On December 11, 2012, in Radisson Blu Iveria Hotel a quiz “Ethnoses and Religions in Georgia” was organized by Tolerance Centre under Public Defender. The goal of the quiz was promoting culture of tolerance in Georgia, increasing the level of knowledge related to religious and ethnic diversity in Georgia for senior high school students and popularization of the encyclopedias – “Religions in Georgia” and “Ethnoses in Georgia” – prepared and published by the Centre.

On December 12, 2012 Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia Mr. Aluda Goglichidze and other representatives of the Ministry had a meeting with the representatives of pupils’ self-government bodies from Tbilisi and other regions, members of school civic clubs and winners of school Olympiads and tournaments.’

On December 17, Access students gathered to watch a Christmas movie “Merry Christmas Mr. Bean”. Showing of the movie was facilitated by Sonja Follett, ELCE Program ELTT. As a pre-watching activity, Sonja divided students into groups of five and gave each group a set of questions and new words together with hints to guess the meaning.

On December 14, 2012 ELCE alumnae from Kutaisi Public School #17 organized a “Best Linguist” debate on the topic of Immigration. Twenty-five 9thgrade students all from present or former ELCE participant schools (Kutaisi Public Schools #17, #3, #37 and Zugdidi Public School #3) discussed, in English, whether or not immigration out of Georgia hurts or helps cultural preservation.

On December 12, Rustavi American Corner hosted the Access Program enrichment activity on Environmental Issues. Ms. Sherry L. Wilson, guest speaker from the U.S. Embassy, lead the session and delivered a seminar on environmental problems, prevention of ecological catastrophes and ways of caring about ecology. The presentation was enriched with photo and video materials and allowed for active student participation.

On November 29, Access Program in Kutaisi devoted an enrichment activity to Halloween and its celebration in the United States. Prior to the enrichment activity, Access students had worked in groups and searched relevant materials online to prepare their group presentations and draw parallels between American “Halloween” and Georgian “Chiakokonoba” (festival of pagan origins still celebrated in rural areas of Georgia a week prior to Easter).

On November 19, 2012 civics club students from Tbilisi public schools attended training on Healthy Lifestyle at Tbilisi Youth House, in the framework of Applied Civic Education and Teacher Training Program implemented by PH International and funded by USAID.

On November 25, Access Program in Batumi organized an enrichment activity devoted to drama.

Access Program in Batumi closely collaborates with PH International’s U.S. Embassy funded English Language through Civic Education (ELCE) Program in the frames of which, five Access Program students got to participate and act in a play “Robin Hood Meets Arsena Marabdeli” written and directed by the ELCE Program English Language Teacher Trainer (ELTT) Chuck Kinney

On November 22, December 3, and December 20, Access Program in Akhaltsikhe devoted two hour sessions to watching and discussing television series Connect with English.

On November 22, Access Program in Rustavi celebrated Thanksgiving. The session started with a reading activity, during which students had to read a text about the origin of Thanksgiving and answer some pre-, while- and post- reading questions. To conclude the activity, students worked in groups and camp up with the list of major facts about the origin of Thanksgiving.