Category: charity
ABC funds New Primary School in Haiti
Celebrating 1st Year Anniversary of AlphaBet Club’s 10th School Project, ABC AYMY School in Anse-a-Pitres HAITI! 102 children benefited from 1st academic year at new school ending in June 2019. With new school year for 100+ children beginning this week. Thanks and Congrats to amazing partner Fundación AYMY Los Niños De Haití for great 1st year in new school & impact you’re having on students & community! ❤️
MORE ABOUT THE ABC AYMY SCHOOL PROJECT AND IMPACT:
-The School offers a specialized accelerated educational system for underserved local children to receive quality education to advance quickly to their appropriate age/grade level.
-Children with a higher educational level access local schools to finish their studies in which, in most cases, they stand out for their good results
-The AYMY school started in 2010 for orphaned children that the orphanage hosts. Currently 24 of the 102 … Read more »
Your Impact. Thank You & ABC Year in Review
AlphaBet Club Friends,
We are very pleased to share with you all that we’ve accomplished at ABC! Celebrating ABC’s 13th Year Anniversary. Thanks to your support we were able to make a lasting change in the lives of many children in need. Through Education we can offer them a better chance at the future they deserve. We’re happy to share that over these last years, with your support, the AlphaBet Club:
> 5 New ABC School Projects in three different countries (1 in Haiti, 1 in Nepal & 3 in India). With agreements to fund 96,000+ Euros in these projects, which will impact 1,360+ more children each year.
ACTs Nirmala Vidyala Library (Bangalore, India) enabling 700 children to have access to library adding fun and educational books to their lives. (Opened July, 2017)
ST Vonisha Bridge School (Bangalore, India) A one year Bridge School for 110+ Out of School Children living in slums to … Read more »
ABC funds Transformational Bridge School in India
Graduation Celebration Upon Completing 1 Year Bridge School Education Program
December 1, 2019. We’re proud to celebrate another graduating class from the Vonisha Bridge School. With total of 75 children completing our free one year program and mainstreaming into formal Indian Education System beginning July 2019. Vonisha Bridge School is ABC’s 7th School Project, a 1 year Transformational Bridge School that provides education and 20,000+ free meals for 120+ Out of School Children living in Bommanahalli and Begur slums in Bangalore.
Inauguration Ceremonies in July are beautiful celebrations with attendees from the Government, families of the students, NGO partners and local friends of AlphaBet Club.
On behalf of all the new students and ABC Ambassadors we’d like to thank all ABC supporters for making this project a reality. A special Thank You to our Partners in this project Needbase India , Vonisha Field … Read more »
ABC funds New Primary School in Gaya, India
November 4, 2019. We are proud for the start of the 2nd year of ABC’s 8th School Project for a new English Primary School in the small village of Northern India (Gaya) where it is believed Buddha sat under a tree and obtained enlightenment.
The school was inaugurated on December 19, 2017 with it’s inaugural class of 30 children in Pre-Kindergarten (4 year olds). The school will add a class of 30 children each year, up through grade 10. When the original 30 graduate, the school will be for 300+ children.
We are pleased to be partnered with Svatantra Trust. A reputable NGO, that has been running a similar school in rural Bangalore for underprivileged children for over 10 years now, impacting the lives of close to 500 children.
We are excited to have our funds impacting children by giving education and nutrition … Read more »
ABC funds New School in Nepal
Celebrating 1st Anniversary of Nepal School! ABC’s 10th School Project
Proud to celebrate 500+ children enrolled in the rebuilt East Point Academy School in Melamchi, Nepal. A beautiful, state of the art, new school consisting of 11 classrooms (3 funded by ABC), 1 canteen/kitchen, library, toilets, showers, a computer lab (and more) for many children and families after previous school was destroyed on 25th April 2015 by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake.
Grateful for amazing partners, AOKC The Acts of Kindness Collective driving this beautiful project where not only education is provided but a safe haven home as well for 50+ children that board/live at the school as their homes are too far away over the mountains for daily travel.
Congratulations and Thank You to all ABC community, partners and friends who have made this and other ABC Education impact projects a reality. And very happy … Read more »
ABC funds New Library in India
We’re proud to announce the inauguration of ABC’s 6th School Project: a new Library at the Nirmalaya Vidyalaya School!
It will provide 1,000+ books and aid to instill a joy of reading for the 657 students living in the Gattahalli Area of Bangalore, India.
This is a picture of our festive inauguration ceremony with students, teachers and NGO partners.
On behalf of the students and ABC Ambassadors we like to send a Big Thanks to you, ABC Supporters, for making this project a reality! Also a special Thank You to our Partners in this project: ACTS Nirmala Vidyalaya, Bangalore, BEETF and MANTRA.
Follow our Facebook fan page to see more frequent updates and learn more about our activities and projects with impact. > https://www.facebook.com/theAlphaBetClub/
Team AlphaBet Club
Freesia School Graduation Ceremony
Celebrating another great academic year with 103 children enrolled at our Freesia School in India.
Celebrating yet another 17 Students Graduating to 1st Grade, plus 21 advancing to UKG Grade, plus 15 After School Program graduates, a great school staff, 100,000+ times our students washed their hands at our school this year and surpassing 95,000+ nutritious meals served at Freesia in last 3 years. We are happy to host the graduation ceremony for the first time in the new school campus this year. Celebration was well received by all students, parents and school staff.
We are also celebrating that 6 of our students have been accepted upon graduation, to attend the leading primary school for 12 years, free of charge and celebrating ALL of the 17 graduates taking admission into English medium schools.
Special thanks to our local partner in India, Building Blocks … Read more »
Edelweiss School Graduation Ceremony
Celebrating another great academic year with 140 children enrolled at AlphaBet Club Building Blocks Edelweiss in India.
Celebrating 46 Students Graduating to 1st Grade, plus 20 advancing to UKG Grade, plus 36 After School Program attendees, a great school staff, 110,000 times our students washed their hands at our school this year and surpassing 299,000 nutritious meals served at our schools these last 5 years.
We also celebrated that 46 students (11 of our graduating students and 35 of our …past graduates) have been sponsored by private individuals to get next 10 years of their education sponsored.
Special thanks to our local partner in India, Building Blocks India whose expertise make our Edelweiss, Freesia and Gardenia School projects possible, and we thank all the teachers and staff for another great year full of education, nutrition, fun, love and growth for these children. Special thanks also to AlphaBet Club donors, … Read more »
Free Medical & Dental Checkups for all Freesia & Gardenia Students
AlphaBet Club’s initiative in doing a thorough medical checkup for the students of Freesia and Gardenia Schools showed a lot of interest by various NGOs in Bangalore. We are happy to share with ABC community that a very successful medical camp was conducted on March 18th in Freesia School by Soroptimist International (SI) Bangalore. ABC is extremely proud to mention that all the partners i.e., ABC, Building Blocks (BB) and SI Bangalore that came together for this are all Bangalore Effective Education Task Force (BEETF) partners that share the same vision of providing education for the underprivileged kids of Bangalore. Through the effective and large network of BEETF, these partners were able to leverage the synergies and create this wonderful project for the students of BB. SI Bangalore very articulately collaborated this camp with a team of eight dentists from … Read more »
Free Medical, Dental and Eye checkup for Bluebells School
AlphaBet Club’s takes pride with its initiative in organizing a medical checkup for the students of Building Blocks (BB) Schools. We are excited to share this with ABC community that a very successful health camp was conducted on March 10th in Bluebells School by the Lions Club, HSR Layout, Bangalore. Also, ABC is extremely proud to mention that a very thorough checkup on the three important aspects of primary health was covered in this camp. Lions club with its esteem partnership with Narayana Multispecialty Hospital, HSR (A unit of Narayana Hrudayalaya ltd) along with other partners from Axiss Dental and Sankalpa Eye Hospital conducted this camp for 150+ children aged between 3-10 yrs.
It was overwhelming to see the children very enthusiastic to see the doctors and allow them for diagnosis. We are happy that for the first time we have been … Read more »
Gardenia School April 2016 Newsletter Update
This being the last month of the school year 2015-16, teachers took lot of effort in reviewing all the subjects taught to the children over this year. Children also had the final assessments done by the curriculum heads at Gardenia School on April 12th. New parents for the next academic year 2016-17 had an orientation program on April 19th. We are also proud to mention that we will have a good increase in student strength to 61 children for 2016-17 academic year and for the first time since we opened this school in July 2015 we will have all three levels, K3, K4 and K5 in the next academic year!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 41
Total number of meals served this month: 1,142
No. of school days: 16
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 41
Average attendance: 38
Attendance in %: 93
Total breakfasts served: 607
Total … Read more »
Freesia School April 2016 Newsletter Update
Highlight of the month was the graduation day celebration on April 24th with a total of 17 kids graduating from K5 level on April 24th from Freesia school. It was a great day watching the tiny tots receive their ‘Kindergarten Diplomas’ in front of their parents! The day started off with a welcome dance by the After School Program (ASP) children followed by lighting of the lamp by the Founder of BB, James Ambat, Founder of ABC, Troy Swanson, local funding partner, Mrs. Preeti Rawal and Project Manager of ABC, Meena Gupta in the presence of many guests and parents.
Children were overjoyed to receive diploma certificates and certificates for special achievements! Both the K5 and ASP children performed dances on stage for some very popular item numbers.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 103
Total number of meals served this month: 2,356
No. … Read more »
Edelweiss School April 2016 Newsletter Update
46 students from K5 level graduated in April and are moving over to other neighborhood schools. A gala graduation ceremony was arranged in the GD Mara slum for our graduating children and their families. The program started with the lighting of the lamp by ABC Founder, Troy Swanson, Building Blocks Founder, James Ambat and ABC Project Manager, Meena Gupta and with a welcome dance performed by the After School Program children at Edelweiss.
Kindergarten diplomas were handed over to all the 46 children. Special awards in various categories were also given out. Over 300+ people attended this ceremony and it turned out to be a great day of celebration for our graduating class and their families!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 140
Total number of meals served this month: 2,994
No. of school days: 16
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 104
Average attendance: 89
Attendance in … Read more »
Gardenia School March 2016 Newsletter Update
Kids from the Gardenia School benefited in March with free Medical Check-ups, an initiative of The Alphabet Club to screen children from any illnesses. This project was done in partnership with several local non-profits and hospitals at Freesia School and it was successfully completed for all children. Furthermore, the students received multi vitamin supplements and parents were advised on all the findings from this medical camp.
Holi, festival of colors was celebrated with children, parents and staff and everyone thoroughly enjoyed playing with colors on this day!
Also, screening test for children seeking new admissions for the 2016-17 academic year has been successfully completed!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 41
Total number of meals served this month: 1,683
No. of school days: 24
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 41
Average attendance: 36
Attendance in %: 88
Total breakfasts served: 907
Total lunches served: 776
Total number meals served since opening … Read more »
Freesia School March 2016 Newsletter Update
Over a 150+ children got a comprehensive health checkup for both general health and a dental screening this month of March. Proud that two of the very popular institutions, RV Dental College and St. Philomena’s Hospital joined forces with the local Soroptimist International of Bangalore team to conduct this successful medical drive for our schools.
Holi, the ‘festival of colors’ was celebrated with all the children, staff and parents with a great joy! No doubt that children enjoyed this thoroughly as it was distinctly visible to see those colorful smiles on their faces!
Also our K5 children had a final assessment for them as they get ready to leave our school and move ahead to other schools for 1st grade education
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 103
Total number … Read more »
Edelweiss School March 2016 Newsletter Update
In the month of March, Edelweiss has seen a lot of progress in academics to complete and revise their curriculum portions. K5 Children also went through a final assessment in March to assess their learning outcome from the entire year.
Parents meeting was conducted for the After School Program parents and for the seven newly sponsored kids. This year again, the sponsored children along with the previously sponsored children (ASP) will attend the Ankita School in the GD Mara slum neighborhood. In this meeting they were informed about the fee structure for Ankita School and the parents contribution towards the fee payment.
Holi the ‘Festival of Colors’ was celebrated in school with children and their parents all participating with a lot of joy. Needless to say, children were very happy to wear different colors on this day of celebration!!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of … Read more »
Gardenia School February 2016 Newsletter Update
K3 and K4 having done extremely well in the 1st assessment conducted in the month of February, Gardenia School is proud to mention its accomplishments in academics! This is what the curriculum supervisors, Meher and Selvi had to say: Children are good in literary and math, they act confident and are able to work well independently. Also, they have excellent communication skills and their classrooms are well organized with all the required study materials.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 41
Total number of meals served this month: 1,659
No. of school days: 24
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 41
Average attendance: 38
Attendance in %: 92
Total breakfasts served: 900
Total lunches served: 759
Total number meals served since opening at Gardenia: 8,829
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 283,208
Curriculum
Math
Patterns was the theme of the month for K3. Many activities related to patterns like – twin towers, … Read more »
Freesia School February 2016 Newsletter Update
The K5 students of Freesia had a fantastic field trip to the Planetarium this month on February 19th. They watched a movie about the Solar System and it was a super hit amongst the K5 kids! All children were thrilled to watch the movie and learn about the planets in an easy and fun educative way. This trip was sponsored by LinkedIn. Volunteers of LinkedIn welcomed the children, distributed snacks and watched the movie together with them. Also in this month, our K3 kids have fared well in the second round of school assessment conducted by the curriculum supervisors.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 104
Total number of meals served this month: 3,477
No. of school days: 24
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 88
Average attendance: 79
Attendance in %: 90
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 15
Total breakfasts served: 1,884
Total lunches served: 1,593
Total number meals served … Read more »
Edelweiss School February 2016 Newsletter Update
With 90% attendance and school in operation for 24 days, February month has progressed very well academically! Children are reviewing concepts learned in the beginning of the year and preparing them for assessments that are due in the month of March. K3 and K4 also had a second round of assessment in all the schools. Social workers are busy with house visits for new enrollment in K3 for the next academic year.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 140
Total number of meals served this month: 4,751
No. of school days: 24
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 104
Average attendance: 95
Attendance in %: 92
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 36
Total breakfasts served: 2,286
Total lunches served: 1,931
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 534
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 171,305
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 283,208
Curriculum
Math
Patterns … Read more »
Gardenia School January 2016 Newsletter Update
January was filled with important trainings for the school staff. Enfold – an organization focusing on empowering children and adults to recognize, resist and report sexual abuse held a workshop on awareness for this matter. James Ambat, Founder of Building Blocks (BB) gave a training on sharing importance of maintaining hygiene in all BB schools. He thanked the support staff for maintaining a high level of hygiene in all the schools. Year 2016 will be dedicated to further increasing awareness for all BB parents in keeping higher hygiene standards in their homes. This is planned to be achieved through community meetings organized by local social workers together with the parents for stressing the Importance of Hygiene through power point presentations and video demonstrations. All staff took a pledge in supporting this and signed the pledge with “I will wash my … Read more »
Freesia School January 2016 Newsletter Update
Building Blocks’ theme for the year 2016 as announced by James, the Founder, is dedicated to hygiene and best practices of hygiene in all BB Schools. This month in Freesia, the staff of Building Blocks underwent two important training sessions for their professional development. The main focus with the support from Enfold organization has been on empowering children and adults to recognize, resist and report sexual abuse by conducting an awareness seminar for teachers and all school admins. Mr. James conducted an interactive seminar with video demonstrations of the importance of hand washing and following the best practices of hygiene to all the staff of Building Blocks.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 104
Total number of meals served this month: 2,890
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 88
Average attendance: 80
Attendance in %: 91
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 15
Total … Read more »
Edelweiss School January 2016 Newsletter Update
There is a lot to look forward to as we step in the second half of the academic year! This second half is more rigorous as compared to the first half as we have more working days and a lot of teaching material. K5 children will concentrate on learning a lot of new things required for them to be ready to face the challenge in a new school when they leave us in end of April this year. K3 and K4 will face less difficult challenges than K5, they will also meet their goal and be ready to move on to the next level. All children will take an assessment test in April and will be promoted to the next level depending on their performance. January month had a lot of visitors following up the Christmas and the vacation holidays … Read more »
Gardenia School December 2015 Newsletter Update
Year 2015 has brought a great achievement for the AlphaBet Club! ABC takes pride in mentioning that the 3rd school launched in June 2015 in partnership with Building Blocks India is another successful project. There has been a constant increase in the enrollment since the opening of the school. We started out with 35 children at K3 and K4 level. Today we have 41 children attending Gardenia School which is a 17% increase in enrollment since the opening. With the support of the School Manager, Teachers and Social Workers, the goodwill and support in the community is constantly growing and we are looking forward for higher enrollment in the next academic year.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 41
Total number of meals served this month: 1,106
No. of school days: 16
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 41
Average attendance: 36
Attendance in %: 92
Total breakfasts … Read more »
Freesia School December 2015 Newsletter Update
At the end of 2015, we express happiness in sharing that Freesia School has progressed well in all aspects despite many challenges of moving the school into another building, two months into the academic year. The new building was setup quickly and the children, teachers and support staff adjusted fairly easily to the new environment. In the new school building, there is a good quality lighting and ventilation system, two large halls that are used either as classrooms or as a meeting room for all children to gather for special occasions, a huge open area for children to play in and a total of 6 rooms used as classrooms. ASP classes with 15 children with a very regular attendance and steady performance in their respective schools is also commendable. Team Freesia’s efforts needs a special mention here in the progressive … Read more »
Edelweiss School December 2015 Newsletter Update
2015 started off with a bright spark and ended with the same joy and happiness at Edelweiss. December marks the end of the year and is the most joy-filled month for everyone as we move on and celebrate the achievements from this year and look forward to starting fresh in 2016. Edelweiss had a lot to celebrate when stepping into the second half of the academic year. Enrollment has been steady with very few drop outs, maximum number of children benefitting from this program. We also celebrated the reaching 250,000 served meals since the opening of the school. We are expecting all 46 children from K5 classroom to graduate in April 2016, wishing and hoping the best for these children in continuing their education in English Medium schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 142
Total number of meals served this month: … Read more »
Your Impact in 2015… Thank You & ABC Year in Review
AlphaBet Club Friends,
As the new year is upon us, this is the time of the year to reflect on what we accomplished in 2015. We’re looking back at a great year for ABC and feel proud of what we have achieved with our ABC charity projects, the improvements in our organization and the 15 [FUN]draising events in Amsterdam, Madrid and Phoenix. Thanks to your support, we were able to make a lasting change in the lives of many children in need. Through Education we can offer them a better chance at the future they deserve.
We’re happy to share that in 2015, with your support, the AlphaBet Club:
Served 74,163 nutritious meals to students in our schools in India in 2015 – and surpassed 263,000 meals since openings
Funded Opening of a New School, Gardenia. ABC’s 5th School, the 3rd in India. 40 children enrolled, after 2+ years actively … Read more »
Gardenia School November 2015 Newsletter Update
Building Blocks celebrated both its 11th anniversary and Children’s Day on November 14th with a fabulous dance show put on by the kids of Building Blocks schools! The theme for the Children’s day was Colors of India. Since Gardenia School opened this year in July and the children are very young, they couldn’t participate in the dance program this time. But several of Gardenia students joined the celebration. Gardenia also organized an own smaller scaled celebration at their school to include all children for this special day!
Like always, Leela Palace, Bangalore served 450 delicious meals to all the children, staff and guests for the occasion. A total of 700 winter blankets were distributed to all the students of Building Blocks as gifts for Children’s Day.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 37
Total number of meals served this month: 1,335
No. of … Read more »
Freesia School November 2015 Newsletter Update
November has been a great month of celebration! After Diwali, the 11th anniversary of Building Blocks was celebrated on Children’s Day on November 14th with a glamorous dance show put on by the kids of Building Blocks school! Students were excited to perform dances on stage. They danced to the beat of popular Indian Cinema songs in front of a large crowd. The theme for the Children’s day was Colors of India. Both K5 and ASP students of Freesia School performed dances from the top billboard songs from this year. As always, Leela Palace Bangalore served 450 delicious meals to all the children, staff and guests for this occasion. 700 blankets were distributed to all the students of Building Blocks as gifts for Children’s Day!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 104
Total number of meals served this month: 3,270
No. of school … Read more »
Edelweiss School November 2015 Newsletter Update
The 11th anniversary of Building Blocks was celebrated on Children’s Day, November 14th with a gala show put on by the students from the Building Blocks schools! Nice to see the children dance on popular Indian Cinema songs and entertain the crowd. The theme for the Children’s Day was Colors of India. Both K5 and ASP students of Edelweiss School performed dances from the top billboard songs from this year. Like always, Leela Palace in Bangalore served 450 delicious meals to all the children, staff and guests for this occasion. A total of 700 blankets were distributed to all the students of Building Blocks as gifts for Children’s Day.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 142
Total number of meals served this month: 4,324
No. of school days: 22
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 104
Average attendance: 93
Attendance in %: 89
No. of Students Enrolled … Read more »
“Fistful of Nutrition” – By Soroptimist International (SI), Bangalore
Fistful of Nutrition aimed not just to fight malnutrition but also provoked a thought of sharing in the upper class society.
A few years ago SI Bangalore, started a very unique project under the name ‘Fistful of Rice’. This program is inspired by an initiative earlier run by International Children’s Peace Council designed by Dr. Nandini Mundkur who is a renowned consultant in child development and also a member of SI Bangalore. This program was modified as ‘Fistful of Nutrition’ later on by SI Bangalore. ‘Fistful of Nutrition’ is aimed at fighting malnutrition among the children of deprived class in our society. Under this project SI collected lentils like Moong Dal (green gram) which is a high source of protein and rice which is the staple food in Southern India. Children of elite Schools were given eco-friendly jute bags to carry home for a … Read more »
Gardenia School October 2015 Newsletter Update
Teachers carry the responsibility of shaping students’ future – the leaders of tomorrow! With this in mind, our Teacher Training Program makes a constant effort to improve the skill levels of teachers. This month as well, the teachers of all Building Blocks Schools took part in workshops on Phase One Jolly Phonics Aspects. Each school was given a topic and had to present the topic in front of all the other teachers; Gardenia school gave a presentation on the topic of Environmental sounds.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 36
Total number of meals served this month: 1,031
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 36
Average attendance: 32
Attendance in %: 89
Total breakfasts served: 546
Total lunches served: 485
Total number meals served since opening at Gardenia: 3,352
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 249,841
Curriculum
Math
This month, children learned to … Read more »
Freesia School October 2015 Newsletter Update
ABC Freesia team has made us proud by winning the second place for their superb demonstration of musical instruments and how to use them. It was done in an engaging story form using homemade puppets. Our Teacher Training Program makes a constant effort to improve the skill levels of teachers! This month too, all the teachers of Building Blocks Schools had workshops on Phase One Jolly Phonics Aspects and were also given a topic on which the teachers had to make lesson plans, demonstrate and present the topic in front of all the other schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 107
Total number of meals served this month: 2,756
No. of school days: 20
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 92
Average attendance: 83
Attendance in %: 90
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 15
Total breakfasts served: 1,501
Total lunches served: 1,255
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 91,029
Total … Read more »
Edelweiss School October 2015 Newsletter Update
We take pride announcing and congratulating ABC‘s Edelweiss School team in winning the first place for their effective presentation on ’Usage of Alliteration in Phonics! Way to Go Edelweiss! Throughout the year there are several training sessions which help in meeting their goal. This month too, all the teachers of Building Blocks Schools had workshops on Phase One Jolly Phonics and were also given a topic on which the teachers had to make lesson plans, demonstrate and present the topic in front of all the other schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 142
Total number of meals served this month: 3,651
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 104
Average attendance: 92
Attendance in %: 88
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 38
Total breakfasts served: 1,763
Total lunches served: 1,594
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 294
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 155,460
Total … Read more »
New office setup for Edelweiss School Manager
“ABC takes pleasure to announce of a new office space created for the School Manager – A space which was not used effectively for any school activities and it gave way for adding a new classroom that can seat 20 children!”
A brand new office space was created for Mary, the school manager at Edelweiss school. This space was a dead space in the school and not being effectively used for any school activities. This space worked out perfect for an office with some minor alterations. Now parents can reach out better to Mary, she has good visibility to the front of the building and can see who are dropping and picking up the kids.
By creating this office we were able to convert the old office room into an extra classroom which … Read more »
Gardenia School September 2015 Newsletter Update
Education is the key to a successful development and teachers have a lasting impact in the lives of their students. On September 5th, Teachers Day was celebrated at Gardenia school. A day to express gratitude for the great work teachers do at the school all year long. Building blocks organized a memorable outing for them at the Garden Asia Resort on the 7th September.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 36
Total number of meals served this month: 1,031
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 36
Average attendance: 32
Attendance in %: 89
Total breakfasts served: 546
Total lunches served: 485
Total number meals served since opening at Gardenia: 2,321
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 242,403
Curriculum
Math
Children learned numbers orally from 1 to 50 and counting by 10’s/100’s. In Fun with Math class, they learned the key words big/small/thick/thin/rough/smooth/hard/soft/fast/slow etc.
English
Freesia School September 2015 Newsletter Update
Freesia School celebrated Teachers Day on September 5th, the students lovingly wished their teachers a “VERY HAPPY TEACHERS DAY!” This is an important day at Freesia for students and teachers alike. Teachers enjoyed a wonderful time at the Garden Asia Resort that was planned by Building Blocks on the 7th of September.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 107
Total number of meals served this month: 2,756
No. of school days: 20
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 94
Average attendance: 83
Attendance in %: 90
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 15
Total breakfasts served: 1,501
Total lunches served: 1,255
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 88,273
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 242,403
Curriculum
Math
This month they learned about even and odd numbers. They also learned to write numbers from 1-100 and fill in missing numbers. They were also able to read and circle … Read more »
Edelweiss School September 2015 Newsletter Update
“On September 5th, Edelweiss celebrated Teachers Day to express gratitude for the wonderful work that teachers do all year long. Edelweiss takes great pride in their staff and students look up to their teachers as their role models. Parents of students participated in this celebration feeling thankful towards the good level of education their children receive here. On the 7th of September, Building Blocks organized a memorable day out for the teachers at the Garden Asia Resort as a sign of appreciation.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 142
Total number of meals served this month: 3,952
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 104
Average attendance: 92
Attendance in %: 88
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 38
Total breakfasts served: 1,763
Total lunches served: 1,594
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 595
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 151,809
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since … Read more »
Gardenia School August 2015 Newsletter Update
Students were happy to take part in many Indian Independence Day programs that were arranged at Gardenia.. National flag was hoisted and Tri-color sweets and chocolates were distributed to them. With an average attendance at 86% and enrollment at 36 children Gardenia is slowly creating new records every month. Happy to also share that the Nutrition program kick started and children are now given breakfast and lunch free of cost to them.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 36
Total number of meals served this month: 1,290
No. of school days: 23
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 36
Average attendance: 31
Attendance in %: 86
Total breakfasts served: 691
Total lunches served: 599
Total number meals served since opening at Gardenia: 1,290
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 234,644
Curriculum
Math
K4 children learned to tell numbers 1-50 orally
English
Language enrichment cards were used to teach the words and meanings for it. Words … Read more »
Edelweiss School August 2015 Newsletter Update
August 15th marks as the Independence Day for India and all our ABC schools celebrated 69th Indian Independence day by hoisting flag, singing national anthem, children dressing up as various historic characters and feasting on a special lunch. A lot of art activities were arranged to entertain the children. Parents too joined the children in this celebration.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 141
Total number of meals served this month:4,448
No. of school days: 22
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 104
Average attendance: 94
Attendance in %: 90
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 37
Total breakfasts served: 2,064
Total lunches served: 1,802
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 582
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 147,857
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 234,644
Curriculum
Math
This month K4 learned, one on one correspondence. Activities included snow man, pairs, matching game, where is thumbkin, find a friend, … Read more »
Freesia School August 2015 Newsletter Update
India celebrated the 69th Independence Day on August 15th and on the same day Freesia School hosted the inauguration of its new school building. Freesia school has moved into a new location. ABC Freesia moved out of the previous school building as the building owner was selling the property. The new school is large enough to add an additional classroom for the next academic year. The Founder of Building Blocks School, opened the school to its students with a ribbon cutting and lighting of the lamp ceremony. K5 children participated in the opening ceremony.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 107
Total number of meals served this month: 2,886
No. of school days: 18
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 92
Average attendance: 85
Attendance in %: 92
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 15
Total breakfasts served: 1,526
Total lunches served: 1,360
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 85,517
Total … Read more »
First Gardenia School Monthly Newsletter Update – July 2015
Welcome to the first newsletter of Gardenia School! With a jubilous opening ceremony on June 20th the school was unveiled to K3 and K4 children of DJ Halli area of Bangalore city. This is the 3rd school of AlphaBet Club in partnership with Building Blocks India (BB). With a month into the new school, children are seemingly settled and good progress happening in the path of learning! We now have 35+ children enrolled in Gardenia in K3 and K4 levels. Our in-house kitchen is almost ready and we are looking to serve two meals a day from August onwards.
Opening Ceremony
On June 20th AlphaBet Club in partnership with Building Blocks India celebrated the opening of new GARDENIA School for 40 to 60, three to five year old children living in the DJ Halli Slums in Bangalore. This is AlphaBet Club’s 5th … Read more »
Freesia School July 2015 Newsletter Update
With attendance at 90% and school operating six days a week, we have yet another successful month this school year!
As we leap forward into the next month we see children hopping and running into the school every morning. Things have calmed and settled down with the new children. No more tantrums to throw, no more crying to say good bye to their parents – what a change in just one month into the school year! Focus is back into learning for all K3, K4 and K5 kids. ABC is very happy to announce that we served record high meals for this calendar year at 8,700 meals through both the ABC schools in Bangalore, India.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 106
Total number of meals served this month: 3,950
No. of school days: 24
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 91
Average attendance: 82
Attendance in %: … Read more »
Edelweiss School July 2015 Newsletter Update
No more tantrums to throw, no more crying to say good bye to their parents – Just one month into the school, what a change in the 3 and 4 year olds for being first time away from their parents!
As we leap forward into the next month we see children hopping and running into the school every morning. Things have calmed and settled down with the new children. Focus is back into learning for all K3, K4 and K5 kids. After School Program (ASP) enrollment has gone up by 85% from the last month. A total of 37 students from 1st to 4th grades taking advantage of this ASP program! We also have few visitors coming to the school and appreciating the teachers’ effort in sharing their love, knowledge and time with these poor children. ABC-BB youngest volunteers celebrate their … Read more »
Freesia School June 2015 Newsletter Update
Maybe one of them will rock the world! With a dream set in their minds to overcome poverty, these children come running happily into the school to start yet another new academic year.
ABC Freesia School started of its new academic year on June 8th, 2015 with a jubilant start. A whopping number of 106 children are enrolled at Freesia school this year and more children are joining as we write this newsletter! ABC is very happy to share that we have a new program for 3 year olds – K3. A total of 51 in K3, 22 in K4, 18 in K5 and 15 in After School Program (ASP) seems to be very successful enrollment to begin with! The school will be open six days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ABC welcomes all the children and staff … Read more »
Edelweiss School June 2015 Newsletter Update
“A fresh start….” A time, when one can put their best foot forward! Each student is determined to make this year a better one. With their minds set ablaze with this dream, who knows? Maybe one of them will be ready to rock the world!
ABC Edelweiss School started its new academic year on June 8th, 2015 with a jubilant start. A whopping number of 102 children are enrolled at Edelweiss school this year! ABC is very happy to share that we have a new program for 3 year olds – K3. A total of 36 enrolled in K3, 20 in K4 and 46 in K5 – A big achievement to the previous academic year! The school will be open six days a week from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. ABC welcomes all the children and staff to the 2015-16, a … Read more »
Emergency Aid for Nepal – ABC & Accion Contra el Hambre
Espanol – Hemos organizado un evento en el 21 de mayo de 2015 para recaudar fondos para ayudar a
Emergencia Nepal, además de los proyectos de educación de ABC.
Los fondos recaudados van a “Emergencia Nepal” a través de la fundación “Acción Contra el
Hambre”, una organización humanitaria internacional independiente que combate la desnutrición.
English – We hosted an event on the 21st of May 2015 to raise funds for Nepal Emergency in addition
to the ABC education projects.
Funds raised are going to Nepal Emergency through “Acción Contra el Hambre” (Action
Against Hunger) foundation, an independent and neutral international humanitarian organization
that fights malnutrition.)
Visualiza un informe detallado del impacto que Acción contra el Hambre en Nepal
Attached document “Accion Contra El Hambre Ayuda Nepal Report”
Nepal Humanitarian Situation and ACF response (“Acción Contra el Hambre Nepal Report 2)
Haz clic aquí para visualizar el Mapa de la … Read more »
The Joy of Toys – Donated Toys Arrive to Honduras & India
Each Child gets a Toy.
Thanks to “Ñ” team (marketing company), AlphaBet Club Madrid signed an agreement with La Moraleja Green (Shopping Mall in the north of Madrid) to run a campaign during Christmas period to collect toys for our projects. On top of that, we threw a Three Wise Men Party where requirement to join was to bring a toy. As a result, we managed to collect over three cubic meters of toys that ABC Madrid volunteers packed, classified and prepared for delivery by clearing all customs requirements.
Toys were sent to two different projects. One was to when Giles and Diego took a part to our school and nutritional projects in Bangalore (India). The other waas through the NGO – ACOES delivered remaining toys among kids at Santa Teresa de Jesus school and several kindergartens in Tegucigalpa (Honduras).
Its amazing … Read more »
Hema Yajaman, Volunteer and Sponsor in Bangalore, India
“But then I think that if we all did our bit, an ocean is just a large body of water made up of tiny drops of water. We can be the ocean these children sail on in their ‘happy memories of school’ boat to a safer shore, to a better place, to a better life.”
The children’s lives
When the teachers explained to me the children don’t like or want school holidays, I knew I was dealing with a very difficult truth here. Their lives in the Slums of Bangalore can get so incredibly hard and harsh that they are actually amazingly happy being in class. Edelweiss is more than just a ‘school’ to these children; it is their ‘sanctuary’.
It is an escape away from the pain of their poverty.
I think when their parents have an asbestos roof over their heads that … Read more »
Ioana, Troy and Brian Visiting Edelweiss School & GD Mara Slum, Bangalore, India
AlphaBet Club volunteers Ioana Boldea, Troy Swanson and Brian van Daal visited Edelweiss School and the GD Mara slum (this is where most of the students of Edelweiss School live).
The welcome and hospitality at the school and in the slum was overwhelming with lots of tiny handshakes, hugs and ‘high fives’. To see the school and the environment where these children grow up makes it clear that the education- and nutrition projects at Edelweiss school are making a huge difference to change these children’s lives. A very memorable day!
Follow the impact of ABC projects at: www.AlphaBetClub.org/blog
ABC-BB Gardenia School Opening Celebration, Bangalore, India
Today we celebrated the Opening of our New GARDENIA School for 40 to 60 three to five year old children living in the DJ Halli Slums in Bangalore. This is AlphaBet Club’s 5th School project…. a great milestone!
We like to thank and compliment our partners DNF, Casa Foundation and Building Blocks for the great cooperation and an amazing job. Congratulations with a beautiful new school!
On behalf of the children and their parents….
Thanks to all ABC donors, sponsors and friends! And Last but not least a big THANK YOU to all ABC Ambassadors/volunteers in Amsterdam, Madrid and Phoenix. Without your effort and support this would not be possible!
Opening of Gardenia School in Bangalore, India
We are proud to invite you to the Gardenia School Launch ceremony – Saturday, June 20th
What? Join us for a school launch CELEBRATION, where our new 3 to 4 year old students and our friends and partners will come together to have some fun, some food, a short ceremony – and then walk through the slum and meet other family members of our students.
Who’s Invited? – You, and any friends/family of yours you think may enjoy attending. 20+ Children (aged 3 to 5), plus friends and partners. (We expect about 75 in attendance).
When? Saturday, June 20th. 10:00am until 4:00pm. Lunch will be served around 12:30pm, short ceremony prior – then around 3pm conclude with a walk through the Roshan Nagar slum
What to bring? Just yourself. (okay, maybe a camera also) We’re not asking for any donations / gifts for kids etc – we’re just wanting to CELEBRATE … Read more »
Jakoba Shares Joy Found in ABC School & Slum Visit
“ABC’s Edelweiss; a colorful, loud and bustling school, but all in a well-organized harmony. This day with the ABC students has given me a heart-warming feeling. A feeling which increases my confidence that education will make a difference. – Education as the ABC of a bright future!”
Colorful, loud and bustling, India in short: “organized chaos”. It is this dynamic environment that made me decide to move to India for a year. Leaving the overly structured banking life in London to indulge in a country where flexibility is key. A sabbatical year with the objective to devote time to helping others, from supporting education to social entrepreneurship.
Before settling in Chennai, I had the honor to visit the AlphaBet Club Edelweiss School in Bangalore together with Troy, Meena, Danielle and Wouter. What I have experienced there has had a tremendous impact on … Read more »
Announcing the Opening of ABC’s 5th School – Bangalore, India
We’re proud to announce AlphaBet Club’s 5th School Project, our 3rd School in India. We’re excited after two years of working on this project, to be on June 20th opening another Building Blocks School for 40 to 60 three to five year old children living in one of the largest slums in Bangalore. School will be 6 days a week, with instruction primarily in English, with students receiving 2 nutritious meals a day, free of charge. With the opening of this school we aim to be the first step in empowering these children to break the cycle of poverty – through education and nutrition.
Thanks ABC Volunteers, Partners, Donors & ABC Community for your continued support and the impact you’re having on many children’s lives.
Freesia School April 2015 Newsletter Update
A total of 59 children graduated, a record high since AlphaBet Club started Freesia in 2013! AlphaBet Club Building Blocks is proud to have completed another impactful academic year! A total of 31,104 MEALS for the academic year, 76,648 MEALS since opening of Freesia and 211,970 partnership MEALS were served! Kindergarten diploma certificates were handed to all the graduates. Academic excellence certificates were handed over to outstanding children for many categories.
Learning came to an end with an official final assessment for all K5 kids in all the Building Blocks Schools with children performing much better than the previous years.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 92
Total number of meals served this month: 2,204
No. of school days: 14
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 85
Average attendance: 69
Attendance in %: 81
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,102
Total lunches served: 1,102
Total meals served at … Read more »
Edelweiss School April 2015 Newsletter Update
AlphaBet Club Building Blocks is proud to have completed another impactful academic year. A total of 37 children graduated this year from K5 in Edelweiss. A total of 33,695 MEALS for the academic year, 135,322 MEALS since opening of Edelweiss and 211,970 Partnership MEALS were served! Kindergarten diploma certificates were handed to all the graduates. Academic excellence certificates were handed over to outstanding children for many categories.
Learning came to an end with an official final assessment for all K5 kids in all the Building Blocks Schools with children performing much better than the previous years.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 113
Total number of meals served this month: 2,159
No. of school days: 14
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 87
Average attendance: 74
Attendance in %: 85
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 26
Total breakfasts served: 1,038
Total lunches served: 1,038
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 83
Total … Read more »
Edelweiss School Graduation Ceremony 2015
Celebrating another great academic year with 114 children enrolled at AlphaBet Club Building Blocks Edelweiss in India.
Celebrating 37 Students Graduating to 1st Grade, plus 51 advancing to UKG Grade, plus 26 After School Program graduates, a great school staff, 110,000+ times our students washed their hands at our school this year and surpassing 200,000+ nutritious meals served at our schools.
We also celebrated that 39 students (20 of our graduating students and 19 of our …past graduates) have been sponsored by private individuals to get next 10 years of their education sponsored.
Special thanks to our local partner in India, Building Blocks India whose expertise and professionalism make our Edelweiss and Freesia School projects possible, and we thank all the teachers and staff for another great year full of education, nutrition, fun, love and growth for these children. Special thanks also to … Read more »
Freesia School Graduation Ceremony 2015
Celebrating another great academic year with 92 children enrolled at our Freesia School in India.
Celebrating a record 58 Students Graduating to 1st Grade, plus 27 advancing to UKG Grade, plus 7 After School Program graduates, a great school staff, 100,000+ times our students washed their hands at our school this year and surpassing 75,000+ nutritious meals served at Freesia in last 2 years. We are happy to host the graduation ceremony in the Chinnappa Garden slum for the f…irst time this year. Celebration was well received by all students, parents and school staff.
We are also celebrating that 12 of our students have been accepted upon graduation, to attend the leading primary school for 12 years, free of charge.
Special thanks to our local partner in India, Building Blocks India whose expertise and professionalism make our Freesia School projects possible, and we … Read more »
Freesia School March 2015 Newsletter Update
AlphaBet Club Building Blocks is proud to have surpassed 200,000 meals this month! With Troy Swanson and Danielle Smissaert visiting ABC Freesia, this month has been a thrilling month for all at school!
Learning came to an end with an official final assessment for all K5 kids in all the Building Blocks Schools. K5 children had their last field trip for the year to an “Old age home” where they sang and told stories to the residents and shared some snacks and fruits with them.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 92
Total number of meals served this month: 3,420
No. of school days: 22
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 85
Average attendance: 78
Attendance in %: 91
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,710
Total lunches served: 1,710
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): NIL
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 74,444
Total ABC-BB School partnership … Read more »
Edelweiss School March 2015 Newsletter Update
Month of March has been an exciting month at Edelweiss. AlphaBet Club Building Blocks is proud to have surpassed 200,000 meals this month! With Troy Swanson visiting ABC Edelweiss and with many of ABC volunteers and friends visiting, this month has been a busy month for all at school.
Learning came to an end with an official final assessment for all K5 kids in all the Building Blocks Schools. Edelweiss also had a fabulous HOLI – “festival of colors” celebration with many friends.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 116
Total number of meals served this month: 3,893
No. of school days: 22
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 87
Average attendance: 77
Attendance in %: 89
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 29
Total breakfasts served: 1,702
Total lunches served: 1,702
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 489
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 133,163
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since … Read more »
Holi – The festival of colors at Edelweiss School, Bangalore
Holi – Festival of colors signifying the arrival of spring and its bounty of freshness with colours was celebrated with exuberance with friends and visitors at Edelweiss. Children had a fun filled, colorful and a playful holi celebration.
Freesia School February 2015 Newsletter Update
As we get close to the end of 2014-15 academic year, reading, writing and learning at ABC-BB Freesia School is at full swing. Children of K5 are being tested every Friday in English and Math. They seem to be doing very well like all students of other BB schools. Come April, it will be a sad but a proud moment for all the teachers to bid these children adieu as they move out of Freesia and start another remarkable journey in other English Medium schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 91
Total number of meals served this month: 2,912
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 84
Average attendance: 77
Attendance in %: 90
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,456
Total lunches served: 1,456
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): NIL
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 71,024
Total ABC-BB School … Read more »
Edelweiss School February 2015 Newsletter Update
As we get close to the end of 2014-15 academic year, reading, writing and learning at our Edelweiss school is at a full swing. Children of K5 are being tested every Friday in English and Math. They seem to be doing very well like all students of other BB schools. Come April, it will be a sad but a proud moment for all the teachers to bid these children adieu as they move out of Edelweiss and start another remarkable journey in other English Medium schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 118
Total number of meals served this month: 3,357
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 89
Average attendance: 78
Attendance in %: 88
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 29
Total breakfasts served: 1,493
Total lunches served: 1,493
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 371
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 129, 270
Total … Read more »
Freesia School January 2015 Newsletter Update
2014 has gone by and we at Freesia School have smoothly transitioned into 2015. 2014 saw great accomplishments! K5 children are almost ready to exit our schools With only few months left in the current academic year, curriculum coordinators and teachers are working very hard to finish out yet another successful year for all our children at our ABC Schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 92
Total number of meals served this month: 2,462
No. of school days: 15
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 85
Average attendance: 77
Attendance in %: 91
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,231
Total lunches served: 1,231
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): NIL
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 68,112
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 194,025
Curriculum
K4 Math
Children practiced writing numbers and writing missing numbers from 1-50. They were also tested orally for even and odd … Read more »
Edelweiss School January 2015 Newsletter Update
2014 has passed and we at Edelweiss School have smoothly transitioned into 2015. 2014 saw great accomplishments! K5 children are almost ready to exit our schools. With only few months left in the current academic year, curriculum coordinators and teachers are working very hard to finish out yet another successful year for all our children at our ABC Schools.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 118
Total number of meals served this month: 2,456
No. of school days: 15
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 89
Average attendance: 74
Attendance in %: 83
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 29
Total breakfasts served: 1,120
Total lunches served: 1,120
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 216
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 125,913
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 194,025
Curriculum
K4 Math
Children practiced writing numbers and writing missing numbers from 1-50. They were also tested orally for even and odd numbers.
K5 … Read more »
Freesia School December 2014 Newsletter Update
ABC Freesia children had grand Christmas celebrations! With decorations of crib, Christmas tree, stars, balloons, bells, color papers, gift boxes, our expert carol singers (Freesia children) and an onboard Santa Claus (Madhuri, Freesia teacher) there was nothing left in mesmerizing these kids! Christmas games were conducted by our dedicated volunteer – Sue Griffiths. They were spell bound by the month long happenings at the school. Children also enjoyed good ten days of holidays for Christmas and New Year. Year 2014 went by smoothly at Freesia with many scholastic goals achieved and learning reaching its summit as we go past the mid academic year now!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 92
Total number of meals served this month: 2,500
No. of school days: 16
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 85
Average attendance: 78
Attendance in %: 92
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,250
Total lunches … Read more »
Edelweiss School December 2014 Newsletter Update
ABC Edelweiss children had wonderful Christmas celebrations! With Christmas in the air, our expert carol singers (Edelweiss children) and an onboard Santa Claus (Mary, Edelweiss teacher) to bring in gifts there was nothing left in mesmerizing these kids. They were spell bound by the month long happenings at school. Children also enjoyed good ten days of holidays for Christmas and New Year. Year 2014 went by smoothly at Edelweiss with many scholastic goals achieved and learning reaching its summit as we go past the mid academic year now!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 118
Total number of meals served this month: 2,982
No. of school days: 16
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 89
Average attendance: 81
Attendance in %: 92
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 29
Total breakfasts served: 1,303
Total lunches served: 1,303
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 376
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: … Read more »
Thank You, Seasons Greetings & 2014 Year in Review
AlphaBet Club Friends,
As the new year is upon us, this is the time of the year to reflect on what we accomplished in 2014. For us that means looking back on the ABC charity projects in India, the improvements in our organization and the 12 [FUN]draising events in Amsterdam, Madrid and by our recently launched Phoenix chapter.
I’m happy to share that 2014, with your support, the AlphaBet Club:
* Had an average of 209 children living in slums attending our schools 5 to 6 days a week
* Served 68,103 nutritious meals to students in our schools in India in 2014 – and surpassing 185,000 meals since openings
* Launched 1st event of ABC Phoenix Chapter and incorporated as an organization – launching our US operations with 15+ volunteers
* Implemented new program for parents of students at our schools to save funds for their children to use … Read more »
Freesia School November 2014 Newsletter Update
A mega Children’s Day event and 10th anniversary of Building Blocks Schools was celebrated on Nov 15th with about 400 children and a total of 600 people attending this event. This was a huge success with brilliant performances from students which completely mesmerized the audience asking for more! Guests danced till their feet ached, clapped until their hands turned sore and sang with the children. This lifted the spirit of the kids and left them performing at their best. This yearly event drew a big crowd along with the newspaper media wanting to publish an article for Children’s Day!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 91
Total number of meals served this month: 2,790
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 84
Average attendance: 74
Attendance in %: 88
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,464
Total lunches served: 1,326
Total meals served at … Read more »
Edelweiss School November 2014 Newsletter Update
A mega Children’s Day event and the Tenth Anniversary of Building Blocks Schools was celebrated on Nov 15th at Primus Public School with about 400 Building Blocks children and a total of 600 people attending this event. This was a huge success with brilliant performances from BB kids which completely mesmerized the audience asking for more! Guests danced till their feet ached, clapped till their hands turned sore and sang their voices out with the children. This lifted the spirit of the kids and left them performing at their best. This one time yearly event drew a big crowd and the newspaper media to the event wanting to publish the article for Children’s Day!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 118
Total number of meals served this month: 3,254
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 89
Average attendance: 80
Attendance in %: … Read more »
Freesia School October 2014 Newsletter Update
Fifty eight of our Freesia K5 students visited the Aerospace Museum. Children saw Airplanes, Helicopters, Jet planes, Parachutes, Fighter planes, and Rockets. Diwali festival was celebrated in glamour with all children participating in school round activities held for this special occasion. Preeti, Sonali and Sue, along with a few children fired the crackers. Yummy sweets and fruits were distributed by them to all the children. The celebration was very colorful and children enjoyed it thoroughly!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 92
Total number of meals served this month: 2,454
No. of school days: 17
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 85
Average attendance: 72
Attendance in %: 85
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,227
Total lunches served: 1,227
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): NIL
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 60,360
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 177,581
Curriculum
K4 Math: This month they … Read more »
Edelweiss School October 2014 Newsletter Update
Visiting the Hindustan Aeronautical Museum (HAL) in Bangalore was a life changing experience for Edelweiss students as all experienced planes for the first time! Children were thrilled to see full size planes and helicopters up close. Their imaginations have expanded by visiting this museum! Diwali the “Festival of lights” was celebrated in October with great pomp and honor and all the ABC-Edelweiss kids enjoyed feasting on the special lunch that was arranged on Diwali day.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 119
Total number of meals served this month: 2,460
No. of school days: 17
No. of Students Enrolled (Day): 89
Average attendance: 75
Attendance in %: 85
No. of Students Enrolled (ASP): 30
Total breakfasts served: 1,206
Total lunches served: 1,124
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 130
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 117,221
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 177,581
Curriculum:
K4 Math – Numeration 1-5, plus … Read more »
Freesia School September 2014 Newsletter Update
The month of September at ABC Freesia School has leaped forward in academics, co-curricular, fun and frolic, and renewed enthusiasm among teachers after the “Teachers’ Day Celebration”. With our curriculum coordinators testing K5 children in English scholastics and our teachers advancing into their Nursery Teacher Training Program (NTT), we welcome our members to enjoy every bit of this newsletter!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 95
Total number of meals served this month: 2,958
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students enrolled (Day): 88
Average attendance: 78
Attendance in %: 88
No. of students enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,479
Total lunches served: 1,479
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): NIL
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 57,906
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 172,667
K4 Math
Children learned addition, subtraction, addition symbol (+), subtraction symbol (-) and equals (=), writing numbers from 1 to 10. The concept … Read more »
Edelweiss School September 2014 Newsletter Update
September has been an exciting month at ABC-Edelweiss. We have seen a lot of events, activities and a wide range of learning by children at our Edelweiss School. Join us as we share these moments with our ABC members! Volunteers from Blue Jeans Co. have given our school a face lift by painting the school. Sandra from Action Care Dubai visited our center. Teacher’s day was celebrated on 5th September with all the students and teachers. Also, September born children celebrated their birthdays with their friends at school.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 117
Total number of meals served this month: 3,447
No. of school days: 19
No. of Students enrolled (Day): 89
Average attendance: 75
Attendance in %: 86
No. of students enrolled (ASP): 28
Total breakfasts served: 1,503
Total lunches served: 1,503
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 441
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: … Read more »
Edelweiss School August 2014 Newsletter Update
August has had many extraordinary events at our ABC sponsored Edelweiss school and we are eager to share the news with all ABC members. August 15th, 68th year of Independence is a memorable day in the history of India. ABC Edelweiss and Freesia Schools had the opportunity to celebrate the Independence Day in great glamour. Children also have had a fun filled field trip to Pizza Hut. For many, it was the first time having Pizzas in their lives!
Our K4/K5 children are progressing well in academics and ASP children getting benefitted with our After School Program.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 124
Total number of meals served this month: 3,000
No. of school days: 21
Number of Students Enrolled (Day): 93
Average attendance: 77
Attendance in %: 83
Number of Students Enrolled (ASP): 31
Total breakfasts served: 1,388
Total lunches served: 1,388
Total meals served at … Read more »
Freesia School August 2014 Newsletter Update
August has had many extraordinary events at ABC Freesia School and we are eager to share the news with all ABC members. August 15th, 68th year of Independence is a memorable day in the history of India. ABC Edelweiss and Freesia Schools had the opportunity to celebrate the Independence Day in great glamour. Children also have had fun filled field trips to Pizza Hut, War Memorial and the Planetarium. For many it was the first time having Pizzas in their lives!
With our K4/K5 children progressing very well in academics and ASP children getting benefit from our After School Program.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 95
Total number of meals served this month: 2,916
No. of school days: 19
No. of students enrolled (Day): 88
Average attendance: 77
Attendance in %: 87
Number of Students Enrolled (ASP): 7
Total breakfasts served: 1,458
Total lunches served: 1,458
Total meals served at … Read more »
Freesia School July 2014 Newsletter Update
July is the 2nd month of the current academic year. Children are well settled and are marching ahead into our renewed curriculum. This newsletter you would note the emphasis on the remarkable education that we provide at ABC Freesia School. AlphaBet Club like to brag about how we provide these impoverished children with world class privileges and make them a global citizen of tomorrow. Sharing these proud moments from this month with you all! Please accept a big thank you from AlphaBet Club Foundation to all its supporters.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 97
Total number of meals served this month: 3,318
No. of school days: 21
No. of students enrolled (Day): 87
Average attendance: 79
Attendance in %: 90.8
No. of students enrolled (ASP): 10
Total breakfasts served: 1,659
Total lunches served: 1,659
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): NIL
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 52,032
Total ABC-BB School partnership … Read more »
Edelweiss School July 2014 Newsletter Update
A lot has happened in July! Here is a peek into the activities that the children of Building Blocks Edelweiss School ventured into. With our regular stream of activities that we do in Math, Social Science, Value Education, Health and Hygiene, this month’s prime focus was K5 children’s visit to the planetarium. Children were able to connect their classroom exploration of solar system and universe to the models on display and the film on constellations.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 115
Total number of meals served this month: 3,558
No. of school days: 21
No. of students enrolled (Day): 93
Average attendance: 78
Attendance in %: 84
No. of students enrolled (ASP): 22
Total breakfasts served: 1,639
Total lunches served: 1,639
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 280
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 108,314
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 160,346
Academics ran in full swing with … Read more »
Edelweiss School June 2014 Newsletter Update
June 2014-15 marks the beginning of the new academic year for ABC Schools. With notable rejuvenation from our K5 children, hustle and bustle of the first timers (K4) and with lot of anticipation and expectation from teachers for the new academic year, the school started off promptly. With great many planned activities, lots of action and with a renewed vision, there is a lot to look forward to this academic year!
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 114
Total number of meals served this month: 3,129
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled (Day): 93
Average attendance: 76
Attendance in %: 81
No. of students enrolled (ASP): 21
Total breakfasts served: 1,511
Total lunches served: 1,511
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 107
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 104,756
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 153,470
Education is of utmost priority at all our ABC Schools. There … Read more »
Freesia School June 2014 Newsletter Update
Welcome to the June newsletter – beginning of the new academic session! Freesia in no time kick started with all the activities planned for the month. K5 children looked refreshed after the month long break. Teacher and staff too were energized after that much needed break. With the feedback from the feeder schools, ABC schools have a modified curriculum to match the need of the feeder schools. KUDOS!!! to Mrs. Selvi Joseph and Meher who have worked very hard to make these changes. Children will now have lot more worksheets, Math activity books and writing practice to enable them to compete as they enter other schools. Also, Freesia had visitors, who shared their love and fortune with the kids.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 98
Total number of meals served this month: 3170
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled (Day): 88
Average … Read more »
Giles reflects on his visit to ABC School Projects in India
“I discovered that these school projects are a ray of hope, a beacon of light, and an oasis of happiness in the midst of some of the most extreme living conditions on Earth that I have ever witnessed.”
Giles Bones is an AlphaBet Club (ABC) volunteer in Madrid, and is also member of the ABC Global Content Team, and has been closely associated with ABC since it began in 2006.
How it all began
Back in 2006, around the same time as the AlphaBet Club was born, I coincidentally took my first steps in India, backpacking around the north, and discovered this vast, amazing and eye-opener of a country, with its generous and kind-hearted people, incredible (and at times shocking) sights and smells, and with its rich spicy food. At the same time I discovered the complicated and harsh realities of poverty-stricken developing … Read more »
Diego reflects on visiting ABC School Projects in India
“I barely spoke for the first 2 hours (those who know me will find this hard to believe). The abstract concept of funding projects for kids living miles away was turning right in front of me into walls, uniforms, notebooks, legs, hands, eyes, laughs, smiles……and it was somehow activating my internal self defense mechanisms, and it was winning.”
Diego Guerra is the operational lead for AlphaBet Club Madrid for the last several years. Diego, along with a few other volunteers from Madrid (Giles, Laura and Troy), recently visited Bangalore to experience first hand ABC projects. Enjoy reading his experience.
Back in March, I landed in Bangalore “international” airport with a bag full of toys, questions and expectations. Days later I left empty handed and with a mixed feeling of sadness and pride…..Let me step back a bit so you can understand: I … Read more »
Freesia School April 2014 Newsletter Update
This month was very special for Freesia, the first ever graduation ceremony was held on the 26th April. 16 students graduated this year, all of whom have been admitted in English medium schools for their first grade.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 16
No. of students enrolled: 108
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 92%
Total breakfasts served: 1,373
Total lunches served: 1,220
Total number of meals served this month: 2,593
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 45,544
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 147, 171
Freesia students also attended their final examinations from the 2nd of April and individual attention was given to each student. The curriculum supervisor also helped the K5 teacher, in conducting the exams as this was the first time exams were being held at Freesia.
The graduation ceremony was equally special as the students were taken … Read more »
Freesia School March 2014 Newsletter Update
March was a month that saw the one year anniversary celebrations at Freesia that had many special visitors too – ABC volunteers – Giles, Diego, Laura, Yana and Troy with many other guests.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 108
Total number of meals served this month: 4,260
No. of school days: 24
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 92%
Total breakfasts served: 2,305
Total lunches served: 1,955
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 42,951
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 142,444
The students at Freesia were in for a surprise – Toys!! ABC Madrid Lead Volunteer – Diego had brought toys donated by the Moraleja Green Shopping Center in Spain and boxes by Smurfit Kappa. The children were thrilled to receive their toys and were very happy!
ABC Volunteer, Yana also visited the school and the slum and spent a good day with the kids in their … Read more »
Edelweiss School March 2014 Newsletter Update
March has been a very exciting month for the Edelweiss School. Not only has the school been visited by special friends but a new play area has been added for the kids. AlphaBet Club volunteers – Giles, Diego, Yana and Laura along with Troy visited the school and were overwhelmed at the students’ performances and the organized structure of the school. They were thrilled to see the maintenance of the school environment compared to the slums the children came from.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 123
Total number of meals served this month: 4,073
No. of school days: 24
Average attendance: 80
Attendance in %: 83%
Number of Students Enrolled (ASP): 29
Total breakfasts served: 1,992
Total lunches served: 1,630
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 451
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 99,493
Total ABC-BB School partnership meals since opening: 142,444
Our friends from the AlphaBet Club … Read more »
Freesia School February 2014 Newsletter Update
A chorus of “I am good” with a thumbs-up sign can be heard and seen when we ask our student “how are you?” When asked “how old are you?” answers range from “I am 4 years old” to “I am 5 years old”. It’s very rewarding to see them learn daily and thoroughly amazing when you see how much they advanced after not seeing them for an entire year.
February is the ninth month of the school year. The K5 students are being prepared for their further primary education in different schools. They are now very fluent in English compared to when they first started school last year, March 2013. The K4 students have also kept up with the English language and other curriculum like Math, Cultural and Geographic environment.
The K5 students are doing very well in their extended hours of … Read more »
Edelweiss School February 2014 Newsletter Update
February has been a fun packed month of learning at Edelweiss. We have had some exciting training sessions, refreshing the vision of the teachers and staff to continue their efforts to help make a difference in the lives of the children. We also have had a re-envisioning parent-teacher meeting to help inspire the parents to continue the journey of training and educating their children for the future and to instill in them the importance of education.
February is the ninth month of the eleven month school year. Students in Edelweiss are fast progressing in their academics as well in other aspects of their daily lives such as hygiene, safety, health and nutrition.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 93
Total number of meals served this month: 3,294
No. of school days: 21
Average attendance: 75
Attendance in %: 82%
No. of students enrolled … Read more »
Liz steps into a pint-sized wonderland
‘ Wow – that is the only expression suitable to quantify what I saw during my visit to Edelweiss school. If I hadn’t known beforehand, I would never have guessed that the beaming, articulate children I met there were some of the poorest children, not just in India, but it the world.’
Testimonial of Edelweiss School & GD Mara slum visit by: Liz Hemsley – Date: April 2013
“Arriving at this school, located within walking distance of the slum where its pupils and their families live, is much like arriving at any school for 4 and 5 year old children – it is like stepping into a pint-sized wonderland! Colours are bright, songs are just as good for communicating as ordinary speech, and laughter is easy and infectious.
No sooner were we through the door than we were greeted by a chorus … Read more »
Brian looks back on visiting ABC School projects
Brian van Daal is lead volunteer with ABC for a long time already. He’s responsible for Fundraising Events in Amsterdam and Finance. In 2012 Brian visited our school projects in Bangalore during his holiday. Enjoy reading his experience.
It’s hard to imagine how the families in the slums have to live
After having lived and worked in India in 2007 I was very excited to visit this amazing country again in March 2012. This time my destination was Bangalore. Although I lived in India (Delhi) I’ve never visited Bangalore and knew it only as the IT capital of India. Like all big cities in India it’s crowded, noisy, smelly, has extremely busy traffic, etc…… anyway, some people would call it lively. The main objective of my travels to Bangalore was to visit the AlphaBet Club/Building Blocks pre … Read more »
Freesia School January 2014 Newsletter Update
Freesia’s first January being in operation and a month full of new curriculum, extended school hours and 4,247 meals served.
Attendance and Nutrition
Total Number of Students Enrolled: 115
Total number of meals served this month: 4,247
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled (Day): 115
Average attendance (Day): 100
Attendance in % (Day): 86.9%
Total breakfasts served: 2,300
Total lunches served: 1,947
Total number meals served since opening at Freesia: 29,609
Total # of meals served at ABC-BB Schools: 125,980 meals
School re-opened on the 2nd of January and its curriculum is in full swing. The K5 students are being prepared for their primary school admissions. Since, the curriculum in the normal English medium schools, is different to what is taught in Building Blocks Schools, the teachers are putting in extra efforts to teach the K5 children the local language of Karnataka, Kannada, the alphabet and also the numbers in the numerical … Read more »
Edelweiss School January 2014 Newsletter Update
The new year of 2014 started off well, with fresh vision and fresh inspiration, and never a dull moment! We have had some exciting training sessions, refreshing the vision of the teachers and staff to continue their efforts to help make a difference in the lives of the children. We also have had a re-envisioning parent-teacher meeting to help inspire the parents to continue the journey of training and educating their children for the future and to instill in them the importance of this, to bring them a new and bright future.
Although January is the first month of a brand new year, the children at Edelweiss School are starting the eighth month of their 11 month school year. Children are back after an enjoyable and well deserved winter vacation.
Attendance and Nutrition
Total Number of Students Enrolled: 126
Total number of meals served this month: 3,762
No. … Read more »
Freesia School December 2013 Newsletter Update
Take a peek into a month at our Freesia School. December was an exciting month for the 115 students at Freesia. 3,022 meals served, Christmas celebrations, 100,000th meal celebrations and special visitors made it a fun month for our students.
December is the 7th month of the 11 month school year. Freesia has shown a lot of progress since its opening and the children learn new things through various new methods of teaching being implemented at school by the Curriculum Designer, supervisor and the teachers.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of students enrolled: 115
Total number of meals served this month: 3022
No. of school days: 16
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 84%
Total breakfasts served: 1603
Total lunches served: 1419
Total # of meals served since opening 3/2012: 28,993 meals
Total # of meals served at ABC-BB Schools: 118,190 meals
Learning Focus:
The kids learn about basic hygiene everyday in their classes. The K4 children have now started learning … Read more »
Edelweiss School December 2013 Newsletter Update
December was a month full of many celebrations at Edelweiss – 100,000th meal celebrations, special visitors and Christmas celebration and gifts at the school.
December is the seventh month of the 11 month school year. Children at Edelweiss enjoy coming to school and learning new things everyday in their Circle Time. The teachers are also using new and interesting techniques to teach concepts to children.
Attendance and Nutrition
Total Number of Students Enrolled: 126
Total number of meals served this month: 2,915
No. of school days: 16
Number of Students Enrolled (Day): 106
Average attendance (Day): 90
Attendance in % (Day): 84.9%
Number of Students Enrolled (ASP): 20
Total breakfasts served: 1441
Total lunches served: 1281
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 193
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 77,730
Total # of meals served at ABC-BB Schools: 118,190 meals
LEARNING FOCUS:
The kids learn about basic hygiene everyday in their … Read more »
Oliver volunteers for India school projects
From volunteering as a DJ at AlphaBet Club [FUN]draising events in Amsterdam, to a month volunteering in Bangalore, we hope all ABCer’s enjoy this testimonial from Oliver Shortman’s on time volunteering in India and thoughts on impact of our projects.
”It’s very easy to be dismissive and cynical about charity in this day and age…”
“Last summer, a good friend of mine approached me to DJ with him at some AlphaBet Club events in Amsterdam. I’d attended a couple of ABC events previously and enjoyed them, but as someone who generally prefers to play 60s and 70s rock music in their DJ sets as opposed to contemporary party tunes, I was a little skeptical and needed a certain amount of persuasion to do it. It’s very easy to be dismissive and cynical about charity in this day and age. It seems that … Read more »
100,000th Nutritious Meal Celebration at ABC Schools in India
As the proverb goes – “A hungry stomach has no ears”. Join us in reliving the celebration with our students at the Edelweiss and Freesia Schools in Bangalore, India. Thanks to all ABC donors, partners and Building Blocks staff for providing nutritious meals, 100,000+ times, for these children, with two meals a day, 6 days a week.
The children attending these schools are from impoverished families with many siblings, where often times if it weren’t for school nutrition programs they may not even get 1 square meal a day. Over the last years, with funding support from the AlphaBet Club, Building Blocks has opened two schools near large urban slums in Bangalore, India. Edelweiss (currently with 127 children enrolled) in Tilaknagar area and Freesia (currently with 118 children enrolled) in Chinappa Gardens area of Bangalore.
In October, the Building Blocks Edelweiss … Read more »
Children’s Day Celebration & Thank You to Donors
Relive the Children’s Day celebratory fun & gifts received by students of AlphaBet Club Edelweiss, Freesia and all Building Blocks Schools in Bangalore.
Children’s Day is celebrated on the 14th of November in India and is the birthday of the first Prime Minister of independent India, as he was known for the deep affection he held for children and his belief that children and youth were the future of the country and education would help them achieve anything they dream of.
AlphaBet Club’s partner in India – Building Blocks, celebrated Children’s Day on Saturday, the 9th of November, combining it with another big occasion – the 9th year anniversary of the organization.
Days of preparation went in to making this big day a huge success. All the six schools performed many dances and the audience loved every bit of it! The … Read more »
Christmas Celebrations & Gifts at ABC Schools
Relive the celebration with our 238 students attending ABC Building Blocks Edelweiss & Freesia Schools as they celebrated at each school last Saturday with the teachers and a special day of activities. Students have a week off of school.
Students at Edelweiss School received a Christmas present of a large warm blanket. This December is a colder than usual and we believed that the students and their families would get good use of the blankets. The 120 blankets were funded by a donation of AlphaBet Club FacePainting volunteers at a past event. Special thanks to Joska van Oosten, Liselotte Betist, Lotta Isopuro and Victoire Klaassen for donating the funds they raised at ABC Halloween party 2013 while facepainting, and donating them to go towards these Christmas gifts.
Additional funding for these blankets were provided from Optional Donations that were made by ABCers … Read more »
Thank You, Seasons Greetings & 2013 Year in Review
AlphaBet Club Friends,
As the holiday season is upon us, this is the time of the year to reflect on what we accomplished this past year. For us that means looking back on the ABC charity projects in India, the improvements in our organization and the 17 (FUN)draising events in Amsterdam and Madrid.
I’m happy to share that 2013, with your support, the AlphaBet Club:
* Completed our 4th New School Project – Freesia, in Bangalore, India and already has 108 students attending.
* Have an average of 238 children from the slums going to school 6 days a week
* Served 61,972 nutritious meals to students in our schools in India in 2013 – and surpassing 100,000 meals since openings.
* Hosted 17 [FUN]draising events – 11 in Amsterdam and 6 in Madrid
* 25 new volunteers added to strengthen our team and support our operations
* Celebrated our 7th Anniversary and coming up on 100th ABC Event
* Roll out of a new … Read more »
Celebrating ABC Edelweiss School’s 3rd Year Anniversary Today!
We’re happy today, to celebrate the 3rd Anniversary of ABC’s Edelweiss School!
Enjoy watching the Launch Video and TV 9 News Video (BELOW) from our opening day ceremonies in 2010.
We’re pleased to share that our school now has 128 students that attend daily, up from 45 students when we launched 3 years ago. Children attend school 6 days a week, with instruction only in English, and approximately 30 children graduating each year.
Each student receives 2 nutritious meals a day, free of charge as well as periodic medical check ups and gifts at Children’s Day. Edelweiss School has served at total of 80,000 nutritious meals to students since it’s opening 3 years ago.
An After School Program (ASP) was implemented last year giving the graduated 6 year olds the opportunity to come back for 2 hours of free instruction … Read more »
Edelweiss School November 2013 Newsletter Update
November is the sixth month of the 11 month school year. We had grand celebrations this month. We celebrated the 9th anniversary of Building Blocks on the 9th of November and also the Children’s Day. All the children going to Building Blocks had a gala time on the special day, they also gave us many wonderful performances. Each child was also given gift of magic slated, school bags and stationery
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled: 107
No. of students enrolled for ASP: 24
Average attendance: 86
Attendance in %: 80%
Total breakfasts served: 1766
Total lunches served: 1628
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 345
Total number of meals served this month: 3739
Total number meals served since opening (including ASP): 81904
LEARNING FOCUS:
The K4 class children are having fun learning about baby monkeys, winter weather and winter clothes. In Genki English, the children … Read more »
Freesia School November 2013 Newsletter Update
November is the 6th month of the school year. All of us at Building Blocks had a big celebration this month. We celebrated the 9th year anniversary of Building Blocks on the 9th of November along with the Children’s Day in one big occasion.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled: 118
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 81%
Total breakfasts served: 1996
Total lunches served: 1670
Total number of meals served this month: 3666
Learning Focus:
The K5 kids are learning the alphabets of the local language – Kannada. They are progressing well in that. The K4 class children are having fun learning about baby monkeys, winter weather and winter clothes. In Genki English, the children learned about ‘How many?’ and ‘How much?’.
The K5 students also are being given writing practice of tricky words such as – I, To, Are, Was etc. The K4 … Read more »
Freesia School October 2013 Newsletter Update
October is the 5th month of the school year. Freesia has progressed a lot from the past months academically and the children are learning new things through the new Montessori methods being implemented at school.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled: 119
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 84%
Total breakfasts served: 1921
Total lunches served: 1670
Total number of meals served this month: 3591
Learning Focus:
The kids are learning about basic hygiene in their classes. The K4 class children are having fun learning about siblings, blowing bubbles, inside outside and hidden objects.
In Genki English, the children learned animal voices and creatures under the sea. The Community Helper for this month was Doctor and Nurse.
Nutrition:
The children were served 3591 nutritious meals this month.
Visitors:
Rajiv Mehra from the Rotary Club Amsterdam International and his friends visited India and both the schools of Building Blocks that … Read more »
Edelweiss School October 2013 Newsletter Update
October is the fifth month of the 11 month school year. Children here at Edelweiss are having a fun time coming to school and learning new things everyday in their Circle Time.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled: 107
No. of students enrolled for ASP: 28
Average attendance: 89
Attendance in %: 83%
Total breakfasts served: 1785
Total lunches served: 1565
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 373
Total number of meals served this month: 3350
Total number meals served since opening: 78165
LEARNING FOCUS:
The kids are learning about basic hygiene in their classes. The K4 class learned about mannerisms, how to be well-mannered.
In Viva Science, the children learned about Weather and the different seasons and also various outdoor activities.
The kids love doing activities in fun with Math. They did many activities like Play with dough numerals, fun with math sweet sets, clothespin … Read more »
Freesia School September 2013 Newsletter Update
September is the 4thmonth of the school year. Having started new things at school, like the circle time and Montessori time, the students have learnt new things fast and are progressing every day. Circle time – The Circle Time is a chart which has various topics all together in one place. The children can learn about the weather, days of the week, month, words, date, colors, shapes and counting numbers.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled: 126
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 79.3%
Total breakfasts served: 1924
Total lunches served: 1924
Total number of meals served this month: 3848
Learning Focus:
The kids are learning about basic hygiene in their classes. The K4 class learned about mannerisms, how to be well-mannered. We have also started Jolly phonics for the K4 and K5 classes, where they learn alphabets by their sound.
The students make good use … Read more »
Edelweiss School September 2013 Newsletter Update
September is the fourth month of the 11 month school year. Children here at Edelweiss are having a fun time coming to school and learning new things everyday in their Circle Time. The Circle Time is a chart which has various topics all together in one place. The children can learn about the weather, days of the week, month, words, date, colors, shapes and counting numbers.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 21
No. of students enrolled: 107
No. of students enrolled for ASP: 21
Average attendance: 92
Attendance in %: 85.9%
Total breakfasts served: 1922
Total lunches served: 1771
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 346
Total number of meals served this month: 4039
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 74815
Learning Focus:
The kids are learning about basic hygiene in their classes. The K4 class learned about mannerisms, how to be well-mannered. They also learned about the role … Read more »
Freesia School August 2013 Newsletter Update
August saw many reasons to celebrate; we celebrated India’s 66th year of Independance and an Islamic Festival – Eid-ul-fitr. The Freesia school has introduced Montessori time in their new curriculum, which allows the children time to settle into the school environment when they arrive at school in the morning. They are allowed to play and experiment with all the play and activity material provided to them, satisfying their natural curiosity.
Attendance and Nutrition:
The total enrollment of the school is 127.
The average attendance is 100 per day.
Total number of meals served this month were 3742.
Learning Focus:
Students are being introduced to new activities and topics in the Montessori and Circle time in their classes. The learning focus for this month was on the writing skills of the K4 and K5 students.
Nutrition:
The K4 kids are learning about Health and Safety, which includes eating healthy food. … Read more »
Edelweiss School August 2013 Newsletter Update
August is the third month of the 11 month school year. The children are being introduced to new activities and topics in the Montessori and Circle time in their classes. The children were taught about the Indian Independence and celebrated the 66th Independence Day on August 15th.
Attendance and Nutrition:
The total enrollment of the school is 96.
The average attendance is 93 students per day.
Total enrollment for ASP for this month is 20
Total number of meals served in this month were – 3,316.
The total number of meals served at Edelweiss since the opening are – 74,469.
Learning Focus:
The students of class K4 are being taught cleanliness and hygiene – washing hands and brushing teeth. The kids are also learning about the body parts and the five senses in their Viva Science.
Genki English is used to teach thekids English in a fun way through entertainment like … Read more »
Freesia School July 2013 Newsletter Update
July is the second month of the 11 month school year. The children continue to make progress in important aspects of education, nutrition, health and safety, and hygiene.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 26
No. of students enrolled: 126
Average attendance: 110
Attendance in %: 87.3%
Total breakfasts served: 2778
Total lunches served: 2538
Total number of meals served this month: 5316
Edelweiss School July 2013 Newsletter Update
The Edelweiss school has a brand new location! Due to the unfortunate removal of the BTM Layout slum where the school was initially situated, it was decided to relocate the school as the attendance at Edelweiss would eventually have dropped. Edelweiss is now located in Tilak Nagar where it will continue to provide its services to bright and eager children.
The “Re-launch Ceremony of Edelweiss School” was celebrated on the 8th of July 2013 and was attended by many people, known to the AlphaBet Club and Building Blocks. The ceremony was simple, with the ribbon cutting and the traditional lighting of the lamp. Everyone attending wished us success for the future!
July is the 2nd month of the school year. Children will receive 9 more months of fun-filled education and nutrition. The total enrollment is 96 and average attendance per day is … Read more »
Freesia School June 2013 Newsletter Update
June is the first month of the school year. 10 months remain of the school year. Many new faces were welcomed at Freesia, both students and Teachers.The children love spending their time here and enjoy their daily lessons and activities.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled: 126
Average attendance: 100
Attendance in %: 79.3%
Total breakfasts served: 1836
Total number of meals served this month: 1836
As part of the curriculum, the kids are learning the basics like days, dates, months of the year and the name of the founder. They also have been doing physical activities during their play time and in the circle time of their classroom with their teachers.
Although the full curriculum has not yet started, fine and gross motor skill development activities are being held for them. The teachers and children have fun doing these activities.
We also had … Read more »
Freesia School April 2013 Newsletter Update
April being the second month since school opened, the children have accustomed themselves well to the school atmosphere as well as the teachers.
Classes are being conducted regularly and the children love spending time at Freesia. They are exposed to new things and are learning things well.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled: 82
Average attendance: 60
Attendance in %: 73%
Total breakfasts served:1439
Total lunches served: 1215
Total number of meals served this month: 2654
Although the full curriculum has not yet started, fine and gross motor skill development activities are being held for them. The teachers and children have fun doing these activities. Few of the activities that were done are –
Sorting beads, beans
Sand painting – basic
Vegetable printing
Sticking pulses – color coordination
Nutrition:
Celebration at Freesia
April 10th – Ugadi
Yugādi or Ugadi is the New Year’s Day for the people of the Deccan region of India. The name Yugadi or Ugadi is … Read more »
Edelweiss School April 2013 Newsletter Update
April is the 11th month of the school year. The last month of the academic year.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled: 90
No. of students enrolled at ASP: 20
Average attendance: 87
Attendance in %: 88%
Total breakfasts served: 1,833
Total lunches served: 1,524
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 51
Total number of meals served this month: 3408
Total number meals served since opening: 68,614
Learning Focus:
Since, April is the last month of the year, before school shuts down for summer vacation; the entire curriculum was reviewed for the final examinations. The students were also taught music with the Brillkids Little Musician.
Physical Education:
The kids learned fundamental body movements like Walking, Running etc. They also enjoy playing in their play area.
Character Development:
The character development card for the kids in this month was ‘Being Respectful’.
Nutrition:
The academic year of 2012-2013 saw the nutrition program at … Read more »
Celebrate Freesia New School Opening in India
Saturday, March 2, 2013 was an important day! We celebrated the opening of Freesia School in Bangalore India which will educate, free of cost, 100+ children living in the Chinnappa Garden slum. Each student is given educational materials and 2 nutritious meals 6 days a week, including periodic medical check ups, all free of charge. The children are taken on excursions so they can experience restaurants, zoo, shopping centers and parks for the first time. The school will also have a Kitab Korner library so students have access to quality children’s books.
Read more about Freesia school in the Education Projects section of this website. Regular updates on both Freesia and Edelweiss school will be posted on this website. Congratulations and thanks to all ABCers, Rotary Club International Amsterdam, Wilde Ganzen and Building Blocks. Joins us at our next party to … Read more »
Freesia School Opening – March 2013
Freesia was inaugurated on the 2nd of March, 2013. The Chief Guest was Mr. BNS Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South East Bangalore, India. Present along with him were other important people related to the school’s opening – James Ambat, Founder of Building Blocks, India, Troy Swanson, Founder of the AlphaBet Club and the Rotary Club Bangalore Chapter.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled: 82
Average attendance:50
Attendance in %:56%
Total breakfasts served: 732
Total lunches served: 650
Total number of meals served this month: 1382
Freesia is sponsored by the AlphaBet Club, Rotary Club Amsterdam International and Wilde Ganzen. Rotary Club Amsterdam International and AlphaBet Club Charity hosted a Gala Formal Dinner Event called “Bangalorious Night” in October 2012 with funds going to this school launch. Wilde Ganzen Charity has partially matched funds for infrastructure costs for this project.
The objective of this school … Read more »
Edelweiss School March 2013 Newsletter Update
Edelweiss was colorful this month, with the celebration of Holi festival and also because of the visitors that came in! The students had a great time at the Edelweiss. March is the 10th month of the school year, 1 month remaining.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 20
No. of students enrolled: 95
Average attendance: 79
Attendance in %: 86%
Total breakfasts served: 1,657
Total lunches served:1,575
Total meals served at ASP
(After School Program): 238
Total number of meals served this month: 3,470
Total number meals served since opening at Edelweiss: 65,206
Learning Focus:
English:
The K5 kids are reviewing their Tricky words, Sounds, Formation, Blending and Dictation in their Jolly Phonics class. In Genki English class, the children were taught “Where do you live?”, “Where are you from?” etc. The kids also enjoyed learning music through Brillkids Little Musician.
Math:
The kids had fun learning Math through ‘Big and Little Animals’. The … Read more »
School has never been so much fun
In January, Niels Arnbak visited Troy in Bangalore, and had a chance to see the Edelweiss school:
“When I asked my Facebook friends for tips on where to go in India, Troy invited me to visit the ABC-schools by the slums of Bangalore. So I expected slum schools. I expected schools like I had been involved with in Cambodia: Pupils and teachers with the best of intentions, making the most of it makeshift barracks with dull interiors, often without electricity and equipment, using outdated textbooks to follow a chaotic curriculum. Then I stepped into the Edelweiss school and I soon realized that Troy hadn’t managed my expectations very well.
We were greeted with an explosion of color and joy. The kids were learning English through song and dance videos on big flat-screen TV’s. Every time we entered another classroom the … Read more »
Edelweiss School February 2013 Newsletter Update
February is the 9th month of the school year, 2 months remaining.
A good start to the month! We had many visitors who spent the day with the kids, had fun and were happy to see the kids moving forward in their lives at Building Blocks Edelweiss. Many fun and exciting activities were planned for our classrooms. The children learned a lot of new things in their academics.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 24
No. of students enrolled: 96
Average attendance: 79
Attendance in %: 83%
Total breakfasts served: 1,905
Total lunches served: 1,604
Total number of meals served this month: 3,509
Total number meals served since opening: 61,736
Learning Focus:
English:
The K5 kids are reviewing their Tricky words, Sounds, Formation, Blending and Dictation in their Jolly Phonics class. In Genki English class, the children were taught “I’m thirsty”, “How much?”, “How many?” The kids also enjoyed learning music through Brillkids … Read more »
Edelweiss School January 2013 Newsletter Update
January is the 8th month of the school year, 3 months remaining. A warm welcome to all the kids and staff at Edelweiss and to all those associated with this learning center, best wishes for a healthy, happy and fun-filled 2013! January saw the Edelweiss learning center being painted with vibrant colors and beautiful murals on all the walls. The kids surely enjoy their time here, amongst beautiful paintings in their classrooms.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 21
No. of students enrolled: 97
Average attendance: 81
Attendance in %: 83%
Total breakfasts served: 1,691
Total lunches served: 1,625
Total number of meals served this month: 3,316
Total number meals served since opening: 58,420
Learning Focus:
English:
Tricky words, sounds and word formation were reviewed by the K5 kids in their Jolly Phonics class. The kids learned ‘Doctor, Doctor’, ‘How much?’, ‘How many?’ and ‘I’m thirsty’ in the Genki English class.
They also learned music through the … Read more »
New school project Freesia & Chinappa Garden slum
Watch the new video of the building that we are making into our new school and a walk through the adjacent Chinappa Garden slum – where our future students live. Looking to open new school for 100+ children in February.
Edelweiss School December 2012 Newsletter Update
2012 was an excellent academic year for Edelweiss, so many things seen and so many things learned. There has been an immense advancement and much has been accomplished on all fronts, by the students and staff at Edelweiss. December was a thrilling month for the kids at Edelweiss. They were invited to many Christmas parties. They enjoyed themselves very much. They received many gifts and loads of love was showered on them by everyone they met. December is the 7th month of the school year, 4 months remaining.
Attendance and Nutrition
No. of school days: 18
No. of students enrolled: 98
Average attendance: 89
Attendance in %: 91%
Total breakfasts served: 1,609
Total lunches served: 1,345
Total number of meals served this month: 2,954
Total number meals served since opening: 55,47
Learning Focus:
English:
The children can now recognize all the 42 sounds of the English language. They have learned 40 tricky words out … Read more »
Edelweiss School November 2012 Newsletter Update
There was never a dull moment for Carnations in November! It was packed with loads of fun activities like the Diwali celebrations, visitors, special events and a lot of “School” too. The teachers put their best into keeping the children happy, healthy and growing.
Attendance and Nutrition:
Attendance : 88%
Meals Served : 3510
Learning focus :
In math, the K4 children are learning the concepts of over, beside, down, on, in front of, behind, forward, top, middle, bottom, first–next- last, start & finish and back-to-back through fun activities.
The K5 Children are practicing writing 1-50, ordinal numbers 1st-10th, concepts of before after and in- between, counting up to 100 and counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.
In phonics, they are practicing reading sentences, recognizing capital letters, identifying short vowels and tricky words in the given sentences.
Children’s Trip To Shoppers Stop
The children were invited to go to the … Read more »
Our Bangalorious night gala funds a new school
AlphaBet Club’s Biggest Night in 2012 where funds raised with Rotary Club Amsterdam Internatinal fund 1 NEW SCHOOL (Freesia) for 100+ children. (also 1 New School Bus). Special Thanks to Rotary Club Amsterdam International, Wilde Ganzen & all ABC Friends for a Bangalorious Night by attending and donating 60+ items for raffle/auction.
Enjoy this new video highlighting our school & nutrition projects in India.
Thanks to Rotary Club & all AlphaBet Club volunteers & friends who made our ‘Bangalorious Night’ Gala Event a great night & raise enough funds to build 1 New School.
Enjoy the photos below from our big night. And for info on the impact funds raised this night are having see the information on Freesia School.
Edelweiss School October 2012 Newsletter Update
The children of Building Blocks Edelweiss had a very exciting month. It was filled with colorful activities, special guests visiting, celebrating festivals and some holidays too. Here is the news of what the children are learning at school and the different activities they are doing.
Attendance and Nutrition:
Attendance was at 84%
Number of meals served : 3038
Learning Focus :
After exploring different materials in the previous classes the children are now learning about spatial relationship.
They are having fun understanding concepts like left -right, above-under, high-low and inside-outside through activities like stackable snacks, bubble blowing and positional I spy.
The children had a lot of fun and educative activities this month. They had Prewriting skills like scissor activities, fun with paper and tracing activities, making a fruit rainbow and paper snipping collage work.The children look forward to these fun activities.
October Happenings
Mr Reddy and his family visited … Read more »
Edelweiss School September 2012 Newsletter Update
Parent Teacher Meeting –
The first PTM for the academic year 2012-2013 was conducted in all the five schools. It was well organised. The teachers introduced all the activities and curriculum to the parents.. They were very happy and satisfied with all that the school is giving their child. They expressed their gratitude towards the sponsors’ and Building Blocks for providing such an opportunity for their children.
Inter School Teachers Meet
The inter school teachers meet was held on the 1st of September 2012. Teachers and managers from all the five schools attended the meeting to discuss and share various operational experiences. Curriculum supervisors shared important observations and opened the floor for discussion and input. The meeting equipped the teachers with better classroom control plans as well as effective lesson plans.
Attendance and Nutrition:
No.of children: 101
Attendance: 87%
Meals Served: 3394
Learning Focus :
The children are learning … Read more »
Inge looks back on her visit to Bangalore
In January 2012 Inge visited Bangalore to join in the celebrations of the 1st anniversary of Edelweiss pre-school in Bangalore. She shared her experience after returning to London:
When I came to Bangalore my intention was to stay for a long weekend, to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Edelweiss school, and visit the slum where the school is located. After 3 days of bright and enthusiastic kids, welcoming teachers, and an impressive trip to the slum, I didn’t want to leave anymore. It’s hard to say what my expectations were, when venturing out to Bangalore. They have definitely been exceeded though, so much so that I know I will be back in that city for sure.
After being part of the Alphabet Club for many years, I finally got to see what our charity really does.. I think I’ve realized … Read more »
Edelweiss School July 2012 Newsletter Update
Attendance and Nutrition:
This month with a total strength of 97 students.
We had an attendance of 95%.
Total number of meals served: 2056
Learning Focus:
At the Senior KG level our children are learning the concepts of numbers 16 -‐ 19 and phonetics “ai”, “j” through songs and activities. They are also learning the amazing “My World” in science.
Nutrition:
Moral science: Children are learning “Diligence” through stories and activities. They are also learning to keep clean, brushing teeth and washing hands regularly.
A new syllabus in Math has been introduced for the four-year old children:The Big Book of Fun With Math, by Pam Shiller and Lynne Peterson. We are into the first chapter, called “Exploration of Materials” with lot of activities for the kids like sand- table fun, play-dough squeeze etc. The children also had a fun activity … Read more »
Record Attendance at Edelweiss School
July 5, 2012. Today New Record Attendance – 90 children attended School of the 97 enrolled. New School Year started last month & we’re working hard to get 20 more kids out of the slums & into school with 2 meals each day. Thanks again ABC Community, for all of your continued support in our schooling projects!
Edelweiss School August 2012 Newsletter Update
Building Blocks Celebrates Independence Day!
On the 14th of August the children celebrated the 65th Independence day. The event started with the lighting of the lamp by Dr. Kavitha Reddy. Mr. Senthil Kumar, Mr. Alok Mohanty and Mr. Praveen Kumar from the MedPlus company also joined the ceremony.
Different game stalls and two huge bouncing castles were set up. The children played at all the stalls and danced to some foot thumping music. It was fun!
Mr. BNS Reddy IPS hoisted the Indian national flag and the children sang the national anthem. This was followed by a special yummy meal. The children received a gift hamper each sponsored by Johnson & Johnson, Heinz, P & G, Wipro, Colgate, Palmolive, HLL, and Nestle.
Learning Focus :
Children of the four years age group (K4) are learning math through fun activities-exploration of materials, experimenting and making their own discoveries. They … Read more »