The Access Program in Gori held an enrichment activity devoted to St. Valentine’s day on February 13, 2012. Students got acquainted with the history and origin of this popular festival; watched a PowerPoint Presentation and a video featuring the traditions of celebrating St. Valentine’s day in various countries and discussed the ways in which a similar festival – Day of Love is celebrated in Georgia.
Giorgi Labartkava and Nino Samsonidze from Akhaltsikhe and Nino Gorgoshidze from Ozurgeti became the finalists of the FLEX competition and are now impatiently waiting for the final results to be known in April 2012.
One of the important highlights of the quarter was the costume Christmas celebration party/enrichment activity, implemented simultaneously in all four regions of program implementation on December 23, 2011.
On November 25, Access Program students from Akhaltsikhe were invited to attend a Thanksgiving event organized by Peace Corps Volunteers Sean Frederic, Kelley Gallagher, Kimberly Trammel and others at Akhaltsikhe American Corner. Among the guests of the event were Nina Jugheli, English Language Programs Coordinator at U.S. Embassy/PAS and Tanya XXXX, U.S. Embassy ELF
The Access Program in Gori held a Thanksgiving Enrichment Activity on November 21, 2011. Among the guests of the event were Jill Kelley, Director of the Energy and Environment Office of the USAID together with her parents who were spending their Thanksgiving vacations in Georgia.
On October 31, Access Program in Akhaltsikhe hosted a Halloween party. Among the numerous guests were:Nina Jugheli, English Language Programs Coordinator at U.S. Emabssy/PAS and Walter Gaddis, U.S. Embassy ELF in Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe Javakheti regions.
An enrichment session organized on September 30 for the Access Program students from Ozurgeti was devoted to famous American inventions. The idea of the topic came from Rachael Evarts, Peace Corps Volunteer, who has been working with Guria Youth Resource Center (Access Program implementing NGO in the region of Guria) since July 2011. Consequently, she has planned and implemented the enrichment session in close cooperation with the Access Program Coordinator in Guria region.
On September 30, Access Program in Gori hosted three FLEX program alumni: Lika Okropiridze, Mariam Ghvamichava and Maka Mukhadze. The purpose of the enrichment activity was to increase the motivation of Access Program students to learn English in order to become participants of FLEX-like international exchange programs and return to their communities as the bearers and followers of western democratic values.
On September 29, Judy Elliott, former senior ELF who had worked in Georgia for over two years, delivered an enrichment session on Project Based Learning for the Access Program students from Rustavi.
Dianne Zhambakhidze was once a shy and silent student, but that was before she enrolled in Access. It took her nearly a year to find her voice, but now she is one of the most helpful and friendly members of the group. Peers admire her diligence and hard work and always pay extra attention to what she has to say in class when she answers questions and gives advice on homework problems.
Second rotation of the Access program in Adjara region of Georgia started with its own set of challenges. After consultations with PH, “Changes without Borders” the implementing partner of the Access program decided to cast the participatory net wider to the outer and more remote locations of Adjara. The level of education and achievement among youth, in those remote locations, is lower than that in the Batumi public schools. Although over 200 applications were received, general starting level of language competencies among the selected 25 Access students was dramatically low. The majority of students could hardly read in English
