Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Hello Volunteers, Supporters, & Followers! 

We have to announce (although late) that we have shut down the English immersion pre-school and other English education activities that took place in the house on the street 12 de Julio in Puerto Plata. We still have the scholarship program with three students on scholarship. We created this English immersion education program in order to more practically engage foreign volunteers and also to respond to the requests of the general Puerto Plata community who had asked for English lessons from native English speakers throughout the years.

The decision to shut down was based on the lack of local registrations and the high costs of the building we were renting. If we have the opportunity to start this program up again in the future, we will do so in a different part of town with a different approach, and building on top of relationships we have formed and lessons learned throughout this effort. Thank you to those of you who have sponsored a camper, a pre-school student, volunteered, or taught. It has been a blast and hopefully we can start it up again someday! In the meantime, we'll continue with the scholarships. If anyone takes special interest in the English immersion pre-school and would like to dedicate resources toward a wiser and stronger re-start, please write to us at cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com.

I never did post the family photo of the boy who was sponsored to go to pre-school. Although the school year ended early for him, he learned and grew so much during the months he attended pre-school! Here is Pedro (Alamson) Toussaint and his mother Etienne.

Lastly, a special thank you to Julienne, Hannah, and Mary Ellen who came and taught in the pre-school this year, as well as Nicole who volunteered with the club, and of course everyone who helped out wtih the summer camp! We will do the English camp this summer but in the grassroots school in Padre Granero. We'll continue to post about scholarships.

Introducing: Mary Ellen

Hello Everyone!

My name is Mary Ellen and I am the new teacher at Cambia Mis Estrellas! I've been here two weeks now and I'm really excited to be playing games, singing songs and watching the students learn and grow! (Learning goal for this week: teach one of our kids that not all colors are pink...something he is completely convinced of.)

Let me tell you a bit about myself.

This is me. I am from the United States. 

I taught English as a volunteer in Peru two years ago. 

Last semester I was in the country of Georgia (it's in between Russia and Turkey) teaching English in an elementary school. 

Some of my Georgian students!

The Georgian language looks like this-  როგორ ხარ? 

(that says "how are you?") 

I went from the snow and mountains of Eastern Europe -

to the beaches of the Caribbean! 

With only a week stopover in the States in between. Talk about some culture shock!

I'm pumped to be soaking up the sun, improving my Spanish, 

and especially hanging out with some fabulous little ones! 

Check out a version of Musical Chairs I introduced this past week: 

(Or click here)

Follow the blog (or like us on facebook) for the continuing adventures!

2012-2013 Scholarships Announced

Eriverto at camp.

       We are happy to announce that three scholarships have been awarded for the 2012-2013 school year. Miguelina Joseph and Eriverto Osvaldo both received scholarships again, which have allowed them to continue their education in El Colegio Sueño de Los Niños. Miguelina is in 7th grade and Eriverto is in 5th grade. 

Miguelina at camp.

Freddy Jean Piet, who is more commonly called Fefe, has begun his first year of university studies at the University OyM in Puerto Plata. He is studying modern languages. 

Fefe at high school graduation.

Thank you to those of you who have supported these scholarships! These are truly life changing opportunities for these kids and young adult. 

End of Camp, Transition to Weekly Club!

Our apologies for never posting summaries of week 5 and 6 of camp. With volunteers leaving and transitioning into the new school year, we got busy! But the last two weeks of camp were great. During the last few days of camp, along with having some end of camp fun time, we gave quizzes in each station to see how much campers had learned throughout the summer.  Here are the averages:

Active Games Station

Body parts - 73%

Actions & Directions - 73%

Arts & Crafts Station

Colors - 92%

Weather - 97%

Songs Station

Baby Shark - 91%

Old McDonald - 87%

Story Station

Emotions - 59%

We will run our next English camp over Winter Break for one week beginning Monday, December 31st. Camp will run from 9 am-12 pm each day of the week and will cost 200 pesos (about $5.10 US). For parents who work early, we will have before care from 8-9 am but the week will then cost 250 pesos. After this winter camp, our summer camp will run during summer vacation for six weeks, beginning Monday, June 24th. If you are interested in sponsoring a camper to attend either winter or summer camp or are interested in participating as a volunteer counselor, please e-mail cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com. 

Also, to continue with a little English education throughout the year for youth 5-14 years old, we have begun an English club. The club runs on Thursday afternoons from 2-4 pm. Registration is 100 pesos and the monthly fee is 200 pesos. Participants who need to be picked up will be charged 300 pesos a month. Again, if you are interested in sponsoring a camper or participating as a volunteer counselor, please e-mail cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com. 

Thank you! We look forward to giving you more updates! 

Camp: Week 4

We had such a great week here at camp! The kids are really beginning to grow in their knowledge of English.  It's nice to hear the kids say "good morning" without hesitation.  They are beginning to ask for things in English without having to be reminded.  It's great to see progress!

This week we were joined by two new counselors: Sara and Patricia.  We've been so lucky to have counselors that are so dedicated as well as creative with their classes.  Sara was a counselor last year and jumped right in helping Kate with games, while Patricia worked with Em in art class.

The kids really enjoyed art class this week!  They were able to make butterflies, scenes that depicted different weather and even puppets to practice their words in English. Counselors Em and Patricia made it fun for the campers giving them plenty of art supplies to inspire their learning. 

The kids spent the week practicing a song about the weather.  It was perfect because we got a lot of rain last week and the kids enjoyed yelling, "it's raining!"  in English. The campers were given a quiz at the end of the week and everyone did really well!  It seems they learned a lot through songs. 

In games, the kids were able to put their weather knowledge to good use by playing competitive games with counselors Kate and Sara.  The counselors made practicing fun and easy as the kids were able to use English to walk through an obstacle course as well as play charades to act out their new English vocabulary.

We had such a great week at camp- can't believe we're more than halfway through!

Camp: Week 3

This week at camp the kids learned so much!  We had one new counselor this week, Amanda, and we were also joined by two boys who have been living in the Project Esperanza Boys' Home: Willy and Enso.  Both Willy and Enso have been helping out with the younger kids, but also learning a lot of English.   


In songs class, Counselors Liz, Virginia and Amanda taught the kids a song to memorize the days of the week.  The song was set to the tune of "The Adams Family" theme and the kids really enjoyed singing and snapping their fingers.

Art class with Counselors Em and Katia was also very successful for the campers.  The kids reviewed shapes as well as colors by painting.  The campers really enjoyed using paint, especially mixing colors to make new colors!  The campers also learned a little about time and created clocks to work on how to ask as well as tell someone what time it is. 

Games with Counselors Sandra and Katie was probably everyone's favorite class this week as they spent their time working on Zumba and other dances.  Practicing the dances was not only fun for the kids, but it was also a great way for them to review their directions.

On Friday, the kids who earned 25 or more points throughout the week were able to go on a small trip to tour the neighborhood.  They checked out the Post Office, the Fire Station, and (everyone's favorite part) the BEACH!  All of the kids who were able to participate enjoyed the trip and those who did not earn 25 points reflected on the reasons why they were not allowed to participate. We award points when kids follow the camp rules consistently and answer challenge questions. We take away points when campers disobey the rules. The reward trip was a great ending to a very fun week at camp.

Cha cha slide - How low can you go?

Cha cha real smooth.

Camp: Week 2

 Our second week at camp has been so exciting!  We have 3 new campers who really seem to be enjoying all of the activities and many new friendships are blossoming.  We also welcomed 3 new counselors this week, Liz, Virginia, and Cole.  


Our focus for this week was on colors and our homes.


In art class the campers practiced their vocabulary by drawing pictures of their homes and labeling the rooms as well as items you might find in those rooms.  Later in the week they played pictionary to practice identifying household items in English.  The campers also practiced explaining what they would do in each of the rooms by writing stories about how they spend their mornings: I sleep in my bedroom.  I eat breakfast in the kitchen.  I watch TV in the living room. At the end of the week, the students created books about the colors of the rainbow in art class.  They were able to color pictures of a rainbow and label them with color words in English.

Outdoor games and activities were very fun for the campers.  They played different games each day to practice their vocabulary.  They started the week off by playing 4 corners.  Each of the corners of the yard were labeled with different rooms in the house.  The students were then told an item and they had to run to the room in which they would find that item.  They also played a modified baseball game to practice some of their action words like: walk, jump, skip and run.  On Friday, the kids went on a treasure hunt to practice their directions.   They all loved finding the caramelo (candy) at the end!

Camper Aniverca can't run due to her cerebral palsy so Counselor Cole carried her. With no special education in public schools, Aniverca has never attended school. Camp is quite an opportunity for her!

Songs was very exciting this week because counselor Sandra bought a new guitar for the camp!  Using her guitar playing as back up, the kids had so much fun singing, I Can Sing a Rainbow and In the Jungle.





Once again, campers were quizzed on Friday to see what they learned. Four campers scored 100% The average score was 75%. As far as sponsored campers go, we still seek sponsors for Medlen and Juliana, as well as a new and unexpected member to Project Esperanza's boys' home. Thank you to those of you who are sponsoring! If you are not sponsoring but would like to, please e-mail cambia.mis.estrellas@gmail.com.