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Tirana, ALBANIA | April 2013Tirana, ALBANIA | April 2013

Tirana Recycles By Coleman Dill, Marcus Spiecker, Beth Pearce, Aaron Doci, Aubrey

Eshelman, Mia Vogeli, Christopher Bowers, Ben Hosaflook, Aaron

Purver, and Joshua Choi; Grade 8

From March through May, GDQ is participating in a

plastic bottle collecting contest with 19 other schools

in Tirana. The school that collects the most plastic in weight

per student will receive $2,500.

Brett Gravlin, a teacher at Ernest Koliqi (EK), is organizing

the contest and has sponsorship money for the prize from the

Fushe Kruje Cement Factory.

The contest is simple. Students collect empty bottles from

their neighborhood and bring them to school. Students crush

and bag the bottles and set the bags out for the Roma

community to pick up.

The Roma are able to sell the plastic to a recycling company

and keep all the money.

Aaron Doci, GDQ’s K-8 vice president, likes the idea. “We

can help both the Roma and the environment.”

GDQ K-8 president, Aubrey Eshelman, added, “Obviously,

we are interested in the prize money, but the point is cleaning

the environment.”

Mia Vogeli, GDQ grade 8 student, noted, “GDQ students are

working hard to bring as many bottles as possible.” As of 8

April, GDQ had collected 154 kilos. “We consider Tirana our

home and want to help make Tirana a cleaner place to live.”

Why recycling? Brett explained, “Having been in Albania for

nearly ten years, I know there are many problems regarding the

environment, but I decided to pick just one, which was plastic.

Brett came up with the idea of a plastic recycling contest

while trying to teach his school about the importance of

recycling. “I had my school see which class could bring in the

most plastic bottles by weight.” Finding it to be successful, he

thought, “Why not expand it to more schools.”

Cleaning up the environment is not Brett’s only goal with

this recycling project. Brett wants to help kids believe in

themselves. He wants them to see that they can have an impact

on the environment in Albania.

To follow GDQ’s progress, check out

Tirana - Riciklimi i Plastikës 2013 on Facebook

The Art of Plastic Bottle Squishing Photos: Aaron Doci

Each week one of the class grades meets outside to

squash, squish, and smash plastic bottles. Students

then bag the bottles for collection. (Our grade 6

bottle squishers)

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To help us collect, drop off your plastic

bottles at the GDQ K-8 building on Don Bosko

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Animals and habitats The grade 5 class has been learning about habitats. Gabriela

Mitrushi explains, “My class did a project on animals in their

habitats. My animal, the Amur leopard, lives in the Gobi desert

where it snows and only thaws in the summer.”

Asked if she enjoyed the project, Gabriela smiles, “It was

fun, and I like researching about animals.”

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“Boss of the Plains” By Coleman Dill, Grade 8

GDQ’s first graders have finished a unit about cowboys. They

learned about a special hat called “the boss of the plains” and

a man named Jalepeno Hal. They even created posters of

themselves wearing “the boss of the plains.”

Cowgirl and her equipment

Izabella Pjetri, Grade 1

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Mountains and rivers Our grade 4 students have been learning about mountains

and rivers. Each student was given a name of a mountain or

river. They researched and shared their findings with the class.

Anita Kukeli researched the Volga River in Russia and the

Great Dividing Range found in Australia.

What interesting facts did Anita learn? “Well, the Volga

River is so clean that people sometimes use it to bathe in! The

Great Dividing Range is the home of wallabies, kangaroos,

kookaburras, parrots, koalas, and other very interesting

animals found only in Australia.”

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GDQ International Christian School

www.gdqschool.org | +355 692090515

Popcorn, beans and tortillas

The second grade class organized an Aztec party to wrap

up their Aztec unit. Students brought popcorn, beans, and

salad. They enjoyed these with tortillas, chicken and hot

chocolate to celebrate the unit in an interactive and fun

way.

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“I love learning Bible verses” By Mia Vogeli, Grade 8

When I asked our kindergarteners what they like most

about their Bible lessons, Victor Nunes raised his hand and

commented, “I love learning Bible verses.” Tina piped in,

“Yes, me too. I love learning verses from the Bible.” Martin

Lleshi chattered, “I like songs more because we sing.” They

all liked hearing from the Bible in one way or another.

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Stepping back in time Since the beginning of February, our third grade students

have been studying ancient Rome. They are writing a

journal for a Roman citizen living in that time.

Jonathan Bowers’ journal details the life of a Roman

plebeian, Pikachu, who joins the Roman army. The training

is “fun,” Pikachu says, but “unluckily for us a war is going

to start in a couple of days so I only have one day to train.”

“I passed the test! My

friend did, too.” Jonathan Bowers, Grade 3

Up and Down the K-5 Corridor

Beyond the Classroom

Something funny for the money

By Aubrey Eshelman, Beth Pearce, and Mia Vogeli

Grade 8

This March, GDQ K-8 participated in Red Nose Day to help

Comic Relief, a United Kingdom (UK) organization, raise money

to help people in Africa and the UK enjoy better lives.

To raise money during the week, we dressed up,

participated in a bake sale and threw wet sponges at Mr.

Pearce and Miss Waites. In total we raised 64000 leke.

The teachers and students at GDQ paid a 100 leke each to

dress up in a funky way. Some teachers dressed as pirates and

clowns.

Parents and students brought in yummy snacks. We saw all

different kinds of desserts from different cultures. These

included cupcakes, kim-bab, brownies, cookies and cake.

We enjoyed the opportunity to soak our school directors.

We could pay 20 leke to throw a wet sponge and 30 leke to

dump a cup of water on Mr. Pearce and Miss Waites. Students

were lining up and waiting up to five minutes for the chance to

drench them.

GDQ is on Facebook www.facebook.com/gdqschool

Check out our facebook page for more Red Nose Day photos.

Easter As part of our Easter celebration, our K-8 students brought in original works of art — eggs, crosses, and poems. Phoebe Purver took first place among our poetry entries. Congratulations, Phoebe.

By Phoebe Purver, Grade 4

Easter’s not about the egg toss, its about Jesus

dying on the cross, he saved our sin, and threw

them in the bin, he wants us to follow his ways and

give him praise.

Easter’s not just about the bunny, who wants to

take all our money! Jesus gives his love for free, he

paid the price upon that tree.

Easter’s not about the treats or the chocolate and

the sweets. His gift to us is easy to see . . . Freedom

for you, and for me!

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Book Review

Third quarter our middle school students focused their reading attention on a biography or autobiography. They gained insights into the impact that scientists, missionaries, government leaders, and people like you and me have made in the lives of others.

By Christopher Bowers, Grade 8

Children of the Storm is a great book. Natasha Vins’ story is

a mix of family relations, faith struggles, and life battles.

What surprised me the most about this book was that

there was so much persecution in Russia and that during

her whole time in Russia not one of her family members

was beaten to the point of death or died because of

persecution.

Her autobiography kept me interested and glued to my

chair. Some of the vocabulary was a little challenging but

made the book a better read. The book was about one

hundred and fifty pages and was about a two hour read.

I knew nothing about Natasha Vins so this made the book

even better as I was surprised at every new page. I wish the

book described what the characters looked like because

there was no description of places or people. I would

recommend this book to young adults and older.

Becoming Better Acquainted Our grade seven students took time to interview several of our new staff members.

What did they discover?

Miss Eddy Chan Interviewed by Hana Agolli

What makes a good student?

A student who is responsive

and attentive, curious and

hardworking.

How long have you been

teaching?

More than 10 years.

What was your first thought

when you heard about GDQ?

GDQ is a very good school and

devoted to Christianity.

Miss Maureen Thomson Interviewed by Dea Kukeli

Why did you come to GDQ?

I chose GDQ because the need

here was greater. I felt that I

would make a difference.

What was your first thought

when you heard about GDQ?

People at GDQ are fun and

warm, and I thought I would be

happy.

What is the best thing about

GDQ?

The students.

Mr. Andy Vander laan Interviewed by Sion Oh

What is your favorite color?

Brown. If you put another

colored object next to brown, it

looks more beautiful. I want to

become like the color brown,

making people become better

people if they are next to me.

What makes a good student?

A student that has a hunger for

learning.

Why did you come to GDQ?

I like youth. I wanted to teach

at an international school. God led

me here.

Mrs. Lena Kim Interviewed by Lydia Spiecker

What makes a good student?

The desire to be someone, self-

motivation

Why did you come to GDQ?

I am a MK myself. I wanted to

share my experience.

Where did you teach and what did

you teach before coming to GDQ?

I taught in Kazakhstan. I was

teaching Korean.

Mr. Dan Porterfield Interviewed by Dea Kukeli

What was your first thought

when you heard about GDQ?

It sounded like an adventure.

What is the best thing about

GDQ?

I love the fact that I get to work

with people from different

countries.

Why did you come to GDQ?

I wanted to travel and teach in

an international school. I am a

missionary kid myself.

Miss Sarah Leonard Interviewed by Hana Agolli

Why did you come to GDQ?

I went on a college trip to

Albania. At that time I hadn’t even

thought about teaching here

after college.

What was your first thought

when you saw GDQ?

I liked the community and how

we could openly talk about God.

Tell us about your family.

My mom is a part-time teacher

at a high school, and my dad

works for the Hershey Company.

Mr. Joshua Lee Interviewed by Lydia Spiecker

Tell us about your family.

There are 4 people in my family

— my wife, my 2 sons and me. Jin

Seok is in 5th grade, and John is in

3rd grade.

How long have you been

teaching?

I have taught Bible at Sunday

school for 10 years.

What was your first thought

when you saw GDQ?

GDQ is a dynamic school.

Bob and Judy Scottum Interviewed via email

Tell us about your family.

We have 5 adult children and 8

grandchildren. All but one live an

hour’s drive of our home, so we can

get together often.

Why did you come to GDQ?

We felt God telling us to go for

Him. Our careers had been in

teaching, so it seemed a good fit to

become part of a school.

What is the best thing about GDQ?

The GDQ family (staff, students,

parents). The encouragement and

love we felt from everyone has

been an incredible blessing.

Next issue — Meet our graduating seniors and grade 8 students