News
July-August newsletter is here!
We have a busy two months coming up. Don't miss a minute of it!
Whether you're interested in our members picnic on August 13 or the dedication of Piazza Perugia on October 14, you can read about these happenings and more in Il Grifone July 2017 here.
If you're not a member yet, it's easy to join. See more details here. Open doors to international friendships, cultural exchanges and networking opportunities.
Join us for the members picnic August 13
As usual, several delicious entrees will be provided. Our host, Dan Borracchini, will make the pasta, cooked al dente, and the SPSCA board will be grilling sausages. Everything else is potluck. That means you!
Please contribute a salad, antipasto dish, snacks or a dessert, plus whatever you'd like to drink, both alcoholic and non. RSVP here and tell us what's in your picnic basket and how many guests you are bringing.
The picnic is your chance to meet new members, catch up with old friends and learn what SPSCA has coming up for the rest of 2017. We'll also elect board officers.
We have an opening for a board member this fall. If you'd like to join the board, send an email to jan.drago@gmail.com. Tell us in about 100 words what you can bring to our group as a new board member.
Date: Sunday, Aug. 13, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Address: 33801 SE Courtney Rd
Ravensdale, WA 98051
Second-graders in Perugia and Seattle learn more about each other's history
SPSCA has an exciting educational outreach project underway developed by board member Marylin Bard. The project is focused on building awareness and fostering a greater understanding between diverse cultures, histories and geographic regions. Participants are second-graders at Collodi Elementary in Perugia and the John Stanford International School in Seattle.
Last fall, Bard explored Northwest Coast Native American history with students at Perugia's Collodi Elementary. She shared stories, songs and legends and allowed the children to examine miniature Native objects created just for this project, such as baskets and wood carvings.
She also talked about the significance of Sister Orca, a 26-foot bronze orca fin created by well-known local Native artist Marvin Oliver, who is also Bard's brother. SIster Orca was installed in Perugia nine years ago as a symbol of our sister-city friendship.
In Seattle, John Stanford second-grade teacher Karol Franz (left, shown with Bard who is holding an image of Sister Orca) incorporated information about both sister cities into her social studies units.
The students looked at photos and talked about the similarities and differences between the cities. Both classes exchanged letters and drawings, helping each child to personalize the exchange.
Bard is returning to Perugia this fall to continue the educational outreach.
Teaching the teachers: SPSCA helps with English proficiency
Recently Italy passed a rule requiring that high school seniors must take one of their subject matter classes in English. The problem is that the English language skills of the subject matter teachers are not strong enough to teach a class entirely in English.
Seattle-Perugia to the rescue! Leslie Keller, SPSCA president, and Jo Ellen Hathaway, a teacher at Seattle’s Roosevelt High School, spent three weeks in May helping 24 teachers at Perugia's Scientific High School Galileo Galilei improve their English.
The lessons focused on listening, speaking and pronunciation. Fifty-minute morning sessions, devoted primarily to listening, involved smaller groups of teachers who all taught the same subject. In the afternoons, a combined three-hour class with all the teachers included a variety of fun activities focused on pronunciation, listening and speaking.
It was a very rewarding project for the two Seattle volunteers. "One of the most heartfelt experiences came during a listening activity that included Simon and Garfunkel's song, Bridge Over Troubled Water,” said Keller. "After reviewing the lyrics and discussing their meaning, the teachers sang the entire song in unison, not once but three times, at full voice and with heartfelt emotion. After the first rendition, Jo Ellen commented that teachers in Seattle would never sing so spontaneously in a large group like that. We were both moved to tears and were left with memories we will never forget."
Member event for ceramics exchange artist on June 23
Join us for an artist talk on Friday, June 23 at 7 p.m. at Pottery Northwest. It will be your opportunity to meet Qing Qu, the second recipient of the de Poi Award exchange program, sponsored in part by SPSCA.
The evening begins with light refreshments at 7 p.m., followed by a presentation by Qing, who will talk about her creative process, her residency at Pottery Northwest, and her first-ever visit to United States. It will also be a chance to tour the galleries and studio areas of Pottery Northwest and meet some of the local ceramic arts community.
Qing, a ceramic arts student in Perugia, was born in 1990 in Henan, China. She was chosen by a panel from the prestigious Accademia delle Belle Arti (Academy of Fine Arts) in a blind selection process. Qing arrived in Seattle on June 10 and is being hosted by staff and friends of Pottery Northwest. Her presentation will be in Italian with an English interpreter provided.
The de Poi program, started in 2016, honors Alviero Moretti (1933-2010), founder of the Moretti ceramic studio and the Ceramic Foundation. The two sister cities alternate hosting a ceramic artist for three weeks each year.