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萬佛城育良小學及培德中學新聞簡報
Instilling Goodness/Developing Virtue Schools Newsletter

1999年12月31日 December 31, 1999
王青楠博士中譯 English translation by Qingnan Wang, Ph. D.

校務報告
女校校長比丘尼恆音/副校長比丘尼恆貞

千禧年來了!我們的家庭、工作及生活各方面都將有一個嶄新的開始。今年我們的一個新願望,就是將學校及每一年級的狀況由本簡報告知大家。

我們也希望您將多一些時間給孩子的教育及本校的成長,列為您新年的願望之一。廿年前本校開始時只有八個學生;現在男女校各年級合計共有一百多名學生。本校以義務教育為本,因此我們在各方面都需要家長的支助。我們由衷感謝多年來家長們對本校的貢獻。這學期我們希望每位家長每月能為學校奉獻至少五個小時,不論是教室輔導、校園改善,或通過家長教師聯合會工作都可以。

本校教育董事會(簡稱教董)在制定政策以適應學校成長方面,多有所指示。教董並成立委員會,起草「立校宗旨和長程規劃」。在以後幾個月中,我們歡迎各位教師、家長、學生、校友、本城住眾,踴躍提供寶貴的意見。

家長教師聯合會已經有了很好的開始。今後希望男女兩校有更多的家長來參與,以求進步。聯合會還安排了許多有趣的節目。

敬請於新年一月十三日星期四,下午七時半至九時,來女校中學圖書館參加家長教師聯合會的第一次會議。

願在步入千禧年之際,我們能更加投入,撫育我們孩子們成為有道德,具慈善心及智慧的公民。

人事更動

女校中學秘書孫立、義務舍監、ESL 及數學教師孫雅芸、英文和歷史教師麥當勞,三位女士將離去。我們由衷希望她們未來事業順利。羅莉女士將回來教美國歷史。許玉璇女士將接替秘書職務。

每期都會包括些各年級的簡報。
書不一定是扁的

三、四年級教師李果北>

Gopika 和 Camila 用彩色珠子來裝飾歷史課報告的封面;如慧將壓扁的乾花貼在報告上,再畫上蛾吸花蜜;Cassis 從「加州歷史」一課上對美洲土著名人研究中,做了一個「罐頭裡的報告」;Sandy 對於將詩及研究項目製成折疊書很感興趣。你說這都是小把戲?不錯,可它能激發起寫作及研究的熱情。Jason 說:「我從不知道海貍這麼有趣。我寫了七頁還不能停手。」

我們新的閱讀班--「少年學者集錦」,鼓舞了三、四年級學生探索自己創造生活的潛力、如何彼此互助並幫助世界。他們也開始以審察性的態度來讀書。

第一學期我們研習了「風險及後果」、「友誼」兩章。現在我們在研習「金錢和商業」。以後還有「醫學」、「想像」、「農場和都市生活」等章。

上春季班時我常常將科學課、藝術課移至室外上。今年我想通過一個建造烤箱的實驗課程,使學生領悟大自然的賜予。在學習侵蝕、火山、地球保護、藝術、數學時,我們會親自找泥巴和其他的教材。我們也還會自己烤麵包呢!

為了增強「金錢和商業」這章的學習效果,我們計劃從事一點生意,就是蓋個小溫室種藥草和食用花,在春天時出售。利潤可以用來美化我們的社區,也希望能增進對兒童的關愛。


Administrators' Report
Heng Yin / Heng Jen

The new millennium is here. We have the opportunity to make a fresh start with our family, our work, and every aspect of our lives. One of our New Year's resolutions is to keep everyone informed of happenings in each class and in our school community through this newsletter.

We hope one of your New Year's resolutions is to dedicate more time to your child's education and to helping our schools grow. Our schools began over 20 years ago with 8 students. Now we have over 100 students (boys and girls of all grades). As a volunteer-based institution, we rely on the help of parents to support the schools in various ways. We appreciate the time many parents have contributed over the years. This semester, we encourage every parent to devote at least five hours a month to the school - whether helping out in the classroom, improving the campus, or working through the Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO).

Our Education Board (EB) has been instrumental in helping us to establish policies to manage the growing schools. One committee of the EB is drafting the schools' mission and vision statements. In the next months, we will seek input from teachers, parents, students, alumni, and community members. We hope you will participate in this exciting process.

Our PTO has gotten off to a promising start. We hope more parents from both the Boys and Girls Schools will join and make a difference. Many exciting activities are planned.

Please join us for the first PTO meeting on Thursday, January 13, 7:30-9:00 pm in the High School Library.

May we enter the new millennium with the commitment to raise and educate our children to be ethical, compassionate, and wise citizens.

Changes in the Faculty/Staff

With great reluctance we bid good-bye to Miss Lily Sun, our volunteer high school secretary, Miss Anny Sun, volunteer dorm supervisor and teacher of ESL and Math, and Ms. Patricia MacDonald, English and History teacher. We wish them well in their future careers!

We'd like to welcome Ms. Laurie Vasquez, who will be returning to teach US History, and Ms. Lucille Hui, who will be our new secretary.

Each issue will include news from some of the grades.
Books Don't Have to be Flat!
By Rebecca Lee, teacher of 3rd and 4th grades

Gopika and Camila decorate their history report covers with colored beads. Ru-hui glues pressed flowers onto a page, then draws a moth sipping nectar from the flowers. Cassie produces a report-in-a-can from her California History research on Famous Native Americans. Sandy has taken an in­terest in creating folded books for poetry and research projects. Gimmicky? Yes, but it inspires some great writing and love for research. "I've written seven pages and don't want to stop," exclaims Jason. "I didn't know that beavers were so interesting."

Inspired by our new reading program, Open Court's Collections for Young Scholars, the 3rd and 4th graders have been exploring their own potentials as creators of their lives and how they can be of benefit to each other and to the world. Plus, they are becoming inquisitive readers.

First semester, we covered the units on Risks and Consequences and Friendship. Now we are into the unit on Money and Business, which will be followed by Medicine, Imagination, and Farm and City Life.

Spring semester, I often combine my science and art classes and move them outdoors. My goal this year is to teach the gifts of nature as an experiential learning project by building an oven. We will be gathering our own clay and materials while learning about erosion, volcanoes, and conserva­tion of the earth as well as art and math. And yes, we should be able to bake our own bread!

To enhance the unit on Money and Business, we plan to create a business by building a mini-greenhouse and grow herbs and edible flowers to sell in the spring. The profits will go to a beautification project for the community and hopefully to the growth of caring children.

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