Dec6th2011

DearFriendsofRawdatElZuhur,

WetakethisopportunitytowisheveryoneahappyNewYear
2012,andtowishallthosewhoarecelebratingChristmasa
joyfultimewithfamilyandfriends.Aswelookat2011we
ThankGodforalltheblessingsatRawdatElZuhur.Itwasa
goodyearwithfriendsfromallovertheworldvisitingthe
school,andseeingthechildreninaction.Wecontinueto
appreciatethefinancialsupportofourfriendsaswellasthe
moralsupport.Weespeciallythankourmainsupporters;
Biblelands,Anera,GlobalMinistries,PalcraftaidandtheMunaandBasemHishmehFoundation.
AndLastbutnotleast,wewanttothankthelocalcommunityfortheirsupportofthemany
activitiesthatcouldnothavebeenachievedwithouttheirhelp.Sothisisthetimeoftheyear
whenwetakeamomenttoreflectandTHANKeachandeveryonewhokeptusgoingtoachieve
ourgoalandfulfillourmission.

HappyNewYear.MaytheNewYearbringpeace,justiceandwellbeingfortheworldall
over.
Sincethelastnewsletter,ourgeneralassemblyheldelectionsandanewboardwaselected.
MrsAblaNasir(president),MsDaliaHabash(Treasurer),MsAmalDuaybis(Secretary),Ms
MargoTarazi,MsDinaNasser,MsDimaSaid.Theboardalreadyhadseveralmeetingsandhas
plansforavarietyoffundraisingevents.ThefirstwillbeheldattheschoolonFridaythe9thof
December.ItwillincludeabreakfastofbakedbreadwithThymeandoliveoil,servedwithmint
teaaswellasabringandbuyandabakesalesection.
Newelectionsalsotookplacefortheparentteacherassociationandwehavesevennew
memberswhoareveryenthusiastictohelpwiththeschoolactivitiesandworkwiththeteachers
onaddressingavarietyofissuesrelatedtothecharactertree.

ThelateMissElizabethNasir,andherroleasFounderoftheschool
washighlightedthispastweekinAlQudsdaily,oneofthemajor
Palestiniannewspapers.MrsSalwaShubeitaZananiriwroteawhole
pageontheschool,itsfounder,itshistoryandmission.MayGodbless
thesoulofMsElizabethNasirwholeftalegacytobeproudof.

AtRawdatElZuhur,onecan
besurethatnothingstaysthe
same.Continuouschanges
areoccurringallthetimein
thedevelopmentofprogramsandinthephysicalsetupof
thelimitedspace.Duringthesummerholidays,partoftheopenspaceofthekindergartenarea
wasturnedintoaclosedareatoprovideanextraroomforthechildrentoenjoyartandnatural
sciences.Theyhavetheirownmaterialinthatroomaswellaswashbasinssotheycanmessup
asmuchastheywant.ThankstotheWelfareAssociationforfundingthisproject,whichisrun
bytheEarlyChildhoodCenter..
ThanksalsotoFaisalHusseiniFoundationforupgradingtheinfrastructureoftheschool,andfor
thesupportoftheempowermentofteachersproject.Ongoingtrainingisgiventoteachersof
Arabic,English,MathandScience.Theteachersaremonitoredduringtheirworkinthe
classrooms,overandabovetheirtrainingafterschoolhours.Inthelanguages,itisvery
importantforteacherstoenablethestudentstoreadfluently,comprehendwhattheyreadand
expressthemselvesclearly.
Alumniarepartoftheschool.Eventhoughtheyhave
graduated,thealumnistillfeelconnectedtotheschool.Four
ofthemvisitedtheschoolandenjoyedspendingsometime
walkingthroughthetimezoneoftheirpastyears.With
plentyofOoosandAahstheyrecognizedsomanynewand
nicechanges.Butthewallpaintingwiththethemeofpeace
whichtheyhaddonewhentheywereatschoolhaschanged
andreallyneededmaintenanceaspartofitwaschipped.Sobeforetheendoftheirvisitthey
committedthemselvestodothejobofrepaintingitsothatthenewpaintingwillbefitthepeace
theyhopewillprevailoneday.

ThelibraryisactivethesedayscelebratingMyfather
readsmeastory;aprojectsupportedbyTamerInstitute
toencouragereading.Fatherscometotheschooland
enjoytellingstoriestothechildren;averyenjoyable
experienceforboth,fathersandchildren.

Volunteerdaywasadaytoberemembered.Monday,December5startedlikeanyother
normalschoolday,exceptthattheplaygroundwaslessbusyandlessnoisy.Howeverthe
childrenthemselveswerebusyinacleaningorganizedchaos.Theyformedcleaningteamsto
volunteercleaningtheirschool;boysandgirls,allagesandsizeskeptbusycleaningfloors,
windows,doorhandles,desksandwhateverneededcleaning.Detergentandwaterwasbeing
splashedallover;itwasanamazingsight,anditallsmeltsogoodwheneverythingwasdone.

Weseizethisopportunitytopersonallythankallourfriendswhovisitedtheschooland
thosewhomadeadonationbetweenSept1stand6thofDec2011,afterourlast
newsletter.
Mr.MusabAbuKhalaf
Mr.OmranQawasmi
Ms.LailaGathyanAlGhanem
Mr.UsamaJamalTouqan
Mrs.LailaUsamaTouqanandherthreechildrenLayth,TaymourandOgi
Mrs.MarieAnneKleber
Mr.ThomasandMs.DiannaHowen
Rev.JeanHughes
Mrs.RoxanneBennis
Dr.RaymondandMrs.PatHaddad
Mr.NevilleUsher
Mr.NorbertSchultesandMsYumiDohi
Ms.TomikoDohi
Mr.WolfBans
Mr.&Mrs.Scott
BishopJosephSartorisGroup
Mrs.SamiaKhoury
Mr.JohnandMrs.BrendaSpencer
Mr.George&Mrs.WilhelmineBaramki
RuthThomasonGroup
Mrs.RandaLoupis
Mrs.GMKohn
Mr.AmjadHabbas
Ms.RaniaandMs.ZainaKanaan
MrKhaledAnabtawiOverseasInternational
Ms.JulietteTouma