SJEDS Travels to Egypt

The second school we visited on our last day on Egypt was the El Alsson School in Cairo. We were so fortunate to have this opportunity and it came about through a connection with one of our advisory board members, who also happens to be a parent of a student at our school, Summer. El Asson is a private school and in many ways comparable to our own SJEDS. The school was located in the outskirts of Cairo, near the Great Pyramids of Giza. In driving to the school, the area around the school was unremarkable, just a small village outside Cairo.

Once we entered the school the atmosphere changed dramatically. We were immediately struck by the open and airy feel to the school. Everywhere we looked there were displays of wonderful art and carefully done projects.

The walls were covered exhibits of student work. Children were busy doing school work. It was evident there was a focus on art and music as we walked through the open courtyards. Stepping in to the El Alsson school was very much like being at SJEDS. Happy students busy learning and creating.

We were taken on a tour by the headteacher of the Primary School, Ms. Smith. Ms. Smith is British and has worked at the El Alsson school for 13 years. Ms. Smith informed us that the Al Alsson school has National, British, and International tracts. We were already impressed with the physical aspects of the school and the atmosphere of learning, but the best was yet to come.

During our tour, we were able to interact with the students. The student’s English skills were impressive! All students learn English as an additional language. They even learn a third language, French. The students were inquisitive, polite, and wonderful. Their manners were amazing. Everyone was so gracious, and when we entered a classroom we were welcomed, even though we were interrupting their studies.

When we visited the Technology Lab, we were thrilled to see that the students were working on a project about Ancient Greece. SJEDS’ 6th graders could have worked right along with them. Although we were half a world away on a different continent, students are learning similar things and almost at the same time. Isn’t that amazing?

It just happened they were having their book fair. We visited the library and students were busy picking out their books. During our conversation with the students they asked if we had read the latest Harry Potter book and whether or not we had seen the Simpson’s movie. Yes, we had read Harry Potter, but not seen the Simpsons.

Visiting a fifth grade class we were in for a treat. There we met Zeinab, the cousin of our own SJEDS student, Summer. Zeinab flashed a huge smile when we told her we were worked at the school where her cousin attended. We talked with the students about what came to mind when we told them we were from Florida. The first response was Disney World. Then we asked them what it meant to be Egyptian and these are some of the responses we received:

• Egypt is the bridge between Africa and Asia
• Egypt is the center of the world
• Egypt has been around for thousands of years
• Egypt is home to world famous mummies and pyramids

We asked the students if they had any questions. They did. There was one we could not answer and we need help with. They wanted to know the favorite actor and actress of our students. We told them we would find out and let them know.

We left a twin brother of Jose, our own travel bear, with a classroom teacher of El Alsson School, with the hope that we can stay in contact and hear all about the adventures of this bear in the future.

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