on Making the World a Better Place for Battalion Hawk Bloggers (Global Grade 3)

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Making the World a Better Place … One ALPACA at a TIME!

Hello Battalion Hawk Bloggers,

It has been some time since I last left a comment on your blog. I have spent a great deal of time converting and compressing old VHS videos I’ve made over 30 years of filming. I’d also decided to scan 1000s of photos and negatives either my family or I have taken over the years. While I still have over a 1000 negatives and still more old slides to go, I had to return to blogs and have been catching up with the world.

What a wonderful face on the first photo on your post! Some of the farms in my region have alpacas for their wool. Below is a photo of a young female I met at our local country show.  She was very gentle if not a little nervous if too many people were around but she didn’t mind children stroking her fur. “What’s NOT to love about these ADORABLE and VALUABLE alpacas?” how true are these words. 🙂

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (1900 - 1944)

Pilot and author (including “The Little Prince”)

 

It seems some people think planning is just a matter of setting a goal and then hoping it comes about but I see you understand a goal, in order to be more than a wish, needs a plan. Of course we can’t achieve if at some time we don’t set our plan in motion. We see the goal and must set in place the needed steps along the way. Having seen the outstanding efforts of Global Grade 3, I know the Battalion Hawk Bloggers will work hard to continue what I think may be becoming a Battalion Park tradition.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

AJ – I can easily see your excitement at starting a new project. I think your idea to collect clothing is very thoughtful. It would indeed be very cold in the mountains during winter.

Chelsea – You understand the need for continued support of a good project. Projects, once set up, can need more support to keep them fresh and new in the eyes of the people.

Joyce – Fund-raising is an important part of many projects. With all of the best intentions and plans, we at time need to be able to purchase needed materials. You understood a problem in the library project, the need to have someone operate the library.

Lauren – Beginner books would be a very good choice. If the young learn to read, they can pass their skills on to their children when they become parents. One generation builds upon the previous as reading grows.

Tre – It’s true, reading can help people gain a better job. It can also open people up to the world and, as you say, provide entertainment.

Nick – We can take warm clothing for granted but when you have little warm clothing may not always be available.  Your idea is a good one.

Amro – What a wonderful idea. Art supplies would allow the children to express themselves artistically whereas maths can allow the children to manage money. Wouldn’t it be amazing to know one of the children you have helped eventually went to university? I wonder what they would choose to study?

Jayden – A librarian cannot only bring order to a library, they can pass on skills in research and the care of books. They could train children to help in the library.

Dimitri – Very true, Dimitri. The books not only help you read, they can show you how to write.

James – Warm clothing would most certainly help the children when the weather is cold. Around my town and at the beach many people wear sandals we call thongs (picture below). Others call them flip flops or jandals. While they’re great in summer, I don't think I’d like to wear them in winter.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Tommy – Imagine how hard it would be if your school only had 42 books. I think adding more choices is an excellent idea.

Elijah – Collecting clothing is a very good idea. As you are now moving towards spring, Peru is entering autumn (fall). It’s a good time of year to collect unwanted warm clothing.

Chris P – Collecting books is a great idea. They would have to mainly be in Spanish as that is the official language of Peru. English books could also be sent if any children wanted to learn English. ¿Habla usted español? I’m afraid I don’t speak more than a few words of Spanish.

Tyler – Can you imagine the Peruvian children learning to read and write then sharing some of their traditional stories with your class? They might eventually be able to write books of their own.

Christopher – With books to read, sending art supplies and maths equipment would fill a gap in resources for the children. Like people in your school, there may be children with an interest in art or maths but lack the equipment.

Ben – I like your idea of expanding options. Learning materials for reading, art or maths are always good but perhaps you were suggesting sending some sports equipment or hobby materials.

Rayann – I can imagine the books in their library would be in Spanish, their national language. Imagine being able to translate some of your favourite stories into Spanish.

Rebecca – With all of the options being of great value, I can understand why I have seen different people choose each option. Whichever is decided, the next move would be working out how as a group to put a plan into action.

Which option would I choose? While all are valid, I would probably choose a part-time librarian to help them make use of a resource already there.  Perhaps the librarian can show them books on how to make warm clothing and sandals or maths equipment and art supplies.  Whatever is chosen, the future will be better for your efforts.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

Walking alone, the journey is hard but together we can achieve greatness.

2 thoughts on “on Making the World a Better Place for Battalion Hawk Bloggers (Global Grade 3)

  1. The Battalion Hawk Bloggers

    Hi Ross!

    Thank you for your amazing comment, Ross! We really liked the pictures you created and put into your reply to us! We love how you let students and schools use the pictures you create because it shows how open you are to the world … and shows your generosity!

    The picture, at the end with the kids in front of the globe, was really creative. We wondered if you meant to put Canada in the background … since we are from Canada … or whether that was a happy coincidence! Either way, we LOVE it!

    It was VERY tough to decide which one we were going to do to help Mosqoy with their work in Peru … because we didn’t all agree on just one. Many of us wanted to help with Q’enqo in SOME way, (the library, a librarian, books, supplies for math and art, etc.), but … people also really wanted to do warm clothing. Because there are FOUR other Grade Three classes involved in this project we had to have a vote. Altogether, we agreed to vote because … after all … majority rules. It’s only fair.

    All of the choices are important choices. None of us would like to walk, year round, even in FREEZING weather, in sandals without warm clothing. Some were more “doable” from our end than others. For example, it would cost a lot of money to send all the donated warm clothing to Peru … and it takes a L-O-N-G time to get there too! (hint: like the surprise in the SNAIL mail for YOU!!!) 😉

    In the end, the majority of students wanted to continue helping the library in Q’enqo … and there are LOTS of ways to do that! There are still Mosqoy students who are volunteering time to help the community learn to sign books out and take care of them … so … we would like to fund-raise for books and supplies. We like that because it captures two options … in one … and maybe eventually three because there might be enough left over for that part-time librarian!

    Goals are important! Guess what WE did on Friday? We had our FIRST fund-raiser. We got to wear hats and make a donation, if we wanted to. Some of us did chores, brought in birthday money, and even had our families help by making a donation! In the end … GUESS how much we raised! $830.45! We know that our Canadian dollar goes MUCH further in Peru because of all the work our school has done over the past couple of years. But, we wanted to figure out exactly HOW much further! We discovered that it turns out that one Canadian dollar is worth 2.52 Nuevo Sol … that’s AMAZING! We found a GREAT little currency calculator to help us figure out EXACTLY how much it would be:

    https://www.google.ca/search?q=canadian+dollar+to+peruvian+nuevo+sol&aq=2&oq=canadian+dollar+to+nuevo+sol&aqs=chrome.2.57j0l2.23980&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

    We COULDN’T believe our EYES when we saw that $830.45 is worth $2099.97! Wow!

    We really love the quote at the end of your comment! Walking alone, the journey is hard but together we can achieve greatness. It is true – it is amazing to see what you can accomplish when you work TOGETHER!

    Thank you, Ross, for ALWAYS making us think! We sure hope that parcel gets there SOON!

    The Battalion Hawk Bloggers 🙂

    Reply
  2. rossmannell

    Post author

    Hello Battalion Hawk Bloggers,

    Thank you for your comment.

    The world map background was created for you. To make it, I looked at Google Earth after positioning it to show North America. I then drew the map using Photoshop.

    The kids in the picture were from a photograph taken on a school camp. Again using photoshop, I selected and deleted the background. Using Lightness and Contrast adjustments, I turned the kids from a colour photograph into a silhouette.

    Here is a link to a quick post showing the parts of the graphic. You can click on to enlarge the graphics then drag them to your desktop to use.
    http://rossmannellcomments.edublogs.org/2013/03/12/north-america-globe-graphic-for-battalion-hawk-bloggers/

    Decisions are often hard to make when each option is good. I like the use of a democratic vote and how you considered the difficulties with some options. 🙂

    Your fund raiser is brilliant! $830.45 is an amazing total sounding even better when converted to 2099.97 Nuevo Sol. My limited Spanish skills tell me this means New Sun. What a great name for a currency. 🙂

    Each postal day I have been checking for the parcel. I think it took around six weeks for you to receive the one I sent you so it should come soon. I will let yo know when it arrives.

    The quote at the end was just something I made up. It’s something I believe is true. It’s the idea I had when I made the graphic for your post.

    @RossMannell

    Reply

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