Pakistani Educational Leadership Institute

Hi everyone-

These photos bring a smile to my face- I just wanted to share (since I know you all love photos!!).

(I have copied all of these photos to the thumb drives that I gave to you- but I wasn’t sure if you’d had the chance to see them yet)

That was such a fun day- I was happy to be able to share one of my favorite places with you all.

Take care,

Michelle

Hi all–

I hope you are all doing well- settling back into your normal routines. Ellanna was kind enough to share her photographs from our trip to Boston. There are some really wonderful shots, especially from the Longfellow House, that I’d like to share. John Martin has offered to put them up on the flickr site with the rest of the photos from the Institute.

Here’s a sneak peek at a few of my favorites…..

All of Ellanna’s photos should be on the site in the next couple of days!

Take care of yourselves and keep in touch!

Michelle

We, the cohort of PELI 2008, offer our utmost gratitude to the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and cultural affairs, for funding PELI,  which is a dynamic cross cultural educational exchange programme. Our one month summer program at PSU enabled us to interact with American people within and outside classroom. We  shared our knowledge and understanding about the world we live in and witnessed the beauty of cultural diversity.

Our sincere thanks to ITA (Idara-e-Taleem-o-Agahi) and PSU (Plymouth State University),  partner organizations, who made it possible for us to avail this wonderful learning opportunity of personal and professional growth. It was due to the tireless effort of Ms Baela Raza  and Ms Blake Allen, Directors of their respective organizations, that we as a group were able to travel with much ease.

We are equally grateful to Ms Beena Raza of ITA, for providing us valuable information during pre departure orientation sessions at Islamabad, Pakistan.

Our special thanks to Ms Blake Allen, for her constant support and encouragement during the course. Thankyou Ms Blake for making our trip a rich learning experience. The course was designed in such a manner that each and every day that we spent at New Hampshire was filled with  great learning opportunities.

Our heartfelt gratitude to all the faculty members for their unique styles of teaching, and making it possible for us to share our thoughts and learn from each other.

We will always remember people with whom we had the opportunity to discuss and share our thoughts on multiple issues. Our discussions enabled us to understand each others points of view, and to see the world from a broader perspective. 

We are grateful to all the friends who invited us to their homes and organizations on various occasions and hosted luncheon, dinner and Pizza party for us. No wonder each one of us has put on some extra weight as a result of the tasty food that we ate in those parties .

Our special thanks to our community advisers for their timely support in solving our problems.

Our thanks to the technology experts who guided us while developing our action plans with patience and smile. We are also thankful to our great photographer who captured our memories  and posted it on the website.

We appreciate the staff of Prospect Hall who always welcomed us with their smiling faces.

We are grateful to all the staff members of PSU, who provided us information during the orientation week to facilitate our smooth stay at PSU.

Our thanks to the organizers of the Plymouth Writing Project who provided us the opportunity to interact with the New Hampshire teachers and to share with each other our cultural values and traditions.

We will always remember our memorable visit to Washington D.C. We had the opportunity to visit the State Department to hold meetings with concerned authorities.

Our special thanks to our friends who invited us to concerts, and ofcourse the great opportunity to visit Arts in Education Institute.

Last but not the least, we are highly grateful to our friends, teachers of different schools of New Hampshire with whom we spend memorable time during classroom teaching and field trips. They were extremely helpful and cooperative. We can never forget the delicious and scrumptious lunch they prepared for us.

We would like to conclude on a note that our relationship does not end at the culmination of the programme, in fact it is the beginning of our everlasting friendship.

Dear PELI Alum,

If you are interested in bringing international blogging to your students let me know.  Check out my website at www.pacexchange.org  Best wishes Alum 2008 you are in my heart!

Sincerely,

Kimberly Rawson

Hi John!

I wonder if you could guide me to make access to the Lamson LIbrary. It would be very kind of you if you could make it as simple as possible. I shall be needing the following steps:

1. How to access the library?

2. How to make access to a specific book?

Please guide me in small steps.

thanks

Khurshid Ahmed

Hello Everyone!!

I have been thinking about you all this morning- how can I not think about you with this beautiful henna artwork on my arms and my new Pakistani sandals on my feet!! You have probably arrived home by now- I’m sure your families are very happy to see your smiling faces. Plymouth has been pretty quiet the past couple of days without you- Sean and Sarah have been spending their time cleaning up the remnants of your stay here. I am writing thank you notes to everyone who volunteered their time and efforts to the Institute. Meetings to discuss the Institute are just around the corner as we plan for next July. Before I leave PSU for my family vacation - 11 full days off!!!- I just wanted to let you all know how honored I am to have had the opportunity to meet and work with you all- you are all wonderful, passionate people and I will fondly remember the time we spent together this month. You all know where to find me- so please keep in touch!

Warm regards,
Michelle

I am really grateful to Plymouth State university which has given me an opportunity to visit and explore the USA culture .During my interaction with US people i learnt about their culture and preservation of culture as well.It has enriched my exposure and vision which would help me to conserve the cultural heritage of my country.Really its due the toiling and determined instructors of Plymouty State University.I would also try to implement the environmental stewardship in my country specifically in my campus.I am really thankful to Marry MC Gary,she helped me for the developemnt of my questionnaire for measuring the attitude of prospective teachers.

TRIBUTE AND THANK YOU to the PELI 2008 participants and the seven New Hampshire middle and high school teachers who joined together for a one week course integrating cultural heritage preservation, environmental stewardship, and active citizenship. My PSU colleague, professor Kate Donahue, and I were responsible for providing an enriching educational experience for the group of 27. As it turned out one week was much too short. There is so much more we wanted to share and show such a receptive audience:

We wanted to take you to the Belknap Mill in Laconia to present an exemplary model of a key site in New Hampshire’s history that once used the nearby water for energy for an important industry. Oncee there was little regard for the textile’s impact on water quality, but today many recognize that environmental stewardship of river resources goes hand in hand with a strong economy.  Now, thanks to many dedicated citizens who formed the Belknap Mill Society the building and surrounding property is a rich learning museum offering tours.

We never made it to Livermore Falls just up the road from Plymouth, where unlike the Belknap Mill site described above, there is no formal, collective recognition of the significant, diverse cultural, historical, geological, and biological features. The lesson to be learned is that some sites have such potential and are just waiting for a motivated teacher, his/her students, and some helpful partners to turn the site into a rich learning laboratory for environmental stewardship and cultural heritage preservation.

You expressed interest in visiting the closest operating landfill and waste water treatment facility. Stay tuned, it won’t be the same, but I can create a “virtual tour” and post it on this site.

However, upon reflection, now that our collective time together is over, and I can relax and am no longer in the “instructor” mode, I recognize I really want more time to hear all of your experiences and listen to your interactions with one another, and learn all I can from you.  My motive in writing this piece is to pay tribute and thank you, to tell you how much I gained personally and professionally from meeting each of you and being involved in PELI 2008. Isn’t that one of the reasons we become educators, because we believe in and want to actively practice lifelong learning?

Thank goodness for your master/action plans to initiate change in your own communities, and for our expectation that you will share your challenges, progress, and successes with us, so that we can offer support, encouragement, and help recognize your efforts. Related to action/master plans, I read a relevant quote in the paper this week by computer science college professor Randy Pausch who just died of cancer, but who wrote in his international bestselling book, The Last Lecture, just published in April, obstacles serve a purpose: They “give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” So, remember the value of perseverance and patience as you strive to bring about change.

Thank goodness Syeda (Sarah) recognized in her public remarks at one of our final events that the “Academy” is officially over, but the action/master plans are just beginning. Take inspiration and strength from the notion that 27 of you are about to embark on a similar journey as you strive to make a difference in your home communities. We await your stories as they represent a bridge that connects us.

Yours truly,

Mother Nature (MaryAnn McGarry)

I have developed my plan on the principle of fission chain reaction and I have named it  Awreness Fission Bomb which will explode into a Greener Cleaner Pakistan. Your comments are invited.

nighat-sana-masterplan1