Wilson School Fourth Graders meet GGS
Wilson, Wyoming. Friday’s presentation at the Wilson School (in Jackson Hole) was a blast. The fourth graders in Mrs. Wood’s and Mrs. Barbee’s classes watched a video of the Grady Grossman School and made interesting observations. Some great ideas were raised concerning how to run a computer if you don’t have electricity. One boy had a great idea to use a water wheel to generate electricity. Unfortunately, the Kantout River that runs through Charuk Tiek doesn’t have enough drop to make a waterwheel function properly, but it was great to see American kids thinking through the problems that kids in Cambodia face. 
The Wilson students were particularly impressed by the Cambodian students artwork, since I told them the GGS students never had an art class, or even art supplies, until we brought them two years ago. Libby Wood, their teacher, offered a wonderful idea for making charcoal that she heard about through a relative working on a similar problem in Kenya - a hand operated press that can turn a random collection of organic matter (leaves, sticks and manure) into highly efficient brickets for cooking fires. Since the need for charcoal is devastating the forest around Charuk Tiek, we are looking for alternatives to offer the villagers. Ms. Wood promises to connect me with her relative for all the details to take with me on my trip to Cambodia Jan. 23rd.
This exchange is exactly the kind of connection I hope to establish between our school in Cambodia and American students. In my vision, once we establish an internet connected computer lab through American Assistance for Cambodia, we’ll have the infrastructure to facilitate a relationship between schools, via the internet, allowing for pen pals and voice over internet English teaching, and kids working together to problem solve issues specific to a given community. And, of course, the American kids have a myriad of ideas to raise the money to get the job done.
One student, Cora Mitchell, offered her girl scout troop’s cookie money to fund books or art supplies, or a map in the school library. That’s the kind of thinking that is going to change the world !
Thank you Wilson School fourth graders!
If you’d like to foster this relationship, please go to our future programs tab, look at the Internet Computer Hub program and click the Make a Difference button to donate.
