A Visitor from U.S.A.

Raising cultural awareness and building an understanding to foreign cultures is a basic aspect of children’s development. They should have a chance to have an idea not only about their country and its culture, but also about other countries. For that reason we had the chance to be the first school in Lebanon to which Mr. Dae Kim from the American Embassy was invited to come talk to grade five and six students about children’s education in the States and about American culture. He talked to children about the different types of schools in America. Then our students started asking him various questions about education in the States and how students in both countries are alike or different. Mr. Kim also asked students about their school and the reason why their parents have chosen it. The answers were remarkable. One student expressed her great happiness in attending Khalil Shehab simply because she considers it as the best Makassed school. It has a lot to offer, she went on to say, like using the internet and because learning is not only through books, but also through various fun activities. Students are excited to learn through fun! Then it was our students' turn again to ask Mr. Kim about his impressions about Lebanon. Mr. Kim expressed his surprise to see how good speakers of English the students are. He said that they surpassed his expectations. He went on to say that starting with our school made him feel very positive about the whole experience and the rest of the sessions and if the rest of schools had students that had this level of language competency as ours, than this project would be a very successful one indeed.