Vanessa Bullwinkle from Channel 7 news published an excellent blog on the American Forest Foundation's website about our work with Green Schools and Project Learning Tree.  She said she has received very positive responses from across the nation.  Check out the wonderful blog at: http://www.forestfoundation.org/blog-plt-abc-tv-profile-of-aplt-greenschool-in-dc

After watching this video it is hard not to have complete faith in a brighter future, led by a generation of loving, caring, passionate individuals.  Channel 7 News came out to film the amazing work students have done over the years painting a huge environmentally themed mural, creating a beautiful pollinator garden, and building an outdoor classroom consistent of a greenhouse, raised bed garden, and composters.  Check out the link below to watch the video and read the accompanying article.  One of my favorite sound bytes by Eleni that is also quoted in the article,“We really care about each other and the environment, we're like family trying to change everything.” 
That pretty much sums up our year, and I hope it is a testament of the work the kids will continue to do in the future.

http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/06/paul-public-charter-school-helps-student-earn-their-green-thumbs-90019.html#ixzz2W3HmzYuQ 

This photo is a perfect metaphor for who we are.  Each individual puzzle piece is unique and beautiful, but together we are breathtaking.  We all are so different in so many ways- age, grade, culture, religion, language, personality, but we all fit together perfectly this year.  We are a family and we will always have these memories.  They are now a part of who we are, and that can never be taken away from us.  Everyone coming out and celebrating for our farewell last night was a testament for how much love we have for each other.  I hope that all of our creative energy, compassion, and caring will continue throughout the years as we support each other, new friends, and ourselves in reaching our goals and making more miracles happen.

We had the pleasure of hosting 2 government officials from Bolivia today.  They had seen our work with the tortilla art project and writing and delivering letters of our immigration stories to the "Gang of 8" senators working on immigration reform before our participation in the "Time is Now" march.  The purpose of the visit was to see how schools engage students with work in the community.  After introductions we presented one of the news reports done on our work by univision.  Then we showed some photos from the event, and afterwards students shared some of the content of the letters that had been delivered to the senators.  We also presented our anti-bullying music video and had a long discussion afterwards about the challenges faced in the teenage years.  Finally, we did a tour of the work we have done improving Paul's environment which included the huge mural we painted and the pollinator garden we created this year.  We made some very good friends from Boliva today and we wish them the best of luck in their travels!