This year, our annual Spelling Bee was held in September. Although it’s usually a late spring event, school director Cara Nesser wasn’t able to visit because of COVID-19 restrictions. Held just before the start of our new fall term, the spelling bee thus came with an extra challenge: the students had to remember vocabulary words from last year, and study them again.
For the first time, the spelling bee also coincided with a visit from Mitch and Janine Albom, both of whom agreed that even they weren’t sure how to spell some of the words!
Despite her rigorous attempts, Ms. Cara could not whittle down any class to just one winner even with words like crustacean, Platyhelminthes, Cnidarian, catalyst, ecclesiastical and the all time most dreaded word: Deoxyribonucleic acid (the scientific name of DNA, in case you folks at home didn’t know!) Even Mitch was sweating out this one!
Our oldest group, Secondary 3, not only had to spell the words, but define their words as well. If there was any question as to the validity of the answers, Mitch served as the “panel of judges” to determine if the answer qualified. He looked up dictionary definitions online, in real time, and fortunately, with one exception, all the answers were right. All of the words we use in our Spelling Bees are taken from actual classwork—no random words are added to the Bee.
It was an exciting Spelling Bee, followed by our annual “school opening” ice cream party, and this year, a special concert presented by our two in- house rock bands!
Now we are busy in school, learning MORE words for next year…
Secondary 3: Chivensky, Edney, JJ, Widley, Junie Anna
> Read an important update from school director Cara Nesser on the impact of COVID-19 on the Mission’s school, and the resilience of our teachers and students!
An annual highlight of the school year, our students are treated to a documentary film festival celebrating the work of independent storytellers who provide educational, and thrilling, perspectives to explore. Designed by school director Cara Nesser, the festival takes place at the start of winter term and is guided by different thematic lessons.
After each film, students have discussions, and then participate in activities that relate to the film, adapted for each grade level. High school students, for example, write opinion essays and learn more about documentary filmmaking. Just like at Sundance, ballots are distributed for students and teachers to vote on a scale of 1 – 4. At the end of the week, the scores are tallied, and the movie with the most 4s wins “Best of the Fest!”
Eight youthful competitors, sponsored by their hometown newspapers, travel with their families to Washington, D.C., to compete in the 1999 Scripps National Spelling Bee. Now in the national spotlight and under heavy pressure to perform from parents, teachers and their audience, the children struggle to advance toward the championship — and its accompanying scholarships and cash prizes — while approaching competitive spelling with the focus and intensity of Olympic athletes.
Shown to: Primary 1 – 4, Collége 2, Secondary 1 & 2 Theme: Putting Yourself Out There & The Rewards of Hard Work Notes: We so love our English and French spelling bees, and this showcases real diversity in the students’ backgrounds.
Never-before-seen footage and audio recordings take you straight into the heart of NASA’s most celebrated mission as astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins embark on a historic trip to the moon.
Shown to: Primary 2 – 4, Collége 2, Secondary 1 & 2 Theme: Imagine it and make it real Notes: A Sundance award-winner, it took 6 years to make and is a compilation of footage shot back in the day of the entire Apollo mission from start (idea) to finish (bring hime the astronauts from the moon). The footage was in archives at NASA since the 1960s. Watching it is like watching the mission come together in real-time.
Six young ballet students, all from different backgrounds, prepare for the Youth America Grand Prix, a competition in which dance schools and companies from around the world scout for new talent.
Shown to: All classes except pre-school
Theme: Working for your dream; Endurance
First Position - Official Trailer 2012 - Ballet Documentary (HD)
Theme: A universal look at using science to solves problems Notes: It is a wonderful and inspiring film, especially for our kids who love science. Several of the kids featured are from third world countries.
A couple are followed through their successes and failures as they work to develop a sustainable farm on 200 acres outside of Los Angeles. Over the years, the desolate they purchase begins to thrive and its transformed.
Shown to: Primary 1 – 4, Collége 2, Secondary 1 & 2 Theme: Embrace the unknown/cope with problems Notes: A model for sustainable agriculture
Athena is a mother who will do everything in her power to protect her herd when they are forced to leave their waterhole. This epic journey, narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor, takes audiences across the African savannah, and into the heart of an elephant family. A tale of love, loss and coming home.
Shown to: All classes except pre-school Theme: What makes a leader?
The Elephant Queen — Official Movie Trailer | Apple TV+
As the calendar marked the decade since the 7.0-magnitude earthquake, we remember the day by giving voice to the memories of the children at Have Faith Haiti who have never forgotten. You can watch the short video below.
Help is needed more now than at any time since the earthquake itself. We have the luxury of forgetting. Haiti and its children do not. Hear the stories from our kids at Have Faith Haiti Mission
Mitch Albom also brought attention to the attention that must still be paid with an editorial in the Los Angeles Times:
Opinion: Helping one child at a time in Haiti 10 years after the devastation
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — It’s been 10 years since Haiti suffered the magnitude 7.0 quake that killed over 300,000 of its people and left more than a million displaced. The scale of the destruction left the Haitian economy, its government and daily life indelibly changed.
January marks two important days for our family at the mission. On the 9th, just a few days before the earthquake, is Chika’s birthday. She would have been 10 this year. Mitch wrote about the bittersweet remembrance as well, in the Detroit Free Press.
Chika’s birthday bittersweet, 10 years after Haiti earthquake
How do you celebrate a missing loved one’s birthday? How do you mark a date that used to be so happy and now is fraught with sadness and nostalgia? I know so many people who have lost family members, a byproduct of getting older myself, and when their birthdays come around they are filled with ennui. Some host commemorative parties. Some post old photos. Some visit cemeteries. Some just want to be left alone, to think about the years that might have been.
This spring, a photography elective was offered to high school students at the Have Faith Haiti Bilingual School. This is the first year a high school cohort and program were offered at the mission school, as the children have both gotten older and progressed academically to reach a standardized high school level!
Different lessons called for different subject matter, but please enjoy just a few snapshots of nature in their environment, especially the smallest life among them!
Photo credits to Junie-Anna and Esterline
Junie-Anna vs. Birds
Though they invaded her favorite reading spot on the swing, they still received a beautiful treatment here.
Speaking of winged creatures…
… And those with legs
Shifting perspectives
What’s up there, and what must come down
Grow, grow, growing from the earth!
Valiantly holding back on all fungi / fun guy jokes…
The annual spelling bee at the Have Faith Haiti Bilingual School is both a year-end celebration of our students’ language advancement and a fun way for teachers to evaluate students’ spelling skills. Inevitably, some familiar faces make it to the final rounds and in keeping with tradition, the students’ excitement in preparing usually means a few ties!
Please enjoy this recap of the 2019 Bee, held on June 14th (more…)
In April, Gardner-White Furniture and Sealy kindly donated 50 new mattresses, as well as a large sectional sofa. Perhaps you caught the story earlier:
Well, they have finally arrived! They were driven to Miami, and from there shipped in a container to Haiti. It can take some time to clear customs, but they arrived in early July. New bed bunk frames were purchased by the mission, and the students helped to build them. And while we watched the fireworks in the US on Independence Day, they slept their first night in the beds! They’re thrilled with their new sleeping digs!
We’re really grateful that people here in Detroit care so much about people who are a half-a-world away!
Make your check payable to “Have Faith Haiti Mission” and send to
Have Faith Haiti Mission
c/o A Hole in the Roof Foundation
29836 Telegraph Road
Southfield, MI 48034
Have Faith Haiti is operated by the A Hole in the Roof Foundation, a 501(c)(3) org (TAX ID# 27-0609504). Donations are tax deductible.
About the Mission
The Have Faith Haiti Mission is a special place of love and caring, dedicated to the safety, education, health and spiritual development of Haiti’s impoverished children and orphans. You can learn more here.
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