Books & Beyond Newark Celebration

Global Villagers Newark bound

Wish the 25 Global Village students farewell as they head to Newark over MLK Weekend. The Global Village and Newark Collegiate Academy students will work together to complete their stories for the second Books & Beyond anthology on the theme of conservation.

Winter Break Update

Fund Development team members, Ross and Logan collecting donations

Books & Beyond Display at Max’s Place

Bloomington band, Coyaba, playing at the Max's Place fundraiser

Here is a brief recap of the Fall 2009 Books & Beyond events:

• Held two successful fundraisers at The Village Deli and Max’s Place, raising over $1,300.
• Newark Collegiate Academy students visited IU to kickoff year 2 of the project and begin writing stories on this years theme of conservation.
• Global Village students and Newark Collegiate Academy Writing Partners have spent four Saturdays writing, editing and illustrating their stories.
• The Documenting Team attend a series of trainings on videography and editing footage. They plan to complete a You Tube by March 2010.
• The Kickstarter campaign has raised $5,575 to help with printing costs for the US and Rwandan stories to be published in anthology during Spring 2010.
• The Fund Development Team wrote two grants and raised $5,500 thanks to sponsorships from the IU Student Association and the IU Residential Programs and Services Academic Initiatives and Services.

Books & Beyond Raises $5,575 with Kickstarter.com

A little over three months ago, Books & Beyond decided to take a chance and ask for $5,000 through an online donation website called Kickstarter.com.   We e-mailed information about our Kickstarter campaign to friends, family, co-workers, anybody who was willing to listen and give us their e-mail. After three months, we have surpassed our goal. Thank you to all those who pledged money towards our goal!

Beth Samuelson and James Kigamwa’s Successful Trip to Rwanda

Dear Friends of the Books & Beyond Project,

Professor Beth Samuelson and doctoral student James Kigamwa returned from a week-long trip to Rwanda. The purpose of the trip was to collect the stories written by Kabwende Primary School students on the theme of “home” or “safe place”.  Beth and James collected over 25 stories that share the experiences of Kabwende students growing up in Rwanda through parables, narratives, and even jokes. I have only begun to read the stories but am very impressed and fascinated by them so far.

In addition to collecting the stories, Beth and James also:

• had the approximately 25 stories in English and Kinyarwanda typed by a local typist;
• conducted three discussions with students (15 total) to discuss their experiences with the project so far;
• conducted one discussion with teachers and received a wish list from teachers identifying their needs;
• met with the assistant to the Musanze mayor to explain the project’s progress to date;
• visited the English and Communication Department at the Kigali Institute of Education. Met with Dept. Chair, Cyprien Niyomugabo, and discussed possible collaborations; and,
• met Steven Mugisha, founding president of the Rwanda Book Development Initiative, to discuss future collaborations.

Beth and James’s trip to Rwanda further solidified our partnership with the Kabwende Primary School. The students presented the stories in a ceremony that included traditional dancing and speeches. The teachers were appreciative of the English language classes they have received and will continue to receive through the rest of the school year.  Due to these supplemental English classes the majority of the Kabwende Primary School teaches passed the national English benchmark pre-test. Those who did not pass have time to prepare for the upcoming national English exam required of all Rwandan teachers. As you can see it was a very worthwhile and rewarding trip. We are eagerly awaiting our next visit.

In the next few weeks, Beth will be writing a report of her trip to share with everyone. The GV students will also begin editing the Rwandan stories and organizing them for publishing with the stories from The World is Our Home.

Thank you all for your ongoing support of the project. I will continue to keep you updated  on the progress of Books & Beyond.

NCA Visit to Indiana University: A Great Success

This past weekend 16 Newark Collegiate Academy (NCA) students visited Indiana University. To kickoff the 2nd year of the Books & Beyond project NCA and Global Village (GV) students held a fundraiser at the Village Deli on Thursday, October 1st. Grasping delicious milkshakes, students from both schools shared their experience as writing partners and documenters in the project.  Global Village students sold copies of the, This is Our Home, and Books & Beyond T-shirts.

Friday, October 3rd the NCA students toured campus, received information from IU Admissions, Hudson Holland Program and the Hutton Honors College. The students lunched with representatives from the Atkins Living Learning Center and toured the facility. Friday evening, the intensive writing workshops began. NCA and GV writing partners were matched during a workshop on brainstorming, led by GV student Frances Friedl.

Saturday, October 4th was packed with workshops for the writing partners on writing across cultures, writing to English language learners, story boarding and communicating via technology. By the end of the day, all writing partners had completed a draft of their story focused on the theme of conservation. The weekend was a wonderful success.

Village Deli Fundraiser

Writing Workshop: Brainstorming

Students working on the story boards.

Help Books & Beyond Raise $5,000 by December 13th

Dear Friends of the Books & Beyond project,

As you know the Books & Beyond project completed a very successful first year. Some of our highlights include:

• engaging over 30 students from the US in writing children’s stories,
• raising over $13,000 that funded printing costs and travel for IU students to Newark, NJ over Spring Break 2009,
• distributing 2000 books to the students and teachers at the Kabwende Primary School, and
• sending 11 teachers and students from  Indiana University and Newark Collegiate High School to Rwanda to provide teacher workshops at Kabwende Primary School.

We are kicking-off our second year with a Kickstarter campaign to raise $5000 for the project by December 13th.  This money will go to publishing the Rwandan and US stories as an anthology that will be sold to raise money for the Kabwende Primary School and further the Books & Beyond project.  Project supporters can donate online by going to http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1357132527/books-and-beyond-1 .  Please help us in two ways. First, make a  donation today,  even $5 will help us to reach our $5000 goal by December 13th. Second, pass this post on to others who may want to help the project succeed.

Follow the Books & Beyond project, our trip to Rwanda, and more!

• Read the Books & Beyond blog at: http://booksnbeyond.wordpress.com/
• Check out videos about the project at the Books & Beyond You Tube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/iuglobalvillage
• View pictures from the Books & Beyond 2009 trip to Rwanda at http://booksnbeyond.shutterfly.com/

Thank you for all you support of the Books & Beyond project this past year and in coming years.

Lauren Caldarera

New Video! Books & Beyond: Year One in Review

New videos posted to the Youtube site today, including the interview of Clement, Headmaster at Kabwende Primary School, and the first year in review video:

Upcoming Event: Books & Beyond at the Village Deli

Our second major fundraiser this fall is at the Village Deli in Bloomington, IN, on Thursday, October 1st, 2009. From 6-8 pm, members and supporters of the Books & Beyond project will meet to celebrate the collaborative efforts of Books & Beyond in its first year and raise funds for this next year of the project. Join us!

When: Thursday, October 1st, 2009, 6-8 pm

Where: The Village Deli, 409 E. Kirkwood, Bloomington, IN

Eat Mother Bear’s Pizza and Support Books & Beyond!

We have 2 awesome fundraisers coming up this fall for those of you who would like to support Books & Beyond!

The first is this Wednesday, September 9th, 2009. From 4-11:55 pm, order a Large, 14″ pizza from Mother Bear’s Pizza in Bloomington, and $2.00 will go directly to the Books & Beyond project. You may dine in, pick up your pizza, or have it delivered. Whichever option you choose, please hand in our event flyer (pictured below) to a Mother Bear’s staff member to ensure that Books & Beyond receives the money from your purchase.

Please print out and hand in this flyer when you buy your pizza! Thank you!