Friday, November 11, 2011

Global Leadership Forum, Arlington, VA

Will post photos soon......
This serves as a book mark until I load the photos....thanks for your patience!

Humphrey Presentations Begin October 19, 2011


Alejandra and Khyati were the first fellows to present their countries to community members, friends and faculty members of the Penn State community. Congratulations to both ladies - for a "job well done"!

Philadelphia, PA


After visiting the Sheppard School, we switched gears - and visited University of Pennsylvania. The Humphrey Fellows were hosted by Dr. Doug Lynch, Vice-Dean of the Graduate School of Education. He entertained questions and answers from the fellows .....a stark change from issues the Sheppard School was experiencing - the fellows were told UPENN did not need students, they had plenty of $$, they had lots of resources, they, they, I. I, We, We.......it was a very different meeting......with a tour around central campus and a quick visit to Starbucks, we left UPENN and headed to our hotel. After taking time to digest our day, we spent the next 30 hours enjoying the city - Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Constitution Center, Reading Terminal, South Street!
On the way home, a stop over in Lancaster to experience "Outlet" shopping! Oh, I forgot to mention - the weather was GREAT!

The Isaac Sheppard Elementary School - Oct 14, 2011



Dr. Otto welcomes the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows to his school in West Philly. We visited the classrooms, shared Q & A with Dr. Otto, enjoyed a traditional Puerto Rican meal from the nieghborhood. We were most impressed with the children who were happy, fully immersed in their classroom activities in cheerfully decorated clean classrooms. Teachers, support staff and volunteers were so proud of their school - and we were speechless after we were informed a few weeks ago that the school will be closing at the end of the year. But, the school has been on the "chopping block" for eight years....according to Dr. Otto who was sent to the school eight years ago to help close the school. Let's hope they have many more years to close the school.

Information Sharing Session - October 12, 2011

On this night, we were happy to meet Amal's sons.....in fact, Amal, Zarudeen and Diana shared what was important to them and reflecting on their individual accomplishments since their arrival. Although there was lively conversations during the evening, a question was sent to all the fellows after the meeting from Khyati - about Happiness?? to be continued.....

DAY OF CARING, October 7, 2011

Stay tuned for photos from Day of Caring. The Humphrey Fellows and program staff spent the morning at SKILLS INC - a center that operates a day program for mentally challenged adults. We met wonderful residents who gave us all the opportunity to share the gift of time while making arts and crafts. The staff told us they were pleased with the interactions between the residents and the fellows. One example was Mouse who had not spoken for over two weeks - within an hour of making clay figures and puppets, he was talking freely and openly sharing conversation with several fellows. Posing for photos...and then there was Tom who shared his scrapbook with the fellows. Another resident who could not speak communicated non-verbally with the fellows....overall we were all touched and hope to return in the new year to spend more time with the residents of SKILLS. A staff member sent a message to us - after we left, Tom said, "I will miss them". It truly was a "Day of Caring"!

South Hills Business School - Sept 30, 2011



It will be hard to top this site visit - so far the BEST VISIT! Thank you to the Mazza's for hosting this visit.

Team Building at Tussey Mountain - Sept 30


Team building continues at Tussey Mountain....over one month ago...a very heavy rainstorm abruptly ended the activity. Finally the team resumes team buiding at the ropes course with Brynn and Bennett. Thanks to Diana for taking these very nice photos!

September 28th, 2011


The College of Education Fall Meeting - Dean Monk introduces new faculty and staff during a college-wide meeting held each fall. The Humphrey Fellows have the opportunity to introduce themselves to the audience during this event.
Before this event, Humphrey Fellow Denise Neddermeyer from Brazil was the guest speaker for the monthly African Studies brown bag.

Late September Photos


Some more memories of late September......Can you believe it is almost mid- November??