`The Q` June 2013 - GDQ International Christian School

The Q
GDQ International Christian School
Educating international children to have maximum influence for the glory of God in their lifetime
Tirana, ALBANIA | April 2013
Tirana Recycles
By Coleman Dill, Marcus Spiecker, Beth Pearce, Aaron Doci, Aubrey
Eshelman, Mia Vogeli, Christopher Bowers, Ben Hosaflook, Aaron
Purver, and Joshua Choi; Grade 8
The Art of Plastic Bottle Squishing
Photos: Aaron Doci
154 kilos and climbing
From March through May, GDQ is participating in a
plastic bottle collecting contest with 19 other schools
in Tirana. The school that collects the most plastic in weight
per student will receive $2,500.
Brett Gravlin, a teacher at Ernest Koliqi (EK), is organizing
the contest and has sponsorship money for the prize from the
Fushe Kruje Cement Factory.
The contest is simple. Students collect empty bottles from
their neighborhood and bring them to school. Students crush
and bag the bottles and set the bags out for the Roma
community to pick up.
The Roma are able to sell the plastic to a recycling company
and keep all the money.
Aaron Doci, GDQ’s K-8 vice president, likes the idea. “We
can help both the Roma and the environment.”
GDQ K-8 president, Aubrey Eshelman, added, “Obviously,
we are interested in the prize money, but the point is cleaning
the environment.”
Mia Vogeli, GDQ grade 8 student, noted, “GDQ students are
working hard to bring as many bottles as possible.” As of 8
April, GDQ had collected 154 kilos. “We consider Tirana our
home and want to help make Tirana a cleaner place to live.”
Why recycling? Brett explained, “Having been in Albania for
nearly ten years, I know there are many problems regarding the
environment, but I decided to pick just one, which was plastic.
Brett came up with the idea of a plastic recycling contest
while trying to teach his school about the importance of
recycling. “I had my school see which class could bring in the
most plastic bottles by weight.” Finding it to be successful, he
thought, “Why not expand it to more schools.”
Cleaning up the environment is not Brett’s only goal with
this recycling project. Brett wants to help kids believe in
themselves. He wants them to see that they can have an impact
on the environment in Albania.
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To follow GDQ’s progress, check out
Tirana - Riciklimi i Plastikës 2013 on Facebook
To help us collect, drop off your plastic
bottles at the GDQ K-8 building
on Don Bosko
Each week one of the class grades meets outside to
squash, squish, and smash plastic bottles. Students
then bag the bottles for collection. (Our grade 6
bottle squishers)
Up and Down the K-5 Corridor
Animals and habitats
Popcorn, beans and tortillas
The grade 5 class has been learning about habitats. Gabriela
Mitrushi explains, “My class did a project on animals in their
habitats. My animal, the Amur leopard, lives in the Gobi desert
where it snows and only thaws in the summer.”
Asked if she enjoyed the project, Gabriela smiles, “It was
fun, and I like researching about animals.”
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The second grade class organized an Aztec party to wrap
up their Aztec unit. Students brought popcorn, beans, and
salad. They enjoyed these with tortillas, chicken and hot
chocolate to celebrate the unit in an interactive and fun
way.
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“Boss of the Plains”
By Coleman Dill, Grade 8
GDQ’s first graders have finished a unit about cowboys. They
learned about a special hat called “the boss of the plains” and
a man named Jalepeno Hal. They even created posters of
themselves wearing “the boss of the plains.”
“I love learning Bible verses”
By Mia Vogeli, Grade 8
Cowgirl and her equipment
Izabella Pjetri, Grade 1
When I asked our kindergarteners what they like most
about their Bible lessons, Victor Nunes raised his hand and
commented, “I love learning Bible verses.” Tina piped in,
“Yes, me too. I love learning verses from the Bible.” Martin
Lleshi chattered, “I like songs more because we sing.” They
all liked hearing from the Bible in one way or another.
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Mountains and rivers
Our grade 4 students have been learning about mountains
and rivers. Each student was given a name of a mountain or
river. They researched and shared their findings with the class.
Anita Kukeli researched the Volga River in Russia and the
Great Dividing Range found in Australia.
What interesting facts did Anita learn? “Well, the Volga
River is so clean that people sometimes use it to bathe in! The
Great Dividing Range is the home of wallabies, kangaroos,
kookaburras, parrots, koalas, and other very interesting
animals found only in Australia.”
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GDQ International Christian School
www.gdqschool.org | +355 692090515
Stepping back in time
Since the beginning of February, our third grade students
have been studying ancient Rome. They are writing a
journal for a Roman citizen living in that time.
Jonathan Bowers’ journal details the life of a Roman
plebeian, Pikachu, who joins the Roman army. The training
is “fun,” Pikachu says, but “unluckily for us a war is going
to start in a couple of days so I only have one day to train.”
“I passed the test! My
friend did, too.”
Jonathan Bowers, Grade 3
Beyond the Classroom
Something funny
for the money
By Aubrey Eshelman, Beth Pearce, and Mia Vogeli
Grade 8
Easter
As part of our Easter celebration, our K-8 students brought in
original works of art — eggs, crosses, and poems. Phoebe Purver
took first place among our poetry entries. Congratulations,
Phoebe.
By Phoebe Purver, Grade 4
This March, GDQ K-8 participated in Red Nose Day to help
Comic Relief, a United Kingdom (UK) organization, raise money
to help people in Africa and the UK enjoy better lives.
To raise money during the week, we dressed up,
participated in a bake sale and threw wet sponges at Mr.
Pearce and Miss Waites. In total we raised 64000 leke.
The teachers and students at GDQ paid a 100 leke each to
dress up in a funky way. Some teachers dressed as pirates and
clowns.
Easter’s not about the egg toss, its about Jesus
dying on the cross, he saved our sin, and threw
them in the bin, he wants us to follow his ways and
give him praise.
Easter’s not just about the bunny, who wants to
take all our money! Jesus gives his love for free, he
paid the price upon that tree.
Easter’s not about the treats or the chocolate and
the sweets. His gift to us is easy to see . . . Freedom
for you, and for me!
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Book Review
Parents and students brought in yummy snacks. We saw all
different kinds of desserts from different cultures. These
included cupcakes, kim-bab, brownies, cookies and cake.
We enjoyed the opportunity to soak our school directors.
We could pay 20 leke to throw a wet sponge and 30 leke to
dump a cup of water on Mr. Pearce and Miss Waites. Students
were lining up and waiting up to five minutes for the chance to
drench them.
Third quarter our middle school students focused their reading
attention on a biography or autobiography. They gained insights
into the impact that scientists, missionaries, government leaders,
and people like you and me have made in the lives of others.
By Christopher Bowers, Grade 8
GDQ is on Facebook
www.facebook.com/gdqschool
Check out our facebook page for more Red Nose Day photos.
Children of the Storm is a great book. Natasha Vins’ story is
a mix of family relations, faith struggles, and life battles.
What surprised me the most about this book was that
there was so much persecution in Russia and that during
her whole time in Russia not one of her family members
was beaten to the point of death or died because of
persecution.
Her autobiography kept me interested and glued to my
chair. Some of the vocabulary was a little challenging but
made the book a better read. The book was about one
hundred and fifty pages and was about a two hour read.
I knew nothing about Natasha Vins so this made the book
even better as I was surprised at every new page. I wish the
book described what the characters looked like because
there was no description of places or people. I would
recommend this book to young adults and older.
Becoming Better Acquainted
Our grade seven students took time to interview several of our new staff members.
What did they discover?
Miss Eddy Chan
Miss Sarah Leonard
Interviewed by Hana Agolli
Interviewed by Hana Agolli
What makes a good student?
A student who is responsive
and attentive, curious and
hardworking.
How long have you been
teaching?
More than 10 years.
What was your first thought
when you heard about GDQ?
GDQ is a very good school and
devoted to Christianity.
Why did you come to GDQ?
I went on a college trip to
Albania. At that time I hadn’t even
thought about teaching here
after college.
What was your first thought
when you saw GDQ?
I liked the community and how
we could openly talk about God.
Tell us about your family.
My mom is a part-time teacher
at a high school, and my dad
works for the Hershey Company.
Mr. Andy Vander laan
Interviewed by Sion Oh
What is your favorite color?
Brown. If you put another
colored object next to brown, it
looks more beautiful. I want to
become like the color brown,
making people become better
people if they are next to me.
What makes a good student?
A student that has a hunger for
learning.
Why did you come to GDQ?
I like youth. I wanted to teach
at an international school. God led
me here.
Bob and Judy Scottum
Interviewed via email
Tell us about your family.
We have 5 adult children and 8
grandchildren. All but one live an
hour’s drive of our home, so we can
get together often.
Why did you come to GDQ?
We felt God telling us to go for
Him. Our careers had been in
teaching, so it seemed a good fit to
become part of a school.
What is the best thing about GDQ?
The GDQ family (staff, students,
parents). The encouragement and
love we felt from everyone has
been an incredible blessing.
Mr. Dan Porterfield
Miss Maureen Thomson
Mr. Joshua Lee
Mrs. Lena Kim
Interviewed by Dea Kukeli
Interviewed by Dea Kukeli
Interviewed by Lydia Spiecker
Interviewed by Lydia Spiecker
Why did you come to GDQ?
I chose GDQ because the need
here was greater. I felt that I
would make a difference.
Tell us about your family.
There are 4 people in my family
— my wife, my 2 sons and me. Jin
Seok is in 5th grade, and John is in
3rd grade.
What was your first thought
when you heard about GDQ?
It sounded like an adventure.
What is the best thing about
GDQ?
I love the fact that I get to work
with people from different
countries.
Why did you come to GDQ?
I wanted to travel and teach in
an international school. I am a
missionary kid myself.
What was your first thought
when you heard about GDQ?
People at GDQ are fun and
warm, and I thought I would be
happy.
What is the best thing about
GDQ?
The students.
How long have you been
teaching?
I have taught Bible at Sunday
school for 10 years.
What was your first thought
when you saw GDQ?
GDQ is a dynamic school.
What makes a good student?
The desire to be someone, selfmotivation
Why did you come to GDQ?
I am a MK myself. I wanted to
share my experience.
Where did you teach and what did
you teach before coming to GDQ?
I taught in Kazakhstan. I was
teaching Korean.
Next issue — Meet our graduating seniors and grade 8 students