THE INTERNATIONAL CLUB AT
Stone
Mountain High School
The Beginning
Lisa-Fátimah
Armorer and Lanla Yilla serve
as sponsors of
The International Club at Stone Mountain High School
which
was revitalized in January 2008 under the leadership of
our
principal Carolyn D. Williams.
The club began as a direct response to a letter received
from International student
Firmesk to
form an International organization that would address the
needs of our global student population.
Our 19 initial members representing 10 countries began
meeting in the morning and afternoon to map out the goals
and vision of the International Club.
Minh Le was
elected president and
King Emmanuel was
elected Vice President.
Our
Goals and Accomplishments
The
primary objectives of the club are the education of our
school family and community to the wonderful and diverse
cultures our students and faculty share, fundraising and
community involvement.
While the International Club serves as a conduit for
American, International and refugee students to come
together, learn, teach and connect, it is also a socially
aware and responsible club that has participated in
Alzheimer Memory Awareness walks,
Jane D. Hursey Retirement
Celebration,
Help Haiti fundraising,
collaborating with our Special needs
students
to prepare dishes submitted by Media Center Specialist
Christine Tigue and graduating senior King Emmanuel, and
hosting our
Laugh and Learn language
seminars where the students teach critical needs languages
and serve as interpreters when needed.
The International Club is dedicated to the whole community
of all citizens and
we hope that our local, national and international students
will find our sharing space as a place where they can learn
and teach one another.
In
2009
Our
International Club published the first International Club
cookbook – the first of its kind to be published in the
county and perhaps the nation.
The World’s Kitchen Cookbook©
showcases a multiplicity of cultures and intergenerational
recipes from all over the world. In the spirit of a mighty
village, our students, parents, elders, faculty, families,
and friends from Atlanta to Asmara, Bosnia to Brooklyn,
Chicago to Chennai and Stone Mountain to Spain welcomed the
world into their kitchens.
theworldskitchencookbook@gmail.com
What’s
unique about the cookbook is it demonstrates that the
family, the school village and the hearts of our young
people are still centered on empowerment at the kitchen
table. At a time when young people and families are
enduring a great deal of stress, this cookbook helps to
bridge the cultural gaps and serves as a way to educate our
community and our nation.
Many of the recipes come from the elder family members of
our international students, who represent 14
countries. Published
by Gateway Publishing, Co. Ltd., in Winnipeg, Canada, the
soft covered World’s Kitchen Cookbook© is filled
with
182 pages of recipes and data from around the
world.
President
Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have also submitted a
family recipe, which is included in the cookbook.
Food and music are two of the greatest forms of educating
and communicating culture. It is our hope that by sharing
our recipes received from students, family, friends, and
faculty; you will feel that you are in
THE WORLD’S KITCHEN where
relaxed dialogue, good food, friendship and laughter are
shared.
Excellence
and 
Georgia Performance Standards [ http://georgiastandards.org ]
In
line with the Georgia Performance Standards [ http://georgiastandards.org ]
for World Languages (MLII.CC2)*,
we also hope that we will all have continued development of
communicative competence in target language(s) and an
understanding of the culture(s) of the people who speak the
language so that our immediate global world will have a
friendly face. It all begins with the way we teach and
communicate with our children—and one another.
*Georgia Performance Standard: MLII.CCC2: The students
demonstrate an understanding of the similarities and
differences between the culture(s) studied and those of the
students’ own culture. The students: Compare and contrast
traditions, such as holidays, foods and celebrations.
2009
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
Thursday,
May 14, 2009 from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. the
students,
faculty and Stone Mountain High School staff dressed in
international attire and the beauty of the global world was
witnessed by our communities. Local media documented the
event as family, friends, politicians, elders and children
enjoyed the music, fashion show, art, and artistry of the
SMHS community.
2010
International Club and Beta Club Literary Festival
The
International club looks forward to continuing our social
and global outreach efforts. This year we hope to partner
with Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti Organization
(www.yele.org)
to send the school supplies donated by our SMHS family to
Haiti, continue teaching critical needs languages, partner
with the GSU International Scholars program, serve as
mentors for our refugee students, continue our book tour
and partner with Dr. Spence, AP English Professor and Beta
Club Sponsor to host our first combined International and
Literary festival in 2010.
Our graduate students have started the
“Graduate Chapter of the International Club”
and
“Friends of the International Club.” Please
stay tuned for more information about how you may
participate.
Thank
You!
It
has been our great pleasure to work with some of the most
mature and responsible students at SMHS. We are grateful
for the memories and humbled to have met our International
Club members:
Minh, King, Malena, Tuyet, Kim, Toni, Tyrone, Irnis,
Hung, Nagity, Myria, Marisol, Kalthom, Antonio, Linda,
Yolanda, Anh, Nicholas, Selamawit, Selmoie and
Firmesk at
this time in their lives. You make us proud. We hope that
we lead by example and that you, our chefs, supporters and
friends will know that we
honor and
respect your
contributions, histories, traditions, ancestors, languages
and cultures. Please always know that when you are visiting
the
International Club at Stone Mountain High
School,
you have a place that you can call home.
Sra.
Lisa Fátimah Armorer,
Sponsor
– Spanish
Teacher, Brooklyn, New York, USA
Mrs.
Lanla Yilla,
Co-Sponsor,
Science
Teacher, Freetown, Sierra Leone, West
Africa