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.
On November 20, Access Program in Ozurgeti organized an enrichment activity on the regional dialects and accents in the United States. Among the guests were Yaroslava Petrova, U.S. Embassy /PAS Cultural Attaché, Jerrold Frank, Regional English Language Officer (RELO) for Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia and Moldova; and Tea Kuchukidze, Educational and Professional Programs Coordinator of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.
On November 16, Access program in Gori devoted an enhancement activity to the topic of Civic Engagement and Voting. The session was facilitated by Sonja Follett, PH International’s English Language through Civic Education (ELCE) Program English Language Teacher Trainer (ELTT).
On November 11, Access Program in Zugdidi hosted the very first enrichment activity for Access Program students on the topic of Countries and Nationalities. Among the guest speakers were Peter Bohan, PH International’s English Language through Civic Education (ELCE) Program teacher trainer and Robert Eilam, Ministry of Education and Science’s Teach and Learn with Georgia (TLG) Program volunteer.
On October 29, Access program in Akhaltsikhe held an enhancement activity on the topic of Civic Engagement and Responsibilities. The guests of the event were Guliko Beqauri, Doctor of Psychology, Trainer and Expert in Civic Education and Kelly Gallagher, Peace Corps Volunteer.
On October 26, Access Program in Gori organized an enrichment activity on Olympic and Paralympic Games. Among the guests of the event were Nino Jugheli, English Language Programs Coordinator at the U.S Embassy in Tbilisi and Shalva Shavdatuashvili, Olympic Champion in Judo in the 2012 Olympics.
On October 25, Access Program in Batumi organized an enrichment activity devoted to Georgian and American holidays. The purpose of the activity was to get the students acquainted with major American and Georgian holidays, find out about similarities and differences between the holidays of these two countries and create a calendar of American and Georgian holidays, the students would like to celebrate in the Access class.
On October 19, organized an enrichment session on Negotiation Skills and Strategies. The session was facilitated by Access Program English Teachers in Rustavi Ketevan Maisuradze and Thea Odisharia.
On October 3, Access Program in Ozurgeti hosted an enrichment activity devoted to human rights and civic responsibility. The session was led by Rachel Evarts, Peace Corps Volunteer based in Ozurgeti.
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
