Un Montón de Materiales

Q: How do you bring 800 lbs. of school supplies to the DR?
A: You pack them in suitcases and take them on the plane to Puerto Plata!

Last night, several Mariposa Project teachers gathered in Brookline to pack suitcases full of supplies. We carried boxes of school supplies and Spanish books upstairs and downstairs, to and from car trunks, and on and off a manual bathroom scale. We are so grateful to all of our wonderful donors for providing these supplies for our students!

All the supplies are finally inside. Now, we have to pack them!

"This is kind of like Tetris," says Marina, as she packs water bottles, chalk, and scissors.

Tehka loads up on chart paper, sponges, and scotch tape.

A 20 lb. box of notebooks: Everything must be weighed because of airline baggage allowances.

All of the boxes were labeled and prioritized.

Ingrid displays one of our high priority stainless steel bowls. This set of bowls will serve 1,800 meals to our Dominican students this summer.

50 lbs. of classroom materials and water bottles

Libros...

...libros...



y más...
¡15 libras de libros en esta caja!
Nos encantamos leer.

We were tired, sweaty, and sore, but we had a great time sorting through all of the amazing materials that we received from our donors. We can't wait to put these things in the hands of our students!

Hope Central Church's Generosity Supports the Mariposa Project

Hope Central Church in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood held a special prayer this morning for all of the Boston teachers who are traveling to the Dominican Republic. In addition to Rev. Laura Ruth Jarrett's beautiful blessing, the Mariposa Project also received many supplies from parish members. As a result their donation, each of the 45 girls in the Mariposa Girls Summer Leadership program will receive a backpack stocked with school supplies as well as a water thermos. This organization has also purchased stainless steel bowls for serving breakfasts and lunches to all of the Mariposa students and volunteers. Earlier this year, Boston teacher and parish member Nancy Doherty also received a Fast Track Grant towards her summer volunteer work in the Dominican Republic.

Nancy Doherty couldn't believe how many supplies we received!

Mariposa Teachers Fran Perkins, Nancy Doherty, and Jennifer Dines pose with Reverend Laura Ruth Jarrett.

Parish members filled backpacks with supplies for the girls.


We had a great time putting everything together.

Will everything fit in the car?

Success!

Thank you, Hope Central!

Letters to Dominican young women from two Boston students

Two of my Harbor Middle School students, Ylondah and Milan, were very excited to see the Mariposa Project blog. They asked to write something for this blog, and I suggested that they write letters to the Dominican students. I plan to translate these for and share them with our Dominican students. Thank you, Milan and Ylondah, for all the kind words!

Mrs. Dines loves her great students: Milan and Ylondah!

Dear Dominican Students:
Hi! This is one of Mrs. Dines’s 6th grade students. My name is Milan. I want to tell you how great Mrs. Dines is for the DR students. She is a really cool teacher. She loves to speak Spanish.
I think it’s important that all people should know Spanish at all times because it helps other people who don't know how to speak the language. For example, people who do know how to speak Spanish can teach people who don’t. In our school, there are several Spanish-speaking students that like to talk in Spanish. Some of them teach other kids how to say Spanish words to help them learn. I wish I could be Spanish because I like the way Spanish people talk.
I’m so glad that she is working for all of you. I hope you all have fun with her being there with you. I will miss her so much.
Sincerely,
Milan



Dear Dominican Students:
Hello! My name is Ylondah. I have been a student with Mrs Dines this year. Mrs. Dines is a great friend, but, to us, she is also a teacher, and we will miss her so much as she continues her teaching skills in a different country. Mrs. Dines will make the young women in Cabarete, D.R.’s hearts smile because she has the happiness, potential, and courage inside of her body. D.R. young women will be extremely excited to see her, and she will love to teach these nice young women.
Here at the Harbor Middle School in Boston, in my class, there are about 5 or 6 kids that are from a Spanish country, and the rest are either African-American or from a different country. It’s important for Boston Public Schools teachers to know Spanish because as you can see some kids in Boston were born in the Spanish countries and came to America to learn fluent English. So as the kids go to school to learn English from a bilingual teacher, they won't feel like they have no confidence. Mrs. Dines’s ability to speak Spanish is very good because other kids would probably love to learn Spanish, too.
To close out this letter, I want to say that we will miss Mrs. Dines, but we want her to have a great time with you all!
Best wishes and Happy Summer,
Ylondah

8th Grade Volunteers Assemble Leveled Reading Library

A group of 8th grade students from the Harbor School generously volunteered their time to assemble a collection of 120 printable books. These books, printed from readinga-z.com, will allow for leveled reading instruction during our literacy classes in the Mariposa Young Women's Summer Leadership Program. Special thanks to this dedicated group of international volunteers: Tai-najah Lundy, Antonio Banrey, Kassandra Ramirez, Caroline Depina, Patrick S. Lilley, Danielson Correia, Yarielis Ortiz, and Josh Owens. Also, thank you to their wonderful teachers Ms. Marina Mutz and Ms. Kelly Donoghue for allowing their classroom to serve as a book assembly center!

Below: Mariposa Foundation Academic Director and Harbor School 6th Grade Teacher Jennifer Dines is all smiles when she sees this dedicated group of volunteers!

Welcome!

Bienvenidos. We are a group of women teachers who are living in Cabarete, Dominican Republic for the summer of 2010. In Cabarete, we will work with the Mariposa DR Foundation to implement the 2010 Mariposa DR Young Women's Leadership Program. This program provides education, food and excursions for 45 young women. Our teachers will teach health, mathematics, reading, and writing to a group of 45 young women, ages 13 to 18, and we will participate in a variety of activities that will enable us to better learn the Spanish language and understand the Dominican culture. Many of us are teachers in the Boston Public Schools and members of the Boston Teachers Union. The Boston Public Schools has a significant population of Dominican students, an this provided a motivation for our travel to the Dominican Republic. We are very grateful to the Fund for Teachers for providing a grant that covers travel, housing, food, materials, and program fees for two of our teachers!