2] SILC Newsletter Update:
Coming soon ... the new & improved "SILC Times"
 
The SILC Achievement Project (SAP) Class, has taken ownership of the SILC Newsletter.  The students leading the Newsletter activities are Bhavana Suvarna, Sanjana Pandya and Tarunika Anand.
 
We conducted a survey at SILC last week and based on the results of which we are making changes to the SILC newsletter. We are inviting kids and adults to unleash the "author" within you and send in articles in any of the following areas of interest.
 
You can write to us at newsletter@silocmn.com
 
For the Kids:Informational:Reviews  & Features:
CrosswordsCurrent India related issuesIndian movies
Word FindsProfile: Non-profits working in IndiaIndian books
QuizzesProfile: Other Indian Non-profitsIndian music
Other Fun ActivitiesTeen Issues
Indian Holidays & Traditions
Essays & Fiction
 
The final decision to include or exclude any contributions rests with the Editorial Board.


[3] Personal Safety  SILC endeavors to provide a safe and secure environment for its students. As you are aware, SILC functions from the premises of a public school where movement of unknown people cannot be controlled. The WalMart incident in Atlanta, GA is a reminder that we do not live in a perfect world ( http://www.inquisitr.com/192868/girl-fights-kidnapper-at-atlanta-walmart-escapes/ ).  As explained on Saturday, please make sure that parents/guardians are always aware of their respective child(ren) whereabouts, when they are not in a class. We have had an instance where a class room change was announced during morning assembly but a student who came in late (unescorted) was found wandering in the hallway. Parents/guardians are requested to escort smaller children to respective class rooms and make sure that the volunteer teacher is present before leaving.
 
[4]. Advance Information Regarding Absences  SILC understand that at times families are unable to make it to a school day. Please make sure that you do inform the respective teachers about absences, if any. Our volunteer teachers put in a lot of effort to teach and they would surely appreciate advance info if your child(ren) cannot make it or need to leave early. With the SS Day approaching teachers are putting in extensive efforts for a good class exhibit and would definitely want to know about a student's availability. At the same time, we also have classes where the total registered students are just a small number e.g yoga class. If all of the students (from a smaller class) do not show up, the volunteer teacher would end up making that drive to school for nothing.

[5] Punctuality   As a connected point to the preceding paragraph, please do make an endeavor to be on time for the classes. The volunteer teachers have a lot to teach and if a student shows up 10-15 mins late, it upsets the lesson plan for that teacher. We request you to be respectful of the teacher's time and also for the students who showed up before the class started.
 
[6] Lost & Found  We continue to spot articles of clothing and personal effects being left behind after school. While the SILC board does its best to pick up such articles and hold them for the rightful owners to claim; at times, certain articles may be missed from being spotted. Please make sure that you leave with what you came in with. We still have a few articles of clothing (and a camera) which are unclaimed and will be donated to charity if the rightful owners do not claim them.

Answers to last week's quiz:

[Q] What is GandhiCon? How is it related to Linux operating system?

First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win.

The above is a quote from Mohandas Gandhi, describing the stages of establishment resistence to a winning strategy of nonviolent activism. Supporters of Open Source movement and Linux have embraced this as almost an explanatory framework for the behaviors they observe while trying to get corporations and other large institutions to take new ways of doing things seriously. This strategy is also referred to as GandhiCon.


This week's Quiz:

[Q] What the words - Chit, Bandanna and Shampoo - have in common?

-- 
Regards
Siva Jasthi
Director - Communications
School of India for Languages and Culture
http://www.silcmn.com
(mobile) 612.217.4821

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